[Ettiominiw]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...251001&q=chimp

Whoa.
I'm not sure what to make of this.
I am elated and disturbed at the same time.

[Vznvtthq]

99,9% of our DNA are alike............so whats the big deal?

PacMan always moves around forward even if you dont move the joystick so it may seem he is actually playing but he might just be messing around. From how it seemed to me the chimp got pwned by Ms. pacman.........

But it was amusing to watch and he might get good at it eventually

[Nglvayhp]

we also share much the same dna as a banana
that chimps better at pacman than me.
dya think its related to the karate chimp?

[theatadug]

99,9% of our DNA are alike............so whats the big deal?

The big deal?
A non human creature apparently understanding the complex dynamics of a video game. This would seem to indicate:

1. The presence of a sort of empathetic transference i.e., "being" the character, "seeing" and experiencing from the character's point if view.

2. Using fine hand eye co-ordination to manipulate the character within the imaginary concepts of the "walls" of the board.

3. Understanding the rules. I.e. eat the ghosts when they are blue, but before that, eat the energizers, and understanding the timeframe that "flashing" means they will turn back to normal.

4. Basic Strategic concepts, which indicate planning, which indicates thought.

I mean, there are simply huge volumes of mental concepts at play here, ones which are previously only thought to be human capable.
Sure, Chimps and humans are 99% alike, but at the same time Chimps are not humans.
The bottom line is simply shocking because it tends of offer strong evidence for something that I have always felt strongly about, which is:

Many animals can think.
As I mentioned this concept both fills me with both elation, and at once deeply disturbs me, and I don't know why.

~In the other hand, the Chimp may have just been trained to do certain movements for the camera, and when the camera was shut off, the Chimp bit the trainer, climbed the walls, and resumed his vigorous feces flinging activities.

[karaburatoreror]

Has anyone ever come across an Australian (I believe) bioethicist/philosopher called Peter Singer?

He says a lots things, but the thing that springs to mind is that our identity as people is defined by certain attributes and abilities that we have, such as communication and thinking. So he says that a chimp could be more of a person than a new born baby, so killing the chimp would be morally worse than the new born and there's little difference in aborting a foetus (at any time during the pregnancy) and aborting a young baby for the first few months of it's life. (It's a bit more complicated than that, it's based around a pretty extreme consequentialism, but that's the gist of it and the effects) If you ever get the chance to read anything by him, it's really quite shocking sometimes.

I believe he was also behind (if not, he was included in it) the effort to pass the Great Apes Convention at the UN, giving Great Apes legal rights similar to humans.

I pretty sure the DNA in common between humans and chimps is quite a bit less then 99.9%, but even so, it doesn't necessarily mean that much, it would depend what parts of the DNA was in common, and how it relates to other parts.

[Catalogov]

Has anyone ever come across an Australian (I believe) bioethicist/philosopher called Peter Singer?

Is he good at Pacman?

*EDIT: Chimps and man are only one chromosome apart.

[NKUDirectory]

The big deal?
A non human creature apparently understanding the complex dynamics of a video game. This would seem to indicate:

1. The presence of a sort of empathetic transference i.e., "being" the character, "seeing" and experiencing from the character's point if view.

2. Using fine hand eye co-ordination to manipulate the character within the imaginary concepts of the "walls" of the board.

3. Understanding the rules. I.e. eat the ghosts when they are blue, but before that, eat the energizers, and understanding the timeframe that "flashing" means they will turn back to normal.

4. Basic Strategic concepts, which indicate planning, which indicates thought.

I mean, there are simply huge volumes of mental concepts at play here, ones which are previously only thought to be human capable.
Sure, Chimps and humans are 99% alike, but at the same time Chimps are not humans.
The bottom line is simply shocking because it tends of offer strong evidence for something that I have always felt strongly about, which is:

Many animals can think.
As I mentioned this concept both fills me with both elation, and at once deeply disturbs me, and I don't know why.

~In the other hand, the Chimp may have just been trained to do certain movements for the camera, and when the camera was shut off, the Chimp bit the trainer, climbed the walls, and resumed his vigorous feces flinging activities.

Kinda makes my mad Pac Man skillz from the late 70s - early 80s seem a bit inconsequential by comparison...

[medprof]

Hey, that chimp ain't bad at Pacman...But I bet I could own his soul at Asteroids!