Jerry Monaco wrote:
>
> JM: "I do wish that you would deal with some of my specific questions...."
>
> James: I think I have, you just don't like the answers.
>
> Please point to me where you answered the following questions. Either the
> email was lost or I missed it.
>
> JM: [ ...] And how do you know that chimpanzees don't create a 'mental
> > picture' of how they want to change their environment before they do it? We
> > know that chimpanzees have mirror neurons, because mirror neurons were first
> > discovered in non-human primates (a macaque monkey, actually, but later
> > chimpanzees.) This is evidence of forming 'mental pictures', though we
> > really don't know what mental pictures actually are, in any complete sense.
Perhaps James is innocent of what a mirror neuron is. I'm sure I knew at one time but drew a blank when reading Jerry's post. Here, for what it's worth, is part of the Wikipedia presentation:
A mirror neuron is a neuron which fires both when an animal performs an action and when the animal observes the same action performed by another (especially conspecific) animal. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of another animal, as though the observer were itself performing the action. These neurons have been directly observed in primates, and are believed to exist in humans and in some birds. In humans, brain activity consistent with mirror neurons has been found in the premotor cortex and the inferior parietal cortex. Some scientists consider mirror neurons one of the most important findings of neuroscience in the last decade. Among them is V.S. Ramachandran[1], who believes they might be very important in imitation and language acquisition. However, despite the popularity of this field, to date no plausible neural or computational models have been put forward to describe how mirror neuron activity supports cognitive functions such as imitation. Introduction
In the monkey, mirror neurons are found in the ventral premotor cortex (probably the equivalent of the inferior frontal gyrus in humans) and in the anterior inferior parietal lobule. These neurons are active when the monkeys perform certain tasks, but they also fire when the monkeys watches or hears someone else perform the same specific task. Researchers using fMRI, TMS, and EEG have found evidence of a similar system (matching observations with actions), in the human brain.
The function of the mirror system is a subject of much speculation. These neurons may be important for understanding the actions of other people, and for learning new skills by imitation. Some researchers also speculate that mirror systems may simulate observed actions, and thus contribute to our theory of mind skills, [2] [3] while others relate mirror neurons to language abilities.[4] It has also been proposed that problems with the mirror system may underlie cognitive disorders, in particular autism.[5][6]
Research into all of these possibilities is ongoing.
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This capacity, I would guess, would be more essential than speech even for developing a "culture." And it is clear that culture long preceded not only the invention of speech but the appearance of biologically modern humans. So whether or not chimpanzees have culture, culture certainly was possessed by a number of pre-human species.
Carrol
Carrol