1. denialism
  2. Chimps have souls!

Chimps have souls!

By denialism on June 29, 2007.

Take that Egnor!

Altruism -- helping another with no expectation of personal reward -- was once thought to be a uniquely human trait, The Times of London reported. However, in recent experiments, chimpanzees repeatedly helped humans who appeared to be struggling to reach a stick within the animal's enclosure.

The chimps, which were interacting with humans who had not given them food, spontaneously helped the humans by reaching across and helping them get the stick.

The experiments were carried out among 36 chimpanzees at a sanctuary for the animals in Uganda.

Anthropologists cite altruism as a key to developing civilized and complex societies. Although altruism has been observed in many species, this recent experiment is special because it shows ability for one species to be altruistic with another species, the Times said.

Also see Synapostasy's coverage of Egnor's latest goalpost move. In the meantime I'll await Egnor's proof that chimps don't have a soul that is receiving signals from Deepak Chopra's mind-field.

Tags
Michael Egnor

More like this

Altruistic chimpanzees clearly help each other out
Two years ago, a group of Ugandan chimps provided a blow to the idea that humans are the only animals that truly behave selflessly to one another. These chimps showed clear signs of true selflessness, helping both human handlers and other unrelated chimps with no desire for reward. The question…
Michael Egnor = Deepak Chopra? You be the judge!
In blogging, there are some topics that I know that I really shouldn't bother with; yet, somehow they suck me in. A number of things can cause that. Perhaps it's a topic that just gets under my skin to the point where I can't hold back a commentary, even when I know that it might be wiser to remain…
But do chimps look forward to sex?
Our closest extant relatives have received a fair bit of attention in the past few days, with the publication of two new studies which have been picked up by numerous news outlets. First came the study by Fraser et al, which shows that chimps, like humans, console each other with physical contact…
Three swings, three misses
Regular readers of this blog may have noticed that it's been quite a while since I've featured the antics of a certain character who's become a bit of the bête noire of my fellow surgeons. I'm referring, of course, to Dr. Michael Egnor, a renowned neurosurgeon from SUNY Stony Brook who's made 2007…

Souls? Please, if you don't mean an immaterial and eternal essence that inhabits one's body, don't use that word. We have enough equivocation problems as it is.

Thanks for the link, cap'n!

As for the altruistic chimps, I'd be curious to see to what extent the chimps will endure a loss to help a human achieve a gain. Maybe run a low-level electric current through the floor of the cage where the stick is, so the chimp would have to experience some pain in order to help the human?