Well, that might be true of human language—though I’m not sure about the case of sign language for apes in captivity. Part of the problem is the physiological ability to make the sounds needed for human language. The other species simply lack that ability for the most part.
But how about flipping that view. Has any human been able to learn any language any other species might use? Sea mammals (dolphin, whales) appear to have some form of vocal communications. Similarly, I’ve at least heard stories that wolves also seem to communicate. Anecdotally, I have witnessed what I would take as an indication of communication between two of the dogs we used to have.
My hypothesis might be somewhat along the line of most social/pack animals will have some communication mechanisms, for many that will likely be auditory but perhaps in some settings the non-”verbal” might dominate[1], that is, some level of language. Until we have the ability to establish that one way or another we probably need to keep an open mind on these types of questions (level of intelligence and cross species comparisons.
[1] For instance, do octopi have the ability to communicate with one another visually.
Note—I’m using communicate to indicate more than merely signally some state—aggressive, wary/threatened, sexually active/interested. Until we could decode such communications we will not really be able to say anything about the level of information exchanges or the underlying thinking, if any, associated with it.
Well, that might be true of human language—though I’m not sure about the case of sign language for apes in captivity. Part of the problem is the physiological ability to make the sounds needed for human language. The other species simply lack that ability for the most part.
But how about flipping that view. Has any human been able to learn any language any other species might use? Sea mammals (dolphin, whales) appear to have some form of vocal communications. Similarly, I’ve at least heard stories that wolves also seem to communicate. Anecdotally, I have witnessed what I would take as am indication of communication between two of the dogs we used to have.
Those are decent points. Not enough to sell me but enough to make me take it more seriously.
Well, that might be true of human language—though I’m not sure about the case of sign language for apes in captivity. Part of the problem is the physiological ability to make the sounds needed for human language. The other species simply lack that ability for the most part.
But how about flipping that view. Has any human been able to learn any language any other species might use? Sea mammals (dolphin, whales) appear to have some form of vocal communications. Similarly, I’ve at least heard stories that wolves also seem to communicate. Anecdotally, I have witnessed what I would take as an indication of communication between two of the dogs we used to have.
My hypothesis might be somewhat along the line of most social/pack animals will have some communication mechanisms, for many that will likely be auditory but perhaps in some settings the non-”verbal” might dominate[1], that is, some level of language. Until we have the ability to establish that one way or another we probably need to keep an open mind on these types of questions (level of intelligence and cross species comparisons.
[1] For instance, do octopi have the ability to communicate with one another visually.
Note—I’m using communicate to indicate more than merely signally some state—aggressive, wary/threatened, sexually active/interested. Until we could decode such communications we will not really be able to say anything about the level of information exchanges or the underlying thinking, if any, associated with it.
Those are decent points. Not enough to sell me but enough to make me take it more seriously.