Monkey Business. And sex.

DecemberDays86 · 07-10-2005, 12:45 PM

http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/m...ne/000767.html

Adam Smith, the founder of classical economics, was certain that
humankind's knack for monetary exchange belonged to humankind alone.
''Nobody ever saw a dog make a fair and deliberate exchange of one bone
for another with another dog,'' he wrote. ''Nobody ever saw one animal
by its gestures and natural cries signify to another, this is mine,
that yours; I am willing to give this for that.'' But in a clean and
spacious laboratory at Yale-New Haven Hospital, seven capuchin monkeys
have been taught to use money, and a comparison of capuchin behavior
and human behavior will either surprise you very much or not at all,
depending on your view of humans.

The last paragraph is enough.

OoglesofBoogles · 07-10-2005, 01:16 PM

Great article.

Poleyhants · 07-10-2005, 01:26 PM

Too many flaws.

'The monkeys have been taught...'

OoglesofBoogles · 07-10-2005, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poleyhants

Too many flaws.

'The monkeys have been taught...'

How is that a flaw? We were also taught the value of currency. Do you think it came instinctually to us?

Poleyhants · 07-10-2005, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OoglesofBoogles

taught the value of currency.

Exchanging money for fruit or sex isn't the value of currency. They could have been taught to exchange ammunition for drugs. Does that make the monkey a drug dealer? The objects are irrelevant.

OoglesofBoogles · 07-10-2005, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poleyhants

Exchanging money for fruit or sex isn't the value of currency. They could have been taught to exchange ammunition for drugs. Does that make the monkey a drug dealer? The objects are irrelevant.

The whole point is that they recognize that the objects have value for other things and then they realized that they could apply it to other things like sex, which is something they WEREN'T taught.

Poleyhants · 07-10-2005, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OoglesofBoogles

objects have value

That's a flaw. It's an object.

'taught to use money'. They don't know it's money.

OoglesofBoogles · 07-10-2005, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poleyhants

That's a flaw. It's an object.

'taught to use money'. They don't know it's money.

That is absolutely ridiculous logic. Money is an object with inherent value, that is it and that is how they recognize it, which is how we recognize it as well.

Poleyhants · 07-10-2005, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OoglesofBoogles

That is absolutely ridiculous logic. Money is an object with inherent value, that is it and that is how they recognize it, which is how we recognize it as well.

And how can you prove that?