Alex and the concept of "none."

[moneyp]

Fascinating stuff. There is a grey parrot named Alex that can not only say, but actually grasps the meaning of words, numbers, colors and shapes. Well now there's evidence that Alex has actually grasped the concept of zero, unheard of in the non-human animal kingdom. Curious to read Doc Martin's take on this.

[Brian Olewnick]

Damn. Thought this was a Locascio sighting!

[Enforcer]

My brother's African Grey seems to understand the meaning of words, or at least the associations. A phone rings, he says, "Hello." Someone gets up to leave the house, he says, "See ya later." I guess he picks up on the various cues, like keys jingling in the pocket and people walking together to see someone out the door, etc.

The funniest thing is he likes to taunt my mother, who has been his caregiver more than my brother. My brother is in graduate school at UC Berkeley and when he first left to move out there, the bird would ask where my brother is. My mom would tell him, "Frisco." He learned that and when my mom would ask him the question about where my brother is, he'd answer, "Frisco." Then, during a break from school, my brother took a vacation to Los Angeles. My mom never said anything to the bird, but he apparently overheard a phone conversation in which my mom was telling someone my brother was in L.A.

The bird picked up on this and decided to taunt her from that point forward. When she'd ask him where my brother is, he started answering, "L.A." This is one of about a dozen things he does to tease her. It's hilarious, because you can kind of tell that he's enjoying the frustration my mother pretends to suffer when he keeps answering the wrong way. Another thing he does is occasionally fall off his perch. When that happens, he says, "darn it."

Birds are great, man.

[Cem]

I never know when to believe ole Lare anymore, but that is some funny as shit & fascinating phenomena...

[Enforcer]

That sh** is the truth, Cem.

Here's the rule of thumb: Is it ridiculously out of character, or does it improve my chances of scoring a piece of ass? Then it's probably a lie.

Otherwise, I'm super honest a lot of the time.

[Cem]

Originally Posted by Larry Nagel

Otherwise, I'm super honest a lot of the time.

That's right... and I'm a brilliant friggin' logician and communicator...

A bird may have hit on a concept that eluded mathematicians for centuries—possibly during a temper tantrum.

breakthroughs involving temper tantrums...there's hope for me, I guess...

So, I wonder whether it's an evolutionary thing or a freak thing or both... I've always been curious about animal thought, but never enough to dig in & research. My cat gives me the weirdest looks sometimes like "whatever..." & "you loser"... way more expressive than most humans...and kinder...

[Jazzzoline]

I can hear Cem thinking right now: Whose piece of ass is Larry trying to score..."

[Jazzzoline]

Originally Posted by Cem

My cat gives me the weirdest looks sometimes like "whatever..." & "you loser"... ...

Jeeezzzzzz
And he's still alive...

[Cem]

Originally Posted by Jazzzoline

I can hear Cem thinking right now: Whose piece of ass is Larry trying to score..."

Larry's booty-list is a lot simpler to figure out than his shit-list.

[Cem]

Originally Posted by Jazzzoline

Jeeezzzzzz
And he's still alive...

She, Stella Blue, is not only alive at 14, but runs the joint...

[Noj]

There is a fantastic Discovery Channel program on these African Greys. The scene that sticks with me is a photographer approaches the bird with a still camera, and in an instant the photographed bird repeatedly utters the exact camera noise with miraculous accuracy. Amazing!

[Doc Martin]

Not only does Alex the Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) possess a “zero-like concept,” But is also able quantify 6 item sets (including subsets of heterogeneous groups, e.g., blue blocks within groupings of blue and green blocks and balls) using English labels was tested on comprehension of these labels, which is crucial for numerical competence. Alex was, without training, asked "What color/object [number]?" for collections of various simultaneously presented quantities (e.g., subsets of 4, 5, and 6 blocks of 3 different colors; subsets of 2, 4, and 6 keys, corks, and sticks). Accuracy was greater than 80% and was unaffected by array quantity, mass, or contour. His results demonstrated numerical comprehension competence comparable to that of chimpanzees and very young children.

My pet Spider Monkey; Nadine, can count to five and she knows several colors, I taught her this with M&M s, oddly enough Nadine demonstrates zero or none with a temper tantrum too or what we call in New York a “hairy canary”.

[frank m]

A friend of mine told me of his parent's parrot, who had picked up some of his father's curses. When their house caught fire, after it had been extinguished and they reentered to see if the parrot had survived, they found him lying on his back, rolling his head from side to side, muttering "Jesus Christ, it's hot in here"

[Doc Martin]

Swearing parrot banned


27-07-2005
From: Agence France-Presse

A FOUL-mouthed parrot previously owned by a lorry driver has been banished from public areas in a British animal sanctuary after repeatedly embarrassing his keepers.

Barney, a five-year-old Macaw, is now kept indoors at Warwickshire Animal Sanctuary in Nuneaton, central England, when outsiders visit after abusing dignitaries with swearword-littered insults.

"He's told a lady mayoress to f--- off and he told a lady vicar: 'And you can f--- off as well'," sanctuary worker Stacey Clark said.

Nor did the forces of law and order escape, she added.

"Two policemen came to have a look at the centre. He told them: 'And you can f--- off you two w---ers'."

Clark said sanctuary workers believed Barney either picked up the phrases from television or was taught them by his previous owner, a lorry driver who emigrated to Spain.

"He does say 'Hello, big boy' and 'Thank you' when you give him a biscuit," she added. "But it's mainly naughty words and always to the wrong people. We're trying to teach him not to swear. Macaws are very intelligent birds."

[walto]

http://www.sheldrake.org/papers/Anim...telepathy.html


Does somebody need to find Randi?

[Brian Olewnick]

Thought I recognized Sheldrake's name. From Randi's site on some other claim by this guy:



Peter, I've always been puzzled by Rupert Sheldrake. Mind you, all devout believers in paranormal claims puzzle me, but usually those folks are uneducated, or religiously motivated. The physicists who steadfastly believe in dowsing, are even more confusing — and confused — though I'm aware of the strength of the idiomotor effect that can so easily bypass their common sense and judgment. Sheldrake has written such transparently inept accounts of what he chooses to call "definitive" experiments, that I've a problem deciding whether he knows the experiments are badly done, or actually thinks he's done proper scientific work. Note, too, his practice of attacking the critics, rather than proving his point. That's typical. Richard Wiseman denies that he has ignored Sheldrake's evidence, and that rather than refusing to discuss the matter, he has written an article about it in the British Journal of Psychology. Much of this research is described in his book, "Deception and Self-deception: Investigating Psychics." I have offered to test — with adequate academic assistance, including Rupert Sheldrake himself — the dog Jaytee, but Wiseman has notified me that the dog's owners have decided they don't like me, and have refused to have me involved in any such research. I cannot question their dislikes, but I can question their motives.

[al j]

give Blue a stroke under the chin for me, will ya, Cem?

[Doc Martin]

Hey Cem

How is Stella Blue doing?

[Cem]

Al, I gave her a good chin stroke for you. She says hi & wonders when you're coming back for a visit... btw, there's a small chance a friend from NYC & I may go to Hawaii in February... a bit of a fantasy at this point. I'll keep you posted, if we're near you, provided you're still there. We'll see.

Doc, thanks for asking. She's been a bit off lately. I think I need to get her tested again. She's also got a bunch of scabs on her back (allergy to fleas). I may need to get her skin treatment. I think mostly my mondo stress is rubbing off on her. Poor girl.

[al j]

I'm almost certain that I'll be here throughout February, so keep me posted on your plans. That'll be dope if you can make it. The sashimi and the rounds are on me, of course.