05-25-2025, 12:14 PM
The author is a scientist and Alex was an African Grey Parrot. She worked with him (and a couple of other birds) for years on language experiments. DM might have read something about this when he was at UCSC. It turned out that the parrots had more language understanding than anyone thought possible, and had abilities that were previously thought only to exist in primates. Alex could understand labels for shapes and colors, and even learned Arabic numbers, for instance understanding that the numeral 5 represented a greater quantity that three physical objects. Amusingly, he also picked up phrases from the lab staff and used them in the correct context - such as saying "Pay attention!" when no one responded to him.
Probably not DOOM recommended unless you have an interest in animal intelligence experiments, but it was a quick and entertaining read.
Probably not DOOM recommended unless you have an interest in animal intelligence experiments, but it was a quick and entertaining read.
the hands that guide me are invisible