If you give a chimp a crystal, she might not give it back.
Researchers learned this the hard way. They gave quartz, calcite and other types of crystals to chimpanzees in a rehabilitation center. The apes responded with great interest, and the researchers ended up needing to trade large amounts of bananas and yogurt to get back the largest crystal. Others were never retrieved.
The crystal chimp study, published on Wednesday in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, was an attempt to understand what about the shimmering minerals is so attractive to the apes’ closest cousins, us. It was led by Juan Manuel García-Ruiz, a crystallographer at Donostia International Physics Center in Spain.
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For the first experiment, the researchers used two pedestals that were installed in the chimps’ yards. On one, they placed a multifaceted quartz crystal that stood about a foot tall, and on the other, a sandstone rock of similar dimensions. (Dr. García-Ruiz named this experiment “The Monolith” inspired by the world-changing object in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.”)
The chimps went crystal cuckoo.
In one yard, they repeatedly approached the monolith until the alpha female, Manuela, wrenched it off its pedestal. After that, the crystal rarely left the troop’s sight, while they largely ignored the sandstone rock. One video shows a 50-year-old male chimp named Yvan carrying it while he climbs and eats cabbage, passing it between his hands and feet with great panache.
In the other yard, the experiment was cut short after a chimpanzee named Sandy immediately grabbed both items from their pedestals and brought them into the dormitories, where human caretakers don’t generally go.
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For the second experiment, researchers set out piles of pebbles in the gardens, with a few small crystals incorporated into each. The chimpanzees immediately sorted the crystals out of the piles.
Then they carried them in their mouths, turned them in the light and held them up to their eyes like old-timey prospectors. When the researchers eventually set up cameras inside the chimp dorms, they saw that Yvan was still gripping one as he prepared to relax in his hay nest. (The research team has been unable to find or retrieve many of these smaller crystals, Dr. García-Ruiz said.)
I wonder if they have to be careful about starting chimp wars over shiny rocks. That'd be so human it wouldn't be out of the question. Shiny things are interesting to plenty of animals so it...
I wonder if they have to be careful about starting chimp wars over shiny rocks. That'd be so human it wouldn't be out of the question.
Shiny things are interesting to plenty of animals so it doesn't surprise me the chimpanzees are going nuts over the stones.
I wonder where that behavior comes from. I can't imagine how being attracted to shiny things would be an evolutionary advantage, so is it some sort of vestigial behavior from when it was? Or is...
I wonder where that behavior comes from. I can't imagine how being attracted to shiny things would be an evolutionary advantage, so is it some sort of vestigial behavior from when it was? Or is there just some less obvious mechanism going on?
Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with it being shiny per se - it's about our drive to seek out novelty. Animals like to explore and understand new things, and we also like things...
Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with it being shiny per se - it's about our drive to seek out novelty. Animals like to explore and understand new things, and we also like things that are cognitively enriching. Shiny things are distinct from most things in the environment and as such are stimulating.
You think? I'd say chimpanzees have the capacity to find something pretty or beautiful. I think you're right too, the novelty makes them even more interesting but I don't think it's too farfetched...
You think? I'd say chimpanzees have the capacity to find something pretty or beautiful. I think you're right too, the novelty makes them even more interesting but I don't think it's too farfetched to assume the apes like how sunlight is reflected on quartz.
That's certainly true. I don't think finding something stimulating and being interested in new things precludes an appreciation of beauty, and in fact I'd argue the former supports that idea. I...
That's certainly true. I don't think finding something stimulating and being interested in new things precludes an appreciation of beauty, and in fact I'd argue the former supports that idea. I would argue that things I find as beautiful are stimulating/cognitively enriching.
On the other side of things, while I might still appreciate something's beauty after prolonged exposure to it, in many cases that appreciation can decrease compared to the initial encounter.
Social animals that may or may not engage in sexual selection based on who is the best at getting resources, prioritising a rare object that's especially eye-catching even at a distance. I think...
Social animals that may or may not engage in sexual selection based on who is the best at getting resources, prioritising a rare object that's especially eye-catching even at a distance. I think it fits.
Could be, yeah. Another thing I was thinking about is that having some hard coded, shared appreciation for a certain type of rare, but durable object could be an advantage. I've heard of different...
Could be, yeah. Another thing I was thinking about is that having some hard coded, shared appreciation for a certain type of rare, but durable object could be an advantage. I've heard of different animals exchanging things for goods and services. Could there be some sort of innate biological wiring that supports the development of currency encoded into chimps?
It seems like human beings everywhere independently developed an appreciation for gold and jewels which fostered their use as a currency for a very long time. Could it be that that was something biologically encoded for rather than sociologically developed?
If you had a species that all valued some durable, non consumable thing with no real use, they could use that to trade for useful things with one another and that seems like it would be a massive advantage.
I'm talking out of my ass though, I don't know anything about evolutionary biology or sociology.
There was an experiment where some researchers introduced an arbitrary currency to some monkeys, I believe macaques, and taught them to use it to exchange for treats and things like that. From...
There was an experiment where some researchers introduced an arbitrary currency to some monkeys, I believe macaques, and taught them to use it to exchange for treats and things like that. From what I recall, they had no issue understanding the concept of currency as a medium for exchange. This might connect to the phenomenon that many animals will provide gifts as a part of their courtship behavior.
I could certainly see the development of currency (or just the concept of trade/barter) being a general advantage for social animals. It probably is a way to avoid conflict that is expensive from...
I could certainly see the development of currency (or just the concept of trade/barter) being a general advantage for social animals. It probably is a way to avoid conflict that is expensive from an energy/survival perspective.
The theory I've heard is that sources of water that sparkle are most likely to be good to drink. Clear, moving water is least likely to have bacterial loads, parasites, or predators dangerous to...
The theory I've heard is that sources of water that sparkle are most likely to be good to drink. Clear, moving water is least likely to have bacterial loads, parasites, or predators dangerous to our ancestors, and so an appreciation for sparkles made it more likely for them to hang out in places conducive to their health.
It's also true that awareness of bright colors allows primates to discriminate between ripe vs unripe fruit. Appreciating color/shininess in crystals might be a side effect of something else. @fiachra
It's also true that awareness of bright colors allows primates to discriminate between ripe vs unripe fruit. Appreciating color/shininess in crystals might be a side effect of something else. @fiachra
From the article:
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I wonder if they have to be careful about starting chimp wars over shiny rocks. That'd be so human it wouldn't be out of the question.
Shiny things are interesting to plenty of animals so it doesn't surprise me the chimpanzees are going nuts over the stones.
Funny article though.
I wonder where that behavior comes from. I can't imagine how being attracted to shiny things would be an evolutionary advantage, so is it some sort of vestigial behavior from when it was? Or is there just some less obvious mechanism going on?
Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with it being shiny per se - it's about our drive to seek out novelty. Animals like to explore and understand new things, and we also like things that are cognitively enriching. Shiny things are distinct from most things in the environment and as such are stimulating.
You think? I'd say chimpanzees have the capacity to find something pretty or beautiful. I think you're right too, the novelty makes them even more interesting but I don't think it's too farfetched to assume the apes like how sunlight is reflected on quartz.
That's certainly true. I don't think finding something stimulating and being interested in new things precludes an appreciation of beauty, and in fact I'd argue the former supports that idea. I would argue that things I find as beautiful are stimulating/cognitively enriching.
On the other side of things, while I might still appreciate something's beauty after prolonged exposure to it, in many cases that appreciation can decrease compared to the initial encounter.
Social animals that may or may not engage in sexual selection based on who is the best at getting resources, prioritising a rare object that's especially eye-catching even at a distance. I think it fits.
Maybe it’s just a pattern matching thing detecting something unusual?
Could be, yeah. Another thing I was thinking about is that having some hard coded, shared appreciation for a certain type of rare, but durable object could be an advantage. I've heard of different animals exchanging things for goods and services. Could there be some sort of innate biological wiring that supports the development of currency encoded into chimps?
It seems like human beings everywhere independently developed an appreciation for gold and jewels which fostered their use as a currency for a very long time. Could it be that that was something biologically encoded for rather than sociologically developed?
If you had a species that all valued some durable, non consumable thing with no real use, they could use that to trade for useful things with one another and that seems like it would be a massive advantage.
I'm talking out of my ass though, I don't know anything about evolutionary biology or sociology.
There was an experiment where some researchers introduced an arbitrary currency to some monkeys, I believe macaques, and taught them to use it to exchange for treats and things like that. From what I recall, they had no issue understanding the concept of currency as a medium for exchange. This might connect to the phenomenon that many animals will provide gifts as a part of their courtship behavior.
I could certainly see the development of currency (or just the concept of trade/barter) being a general advantage for social animals. It probably is a way to avoid conflict that is expensive from an energy/survival perspective.
The theory I've heard is that sources of water that sparkle are most likely to be good to drink. Clear, moving water is least likely to have bacterial loads, parasites, or predators dangerous to our ancestors, and so an appreciation for sparkles made it more likely for them to hang out in places conducive to their health.
It's also true that awareness of bright colors allows primates to discriminate between ripe vs unripe fruit. Appreciating color/shininess in crystals might be a side effect of something else. @fiachra
Getting strong "The Gods Must Be Crazy" vibes from this experiment...
In want to know their response to metals too now, like gold, and how it compares to crystals.