Do you think that some apes have emotions like humans?

[xdisciplex]

Once I read something about apes which they did tests with. These apes were trained and obviously also pretty intelligent. And then the woman which worked with them became pregnant and the ape realized this. Later on she lost her child and the ape also noticed and then she told him what happened using signs and symbols which the ape understood. And then the ape pointed with his finger at the symbol which stood for crying. This means that he was somehow able to comprehend how this woman must have felt or maybe he also wanted to express his own feelings, I don't know.
I read about this on the internet last year but I don't know the URL anymore otherwise I would simply have posted a link. Anyway, do you think that apes can have feelings like humans? Do you think apes can love like humans? This would suck, wouldn't it? Because apes are not like humans. If apes could love like humans then this would seem as if humans and apes were only separated by the few differences in their dna.
Somehow this is a scary thought. I mean what do you think would happen if scientists could create apes which are as intelligent as humans, do you think they would speak and behave like humans just as in the movie "the planet of the apes"?

 

[webdog]

Scientists can only do what God allows them to do. If He wants talking apes, He will allow it. The one thing you have to understand is, humans and apes are separated by a lot more than DNA. As intelligent as any animal becomes, or are altered, they will still be just that...animals. Humans aren't animals. As far as the ability to love, my little Cairn Terrier loves me more than some people I know. Animals have pretty much the same emotions...anger...sadness...excitement, but they are never on the same plane as humans, and were not created in God's image as we were.

 

[ex-nihilo]

What the ape actually did was respond using a hand sign in reply to another hand sign that was acquired through repetition. In other words the ape was trained to respond to a particular hand signal with another specific hand signal. So he did not think through an emotional response to the situation. He only responded with what he was trained to resond with.

ex-nihilo

 

[Jim1999]

Many shy away from animal's facilties because of their inherent fear of evolution. I personally think animals and humans reason in diffrent ways. For example, the dog is part of a pack and everything done with a dog relates to that mentality. When giving directions to a dog, the human must become the leader of the pack and give instructions as would a pack leader. They don't interact by reason, but by inherent instincts relating to the pack.

Scientific demonstrations are just rote in action..tap hoof one time, two times, three times..the sound of the words and not the words themselves. The same is true with apes. They did not learn to type, but simply to copy an action. They have never trained an ape to take phone messages.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[genesis12]

Apes obviously have emotions based upon the "fight or flight, or do nothing" model. When they fight, they are violent. When they flee, they are frightened. Fighting and fear, or the lack of it, are the motivators. There are times when they do nothing, as when foraging with humans very close by. But just try to approach one of their young.

Emotions are "energy in motion." We humans can direct our energy productively; we often fail to do that, as in war and road rage. We have the ability to think it over. An ape's energy is spontaneous fight or flight or do nothing.

Is that the mark of borderline intelligence / emotions? Of course it is. Does that have significance for us? Only that we understand it. No ape or any other animal is going to be visited by the Holy Spirit with an eye to following Jesus.

Will some scientist try to make an ape "smarter" by tinkering with its brain? Probably. Am I concerned about that? No. They haven't had much luck tinkering with the human brain. If intelligent apes invite me to a picnic, I won't go. If they storm my home, I'll take of few of them with me. Do I think either of those events will actually happen? No. Am I going to walk in fear that they might? Never. Greater is He that is in me. I have no fear, my worldly cares are few. I can depend on Him to see me through. Far better to gain spiritual insight into His Word than tinker with ideas that approach silliness. Remember my thoughts in another post? Garbage in, garbage out. There's no room for garbage in Him. :thumbs:

 

[Heavenly Pilgrim]

I am not sure about emotions, but I did hear that some might in fact have relatives related to apes.

A couple was in a heated argument on the way to the zoo with their children. The fight had gotten so intense that the emotions generated lasted throughout their zoo encounter. As they passed the primate exhibit, the husband exclaimed, “ Your relatives must be related to those apes!” To which the wife quickly replied, “As a matter of fact I do, INLAWS!”

 

[billwald]

my dog shows emotions like humans

My dog shows emotions like humans.

The chimps at Central Washington University communicate in ASL and "sign" emotions.

 

[Jim1999]

The poem I heard some years ago comes to mind...I may not quote it exactly, but here goes:

Two monkies sitting in a tree
Discussing things that are said to be,
Says one to the other, "The dire disgrace,
That man thinks he comes from this noble race."

Cheers,

Jim

 

[Brother Bob]

Not the one I heard about two monkeys but "oh well".

I know some humans who act like apes.

 

[xdisciplex]

Can animals cry? Does anybody know this?
But animals can be sad. I think if a baby elephant dies the other elephants are pretty sad. Is this simply instinct? Are they programmed to be sad if a baby elephant dies? Dogs also become totally depressed if their owner dies. Aren't these real emotions or is it only an instinct?
But if it's instinct why do some animals react different than others? Lions for example even kill their own offspring. Did God implant this instinct in them? Somehow this is strange. On the one hand there are animals which are very compassionate and caring and there are also animals which protect other animals of a different species in dangerous situations but on the other hand there are also really cruel things which animals do to their own kind. If now christians point out to these positive things then what about the negative things? If God created something like a mother instinct in animals then he also created all these other things like for examples lions killing their own offspring.

 

[Brother Bob]

I have a dashound that when the wife and I leave to go somewhere goes into complete depression will not look at us when we are getting ready and when we get in the car it is looking out the window. My wife and I both believes that she cries for we have wiped the tears and her nose trying to tell her we will be right back. We are getting old and now we can't hardly go anywhere because of the depression of the little dog. BTW, her name is "Baby". In case you want to send her a gift or something. :thumbs:

 

[Jim1999]

Perhaps, in the beginning God created, but then allowed animals and humans to adapt to their current and evolving environment. In my 79 years, I have seen changes in both animals and humans, that I wouldn't even imagine some 60 years ago. We adapted to those changes over time.

Some get so paranoid about evolution and its theories that they throw the baby out with the bathwater, to use an old worn out expression.

There is a fact of environmental and circumstantial evolution within the species, and to deny this is to deny existence.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[webdog]

I think it was in Randy Alcorn's book Heaven where he mentioned the possibility of animals talking in the garden of Eden. His point was in the fact that Eve spoke to the serpent, and it seemed like a normal, daily occurance (no shock factor that a serpent could speak). This along with Baalam's donkey being given the ability to speak once, not far removed from the garden. I wonder if this was one of those things that the fall changed.