Will the first chimp dish be s'mores?
Photo: The Chive
A s'more (sometimes spelled smore) is a traditional nighttime campfire treat popular in the United States, and more recently, Canada, consisting of a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker.
By Reuters
June 3, 2015
NEW YORK: They’re not likely to start barbecuing in the rainforest, but chimpanzees can understand the concept of cooking and are willing to postpone eating raw food, even carrying food some distance to cook it rather than eat immediately, scientists reported on Tuesday.
The findings, based on nine experiments conducted at the Tchimpounga Sanctuary in Republic of Congo and published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggest that chimps have all the brainpower needed to cook, including planning, causal understanding, and ability to postpone gratification.
They do lack the ability to produce fire. [Pundita Note: We know from Survivor that many humans can't make a fire, either] But if they were given a source of heat, chimps “might be quite able to manipulate (it) to cook,” said developmental psychologist Felix Warneken of Harvard University, who conducted the study with Alexandra Rosati.
[Discussion early humans and cooking]
Some of the experiments confirmed studies by other scientists, such as that chimps prefer seared sweet potatoes to raw. But those tests did not test whether chimps have the mental chops to cook.
However, other tests did. For instance, the scientists presented chimps with two containers. One yielded cooked food through a false bottom, not actually cooking, and one did not.
The chimps learned that one transforms potatoes from raw to cooked. Given a choice of which device to put food in, they almost always opted for the “cooker,” showing they understood and willingly waited for the raw-to-cooked transformation.
Chimps did not put pieces of wood that scientists gave them into the cooker, suggesting they grasped that only food can be cooked.
Surprisingly, since chimps usually eat food immediately, they were often willing to walk across a room to cook. When the first one did this, the scientists wondered if they had a single “chimpanzee genius,” Warneken said. But others showed the same ability, understanding the idea of cooking and postponing gratification to do it.
There was no evidence, however, that they understood the concept of tipping. [Pundita Note: There is much evidence that many human diners don't understand the concept of tipping, either]
NEW YORK: They’re not likely to start barbecuing in the rainforest, but chimpanzees can understand the concept of cooking and are willing to postpone eating raw food, even carrying food some distance to cook it rather than eat immediately, scientists reported on Tuesday.
The findings, based on nine experiments conducted at the Tchimpounga Sanctuary in Republic of Congo and published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggest that chimps have all the brainpower needed to cook, including planning, causal understanding, and ability to postpone gratification.
They do lack the ability to produce fire. [Pundita Note: We know from Survivor that many humans can't make a fire, either] But if they were given a source of heat, chimps “might be quite able to manipulate (it) to cook,” said developmental psychologist Felix Warneken of Harvard University, who conducted the study with Alexandra Rosati.
[Discussion early humans and cooking]
Some of the experiments confirmed studies by other scientists, such as that chimps prefer seared sweet potatoes to raw. But those tests did not test whether chimps have the mental chops to cook.
However, other tests did. For instance, the scientists presented chimps with two containers. One yielded cooked food through a false bottom, not actually cooking, and one did not.
The chimps learned that one transforms potatoes from raw to cooked. Given a choice of which device to put food in, they almost always opted for the “cooker,” showing they understood and willingly waited for the raw-to-cooked transformation.
Chimps did not put pieces of wood that scientists gave them into the cooker, suggesting they grasped that only food can be cooked.
Surprisingly, since chimps usually eat food immediately, they were often willing to walk across a room to cook. When the first one did this, the scientists wondered if they had a single “chimpanzee genius,” Warneken said. But others showed the same ability, understanding the idea of cooking and postponing gratification to do it.
There was no evidence, however, that they understood the concept of tipping. [Pundita Note: There is much evidence that many human diners don't understand the concept of tipping, either]
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