Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
From: ohgs@chatham.demon.co.uk (Oliver Sparrow)
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!MathWorks.Com!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!demon!chatham.demon.co.uk!ohgs
Subject: Re: I lie therefore I am?
References: <36e5oe$6nc@toves.cs.city.ac.uk> <36vdau$elt@infa.central.susx.ac.uk>
Organization: Royal Institute of International Affairs
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Date: Thu, 6 Oct 1994 15:56:33 +0000
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Cryptic camoflaged animals lie; although one could not suggest that they have 
much choice in the matter. Lions stalking their prey hide their intentions (by 
creeping upwind) and misdirect their prey (by chasing a dummy animal and then 
suddenly switching to the original target). They (and many other 
preadtors) set up ambushes and other strategies designed to misdirect 
and lie about their inetntions. 

Monkeys can be shown to actively misdirect. Recent studies showed the 
behaviour of a baby baboon which waited until an adult had a good chunk of food 
and then threw a screaming fit such that its mother thought that it had been 
moledted and attacked the food-owner. Result: one fat baby liar.

There is nothing very unique about humans that is more than in intensification 
of skills and capabilities possessed by other animals. We have acquired this in 
a short span - in the order of 15-20 thousand years, or hardly more than a 
thousand generations. We are very close to where we came from; but what we left 
is very sophisticated. To understand ape cognition would be to know all that we 
needed to understand about humans, I suspect. Our DNA is only 4% different from 
that of a chimp, from which we diverged at least 7 million years ago. Our 
deviation from pre-organisational humanity would be miniscule.

 _________________________________________________

  Oliver Sparrow
  ohgs@chatham.demon.co.uk
