The first thing that surprised me was in one of the “What Does it Mean to Be Human?” short videos which showed chimpanzees “speaking” a signed language. This fact completely baffled me. Sign language is such a rich and complex form of communication utilizing both motor skills and language skills in the brain. To see our closest relatives displaying these same neurological and behavioral complexities is extraordinary. I’d be really interested in looking into this further. Complex communication as we know it may well have started as a signed language. Even in the film, “The New Chimpanzee”, we saw the chimps communicating their feelings and needs to one another through various gestures. The film particularly noted how they rub a leaf to show they want to be groomed and how the males would tear leaves up before intending to display aggression. These are forms of communicating their needs and emotions to the rest of the individuals in their group.

A different aspect of language that I found really interesting was in the chimpanzee film. The researcher noted that there may be subtle complexities in the pant-hoot calls that we can’t pick up. This is a distinctly learned cultural difference. In my studies of psychology and language development, I’ve learned that even as humans, we have difficulties picking up the subtle differences in sounds in our own languages. I saw a video in the past that showed young children of American and Indian cultural backgrounds either struggling or succeeding in picking out the subtle differences in sounds of a Hindi dialect. It’s so interesting to see that these other animals have developed their own cultures and forms of communication. Comparing the work of the pant-hoot research to the work of distinguishing sounds in human languages solidifies that language, and the sounds that accompany that language, are learned cultural practices.

Another form of culture the film mentioned was the use of tools. If you look at human world history, points, where we see major interactions between groups was, were information, tools, resources, and knowledge was exchanged. This is the exchange of culture. And researchers have seen these same patterns with chimpanzee populations. The film noted that some groups of chimps use tools in certain ways and others do not. This is the same exact pattern that we see with humans! This research may be able to be applied to other complex organism populations. Maybe other complex species have these similar patterns of information exchange? It unites us as organisms.

Cultural exchanges, for example, of tools, language, gestures, practices, is how we see patterns of cultural evolution. Seeing all the same patterns in humans and our primate relatives are how we reflect on our existence on this planet. Studying the behaviors and capabilities of non-human primates strips away the superiority complex humans have as organisms on Earth. Yes, humans have all these complex processes and ways of thinking, but chimpanzees and other animals do too. Primate research, I think, helps to remove superiority biases and helps humans to look at themselves and their behaviors in more humbling and “primitive” ways.