I saw this yesterday in another site and the chimp seems to exhibit surprisingly intelligent behavior in its reaction to the magic. Maybe its reactions are similar to what you would expect from a young child, but it is still very interesting.
I'll list out some things that I found intriguing.
1) In the one where the guy pours liquid into the opaque glass and then tilts it over the chimp's head, the chimp ducks his head in anticipation of getting wet, then looks puzzled and looks into the glass for the liquid. This requires some abstract thinking (very easy for humans but apparently easy for chimps too). I guess a child would react this way.
2) For the fake ear, the chimp tests it by keeping it next to his own ear. The chimp is aware that the fake ear represents a part of its body and tests it out.
3) In many of the coin vanishes, the chimp immediately looks at the other hand. Isn't that very similar to the way humans react when they see a coin vanish?
Overall, the chimp appears very puzzled and is desperately searching for an answer in most cases.
Im not doubting the intelligence of chimpanzees, far from it. They are incredibly intelligent, but they do not understand 'magic' as we do.
1) Yes the chimp does anticipate getting wet, that's obvious and then he looks in the cup for the liquid, naturally, because he assumes it's still in there. Not abstract thinking really. The liquid went into the cup, it certainly didn't come out, so it must still be in there. The fact that it has disappeared means nothing to him. He thinks it's still there. When he sees it's not, he isn't amazed nor does he really care, he just turns his attention to the confetti on the floor. In other words, the act of the liquid vanishing meant nothing to him. He did not see that as magic.
2) The chimp here is mimicking what the magician did. He isn't aware that it is a part of the body as such, all he knows is that the magician was holding it near the side of his head, so he feels he should do the same. Again, he is not amazed by the magic of the ear appearing, but is instead more intrigued by the item itself.
3)Yes this is similar to the way humans react, but as I said before, I don't doubt the chimpanzee is intelligent. But at no point was amazed or even momentarily surprised by what he saw. He saw the coin wasn't there, so looked somewhere else. Intelligence? yes. Experience of wonder? No
Like I said, chimps are intelligent, but they wonder about everything, so magic means nothing to them. Everything they see is amazing. To the chimp, the colored confetti on the floor drew just as much of his attention as the milk vanishing, if not more. The confetti was there so it was far more interesting than something that wasn't. He didn't care where it went and it never dawned on him that that wasn't right.
Interesting thoughts coming out here. I like intelligent conversation like this! Much better than ' What r the best cardz'??!? WHO CARES??? JUST BUY SOME BIKES AND GET ON WITH IT!!!
Sorry, little rant their! Ha ha!
Rev
