this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2024
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Showerthoughts

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Monkeys given infinite time would probably get carpal tunnel or form a labor union before typing out Shakespeare. (lemmy.world)
submitted 10 months ago by solid_matt@lemmy.world to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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[โ€“] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_ape_language

Definitely appears that there's some kind of soft-cap on what Great Apes outside the human genus are capable of mastering. 10,000 monkeys given an infinite amount of time will be unable to produce a work of Shakespeare primarily because they cannot grasp the ideas of grammar and or symbolic speech.

Even setting aside whether some number of macaques can learn to master the use of a typewriter, there's a real reason to believe they aren't equipped to derive complex and multi-layered vocabulary. Shakespeare is replete with puns and monkeys just don't grasp that kind of language.

[โ€“] gregorum@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago

Research into great ape language has involved teaching chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans to communicate with humans and each other using sign language, physical tokens, lexigrams, and imitative human speech. Some primatologists argue that the use of these communication methods indicate primate "language" ability, though this depends on one's definition of language.

Lol on that last sentence (emphasis mine)