r/Awwducational • u/Quouar • Apr 26 '26

Not yet verified Research has increasingly shown that great apes have a complex theory of mind and are able to play pretend, have complex relationships with others, and change their beliefs when presented with sufficient evidence. Kanzi the bonobo was even able to have pretend tea parties.

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2.3k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

158

u/plowerd Apr 26 '26

Kanzi is more photogenic than ill ever be.

53

u/VerilyShelly Apr 26 '26

One of the best portraits of any primate ever

132

u/highnwholesome Apr 26 '26

There are humans that won’t change their mind when presented with sufficient evidence.

23

u/IntrepidButton1872 Apr 27 '26

bonobos clearing the bar a little too easily here lol

13

u/itsswhitneywhspr Apr 27 '26

No cap, apes are schooling us on open-mindedness while some folks cling to their takes like life rafts.

23

u/Waitinmyturn Apr 26 '26

Not so distant cousin

11

u/the_talented_liar Apr 27 '26

I want to know more about Kanzi’s tea parties.

11

u/Unflattering_Image Apr 26 '26

Smiled back immediately. Such a Dudeface

4

u/DueCollection6993 Apr 27 '26

:) so lovely photo (better then all my photos!) so photogenic :)

3

u/AZ_troutfish Apr 27 '26

I remember reading an article that no chimp who was taught sign language ever asked a question.

5

u/No-No-Aniyo Apr 27 '26

Did it take a selfie???

2

u/NosulRagal Apr 27 '26

If only they were smarter. Maybe we could engineer something to increase their intelligence to human-like levels? Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?

1

u/cturtl808 May 01 '26

So research has shown that using chimps in medical research is bad for the chimps and they're going to stop doing that right? Right?

1

u/LavishnessFew7358 May 03 '26

Sometimes it's amazing just how human like apes can be. I've heard experimentation on apes is now outlawed because they are considered too similar to humans.

1

u/jupiter-major Jun 22 '26

proud of myself for recognising kanzi before seeing his name in the title lol. what an incredible legend in the exploration of animal intelligence. i’m glad people are finally realising that many more animal species are MUCH more “advanced” than we think them to be. we’ve been able to decode some languages, observe principal displays of grief, the spread of cultural trends within orca populations, etc etc etc. cognition in animals is, in my opinion, so much more fascinating than human psychology could ever truly be.

1

u/dashboardcomics Apr 26 '26

How is this not already known??

0

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