Philip Bethge

Tag: intelligence

  • Flipper Fail: Dolphins May be Dumber Than We Think

    For decades, it’s been common knowledge that dolphins are among the world’s smartest species. Now some researchers — and a new book — argue the supposed underwater geniuses aren’t so special after all.

    By Philip Bethge

    Their social lives are complex, and they can congregate in large groups. Their heart rates increase when they notice a family member suffering. They sound the alarm when they discover food or a potential threat. And experiments have shown they even anticipate future events.

    Biologist Justin Gregg is talking about chickens.

    Chickens, says Gregg, “are not as dim-witted as popular opinion would have us believe.” He adds, “Some of these complex behaviors have also been observed in dolphins.”

    Really? Are chickens as smart as dolphins? Or, to put it differently: “Are dolphins really smart?” This is the question Gregg, a zoologist with the US-based Dolphin Communication Project, asks in his new book of the same name. And he isn’t the only one finding fault with Flipper’s brainpower.

    For more than 50 years, the dolphin has been viewed as an especially intelligent creature, grouped together with human beings and great apes. But now a dispute on the subject has erupted among scientists, and the smart aleck of the seas may end up being just an average mammal. “We put them on a pedestal for no reason and projected a lot of our desires and wishes on them,” says neuroethologist Paul Manger of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. According to the professor, the claims that dolphins have a particularly complex brain, use a sophisticated language, are self-aware and can use tools are nonsense.

    In some cases, says Manger, dolphins — which are small whales — are even outdone by goldfish. When goldfish are placed in a bowl, he explains, they at least try to escape by boldly jumping out, whereas dolphins that have been captured in nets won’t even think of jumping to freedom. “The idea of the exceptionally intelligent dolphin is a myth,” Manger concludes.

    Origins of the Dolphin Myth

    In the 1950s, physician and neuroscientist John Lilly played the crucial role in the elevation of dolphins from the status of stupid, fish-like creatures with excellent swimming skills to that of underwater know-it-all. In eerie-sounding experiments, Lilly attached electrodes to the brains of living dolphins to stimulate neurons. One day, a dolphin hooked up to his equipment began making loud noises as it approached its horrible death. When Lilly slowed down and played back the audio recordings, he concluded the dolphin was trying to communicate with its tormenters.

    After further experiments, Lilly became convinced dolphins had a human-like faculty of speech and attempted to establish contact with the marine mammals. His desire to communicate was so great he administered LSD to himself and the dolphins in the hopes of stimulating conversation.

    He soon moved to the American West Coast, where he became a spiritual leader of the hippy generation and wrote books in which he combined New Age ideology with half-baked dolphin research. The animals, Lilly gushed, were “more intelligent than any man or woman.” He even attributed them philosophy, ethics and an “ancient vocal history.”

    Lilly’s muddled legacy shapes our image of dolphins to this day. Artists paint watercolors of the animals swimming through outer space. In popular lore, dolphins serve as ambassadors of peace and unconditional love, and, the more out-there believe they possess miraculous healing powers and can teleport space-age settlers to Mars. Behavioral scientists, along with most reasonable people, agree this is all nonsense. Still, the size of dolphins’ intellect remains a matter of dispute.

    What’s a Big Brain Worth?

    One measure scientists use to determine a creature’s intelligence is brain size — given the theory that the more a brain weighs relative to the body, the smarter the animal. A human brain, which weighs about 1,300 grams (46 oz.), makes up about 2 percent of body weight. A chimpanzee’s brain comprises 0.9 percent of its weight, while the corresponding number in elephants, with their brains weighing in at more than 4.5 kilograms (9.9 lbs.), is 0.2 percent. Dolphins do well by comparison. The brain of a bottle-nosed dolphin, for example, weighs more than 1,800 grams, or 0.9 percent of its average body weight.

    It seems logical that dolphins deserve to be included in the animal Mensa Society. But does a large brain mean the same in marine mammals as it does in terrestrial animals? In 2006, Paul Manger noted that whales developed a large brain in order to keep the organ from becoming hypothermic, and thereby useless, in cold water.

    Manger described an unusually high density of so-called glial cells in the animals’ brain matter. He explained that these cells act like tiny ovens to keep the brain warm. Besides, he added, dolphins have a relatively simple brain structure, and noted: “The essential features of complex neural processing of information, as observed in other mammals, are missing or poorly developed.”

    No Better Than Mealworms?

    Manger has now upped the ante with a new paper in which he claims behavioral studies involving dolphins are flawed and therefore not very informative. For instance, while zoologists have observed that dolphins can distinguish between the concepts “many” and “few,” Manger notes: “This has also been demonstrated in yellow mealworms.”

    On the other hand, some bottle-nosed dolphins on Australia’s west coast have learned to hold sponges over their snouts while they root around on the ocean floor. Is this a case of tool-use, indicating a high level of intelligence? Manger is skeptical. “Exactly what the dolphins do with the sponges remains unknown,” he says, noting that the evidence they use them as tools is “flimsy.”

    Another example is dolphins’ alleged talent for language. In one experiment, researchers were able to teach bottle-nosed dolphins 40 symbols. The animals were even capable of correctly interpreting combinations of the symbols, Manger admits, but African grey parrots and California sea lions can also learn this type of symbol-based language.

    The scientific community is similarly divided over what zoologist Gregg calls “Dolphinese.” It is known that every dolphin can identify itself with its own “signature whistle.” The marine mammals use many other acoustic signals, he adds. But is this truly special? The tail-wagging dance of bees is also very complex, says Gregg. “It’s probably not the case that dolphins have their own language, which is as complex as human language,” says the expert in animal communication.

    Dolphin Defenders

    So is the dolphin actually the dummy of the seas? Most dolphin researchers are offended by such remarks. “To put it bluntly, most of that is bullshit,” says Karsten Brensing, a marine biologist with the organization Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC). Manger and Gregg are losing sight of the “total package” when they compare the marine mammals’ individual abilities with those of mealworms or bees, he says. “You can use similar arguments to prove that people aren’t intelligent.”

    Lori Marino, a neuroscientist at Emory University in Atlanta, also has strong objections to Manger and Gregg’s conclusions. “We shouldn’t dismiss decades of peer-reviewed scientific work,” she says, noting there are overwhelming indications that dolphins possess a high degree of intelligence. For instance, scientists have observed how the animals work together to encircle schools of fish. To cultivate relationships, they spoil each other with their own form of “petting” behavior. And in a struggle for power, males will join together to form networks.

    Marino even believes that dolphins can recognize themselves. In a famous experiment, she and psychologist Diana Reiss drew markings on the bodies of two dolphins. Then they held up a mirror to the animals. They were fascinated to observe the animals turning around like divas in front of the mirror, presumably to examine their new body decorations.

    For Marino, this is evidence of self-recognition, similar to what has been observed among great apes. She and other scientists even want to see the animals given the legal status of persons and granted “some fundamental rights,” such as the right to bodily integrity.

    None of this convinces Manger, who has a low opinion of Marino’s mirror experiment. “The visual acuity of dolphins is actually not good enough to be able to readily perceive such marks,” he says, and is critical of what he calls “serious deficiencies” in the design of the experiment.

    Stop Calling Them ‘Special’

    Manger is accustomed to his theories being rebuffed. When he questioned the special features of the whale brain in 2006, dolphin fans called upon Manger’s university to suspend him. But he merely wants to prevent the marine mammals from being anthropomorphized. Interpretations of behavior based on “personal bias” are not helpful, says Manger. “Conservation strategies should not be based on unrealistic expectations.”

    Gregg’s primary objective is also to debunk the myth. “We have to stop describing them as ‘special’,” says Gregg.

    It is becoming increasingly apparent that the marine mammals’ intellectual abilities are by no means unique in the animal kingdom. “Many other species-from sharks to earwigs to rats-lead equally wondrous and worthy lives,” he writes.

    Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

  • SPIEGEL Interview with Al Gore: ‘I Am Optimistic’

    In a SPIEGEL interview, former US vice president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore, 61, discusses Barack Obama’s environmental policies, the endless push by lobbyists to derail reforms and his hopes for a global deal at the climate change summit in Copenhagen next month.

    SPIEGEL: Mr. Vice President, you write in your new book, “Our Choice,” (to be published in German translation on Nov. 23 as “Wir Haben Die Wahl”) that we have at our fingertips all of the tools that we need to solve the climate crisis. The only missing ingredient would be collective will. What makes it so hard for governments to implement change even though most people know what needs to be done?

    Gore: As human beings, we are vulnerable to confusing the unprecedented with the improbable. In our everyday experience, if something has never happened before, we are generally safe in assuming it is not going to happen in the future, but the excepti in Copenhagen next month.

    SPIEGEL: Mr. Vice President, you write in your new book, “Our Choice,” (to be published in German translation on Nov. 23 as “Wir Haben Die Wahl”) that we have at our fingertips all of the tools that we need to solve the climate crisis. The only missing ingredient would be collective will. What makes it so hard for governments to implement change even though most people know what needs to be done?

    Gore: As human beings, we are vulnerable to confusing the unprecedented with the improbable. In our everyday experience, if something has never happened before, we are generally safe in assuming it is not going to happen in the future, but the exceptions can kill you and climate change is one of those exceptions. Neuroscientists point out that we are inherently better able to respond quickly to the kinds of threats that our evolutionary ancestors survived — like other humans with weapons, snakes and spiders or fire. Also, there is a real-time lag between the causes of the climate crisis and its full manifestation. That makes it seem less urgent to many people… More

  • Who Needs Berlitz? British Savant Learns German in a Week

    Is it possible to learn German in just days? Linguistic savant Daniel Tammet managed to do so in the course of a week. Using his own special technique, the 30-year-old, who has a mild form of autism, has learned to speak more than 10 languages.

    Daniel Tammet likes the German language. It’s “like a clean room with good sharp corners, tidy and straightforward,” he says, yet at the same time it’s “poetic, transparent and elegant.”

    “Take, for example, words like bisschen (a little bit) or Löffelchen (a small spoon),” he adds. “I like this diminutive chen ending.”

    Or the word Gras, for grass: “I like that the first letter fits — for me words with ‘G’ are green,” says the young British man, before offering his signature thin smile. It’s a Thursday in Hamburg’s Hotel Wedina, and 30-year-old Tammet has four more days. By Monday, he plans to have learned enough German — after only a week’s training — to appear on the German television talk show “Beckmann” and speak fluently about brain research, autism and his new book.

    Tammet is a savant. As a child he had epileptic seizures. Doctors later diagnosed him with Asperger’s Syndrome, a mild form of autism. He mastered the world of emotions only through hard training.

    Numbers and foreign words, on the other hand, come to him naturally. He sees colors and shapes where most people see only plain words and numbers. He’s memorized the number pi to 22,514 digits. He knows instantly that January 10, 2017, will be a Tuesday. And he’s a fleet-footed traveler in the rocky terrain of languages.

    (—> read original article at SPIEGEL ONLINE International)

    Tammet can speak Romanian, Gaelic, Welsh and seven other languages. He learned Icelandic in a week for a TV documentary, at the end of which he gave a live interview on television. He felt somewhat nervous, but was able to speak quite fluently with the show’s host. He even dared to make a joke in Icelandic, which is generally dreaded for its complexity. He still speaks the language today.

    And last week, Tammet took a linguistic stroll through German’s convoluted sentences, had picnics in the genitive case and roamed through the language’s myriad plural forms. He did bring some rudimentary school German along for the journey. Nonetheless, his coaches were stunned.

    “It’s fascinating how he learns, especially because it’s almost impossible to comprehend,” said language coach Christiane Spies, who assisted Tammet the entire week. “I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

    Tammet first begins learning a language by reading for hours, especially children’s books. He murmurs the words quietly to himself, appearing calm and highly concentrated. At 1 p.m. on the dot he gets edgy — that’s lunchtime.

    In the afternoon, Tammet and Spies stroll through Hamburg, chatting about the history of the Hanseatic League, visiting museums and galleries. “He needs an incredible amount of fodder,” says Spies, “otherwise he gets bored quickly.” Tammet immediately links new words with ones he already knows: What is that called in other languages? Which expressions are similar?

    “Wolle” (wool), “Baumwolle” (cotton) and “Wolle spinnen” (to spin wool), he notes them all down in his small handwriting. That’s how it goes the whole time. Occasionally he pauses, apparently listening to his thoughts. “It doesn’t seem as though the learning process is an effort for him,” Spies says. But how is that possible?

    Tammet tries to explain it himself: “I learn new languages intuitively, like a child.” Grammar doesn’t interest him. Instead, he lets himself be carried along by the language, looking for patterns in the mess of sentences he hears, tying words together into related groups. “Small, round things often start with ‘Kn’ in German,” he says, pointing out Knoblauch (garlic), Knopf (button) and Knospe (bud). Then there are the long, thin things that often begin with “Str,” like Strand (beach), Strasse (street) and Strahlen (rays).

    “I try to develop a feeling of how each particular language works,” he says, adding that he’s helped in this pursuit by the fact that regions in his brain are connected in unusual ways. Most humans think in isolated categories, but for Tammet everything is networked. “When I think about words,” he says, “I take information from everywhere in my brain.” Emotions, colors and shapes all connect themselves with the words, allowing him to learn with incredible speed.

    Do his talents make Tammet unapproachably eccentric? His shyness is noticeable. And yet, in an almost uncanny way, he’s very likeable. He speaks in a soft, warm voice and, unexpectedly, maintains constant eye contact.

    Tammet wants to explain and make understandable to others the way that he sees the world. He wants to impart fun in learning, joy in numbers, words and thoughts. “I hope my experiences can help people to discover and develop their own talents,” he says. He adds, “Love is an accurate description of what I feel for languages.”

    “His nature is really touching,” says Spies, the language coach, “both his way of learning and the person as a whole.”

    “How small does a spoon have to be in order to be a ‘Löffelchen‘,” Tammet wants to know. How small must it be to receive that German diminutive “-chen“? A teaspoon isn’t small enough. Instead his eye lights on a tiny spoon in a salt shaker.

    So small. It’s certainly worth a -chen.

    (—> read original article at SPIEGEL ONLINE International)