Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 11:49:14 +0000
From: Bruce Howlett <bhowlett@metz.une.edu.au>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Milk Bottles & Animal IQ
Ton Maas wrote:
>
> > I seem to recall a similar story in the southwestern United states
> >about coyotes and milk bottles, it might have been part of a Walt Disney
> >special many years ago. We have the crows story too, only I think we
> >have a lower number for how high they can count.
>
> I think Valla is correct. Seven is the figure Koehler and his fellow German
> gestalt-psychologists from the twenties came up with on the basis of their
> experiments with jackdaws.
This may seem an overly simplistic question considering the erudite
nature of this debate, but how come birds can count at all when humans
have to be taught this skill?
Next question: Does memetic theory explain instinct? I have read some
posts which use instinct as a separate concept.
Regards,
Bruce Howlett :-)
===============================================================
This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit