These Parrots Aren't Just Parroting

Psalm 94:10
“He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?”

Researchers at Purdue University are demonstrating that parrots are capable of intelligent communication. Their carefully designed experiments have convinced even skeptics that the two parrots under study are not just giving conditioned responses. Their results are challenging the accepted scientific knowledge about animal intelligence and the evolutionary claim that intelligence is one of the traits that separate us from animals.

The parrots’ names are Griffin and Alex. Researchers can show Alex two triangles, one red and one green. They ask what’s different about them. Alex will answer, “Color.” When asked what’s similar about them, he will answer, “Shape.” If there is nothing similar, Alex even understands the concept of nothing. Asked what’s similar about the shapes, he will answer, “None.” Researchers say that about five percent of the time someone will mistakenly tell Alex that he has given a wrong answer when he has not. Alex, however, insists that his answer is right until the questioner discovers the mistake.

Both parrots can identify a wide range of objects. Both parrots are even picking up words they have not been systematically taught and are using them correctly. Once, when Griffin was having trouble pronouncing a new word, Alex turned to him and said, “Speak clearly.”

Evolutionists are now having to rethink the idea that intelligence separates us from animals. The fact that we were created in God’s image to have a relationship with Him is what really separates us from the animals.

Prayer:
I rejoice, dear Lord, that I can have a relationship with You. Amen.

Notes:
Discover, 1/00, “Polly Want a PhD?” Photo: Alex participating in a numerical cognition experiment. (Fair Use)