Mridula Anand | Week 14: Monkeys vs. Humans
I remember watching a video about a monkey, and for the purpose of a behavioral/psychological experiment,
it was performing certain tasks. One of the tasks was looking at an image with different objects on it and
recreating that same image, with the objects positioned in the same way as in the original image.
And this wasn’t even a special monkey or anything.
After watching this video, I could not help but think why can’t all humans do the same thing? I am sure that some can, but why can’t all of us do that? I mean, humans are supposed to be more evolved than monkeys, and why would there be a difference in this specific sector of remembering things?
So then, I searched it up. “Why do monkeys have better memory than humans?” I was not in need of an extremely accurate answer to this question that was up to date in research, so I clicked on the first article that I saw.
This article that I read mentions something exactly like what I was watching on YouTube. It describes a certain monkey who was able to recount the exact sequence of nine numbers previously presented, and explains that this seemingly insane ability is due to their “working” memory, or short term memory, which is superior to that of humans.
Well, why is this?
Monkeys, when not being studied in labs of course, are animals at the end of the day. They need to be able to survive in the wild, where predators are out to get them. Most of the time these instincts are inherent, however short term memory aids them in being able to discern what works and what doesn’t work, such as what food is good to eat and what food is not good to eat, and where their water and food sources are at.
For us humans, we are rarely in situations where we escape from predators, and therefore we don’t need that extremely short term memory. In this day and age, we can simply use our phones or a piece of paper to write down a phone number instead of remembering it, which also adds to why we don’t necessarily have to have that type of strong short term memory.
On the other hand, because the lives of humans frequently depend on connections with others as well as emotions, long term memory is prioritized in the human brain in order to foster each of these. We are brought up and surrounded by a world that is based on connections, and without memory of other people, we would not be able to properly develop ourselves.
So, are monkeys really better equipped than humans? Not necessarily, as both of these species have developed based on their necessities at the end of the day. No matter what, videos on YouTube showing the wide intelligence of monkeys will no doubt continue to fascinate me.
Whatsup Mridula! This is so interesting and shocking! I would have never imagined that humans would be less intellectually developed compared to actual monkeys! However, your explanation behind it makes a lot of sense. Nowadays, there's less application-based scenarios and external stimulus other than the technology we have created for ourselves. I like to think that we are less challenged and in some way a bit more "lazy" than our ancestors. Nichelle's previous blog post on AI's "grip on humanity" really serves a similar purpose. Due to the overdependency on technology, there is less confidence and reliance on one's skills. For me, it's kind of sad to hear this because although this is great for the monkeys, it speaks a lot about the direction of progress in which humans are going into. I think it would be interesting to perform more tests and see what other advantages monkeys have over us so it can serve as a wake-up call to strengthen certain aspects of our life. At the end of the day, human kind should be evolving, not the opposite. I seriously think this is such a well-written blog, though! I love it. Kudos!!
ReplyDeleteHi Mridula! This is a rather interesting blog post, straying away from the nostalgia other blog post writers have been writing about this quarter. I am aware to some extent that monkeys have similarities to us humans, and I appreciate how you draw the line between such species. Even when monkeys are able to possess a stronger short-term memory in comparison to humans, it still does not change the fact that they are animals at the end of the day and are continuously struggling to survive in the wild, and the “working” memory they possess definitely helps them with survival and being familiar with discerning what benefits them and what harms them. On the other hand, us humans do not need short-term memory as strong as monkeys because this time period we are living in allows for a more relaxed lifestyle that is not so threatened by predators and, as you said, we are brought up in a world that bases itself on connections; this develops our long-term memory and furthers our development. A very interesting examination of the capabilities of monkeys and humans and how they benefit them in the settings they are respectively based in, great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Mridula!
ReplyDeleteI was drawn to commenting on your blog post simply from the oddness of the title and picture. When reading this post I noticed how different it was from many of the other posts written about language and memory.
I personally have never seen the video you refer to throughout the post but after reading this, I feel like I truly did learn, enjoy, and truly understand the video and that I could even go out and teach people about it! I also enjoy how you seemed to try to answer a research question with supporting evidence through the video throughout the blog but show how some of the information may be misleading and cannot definitively say that monkeys are smarter than humans. Overall, I truly enjoyed reading what you wrote this week and I look forward to reading your blog post next week!
Hi Mridula! This was such a unique topic to focus your blog on, and a joy to read. I am not very familiar with the video that you have referenced in your blog. As you mentioned the differences between humans and monkeys, the realization really dawned upon me. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDelete