The chimpanzee experiment is important in showing humans are not alone in observational learning, allowing the many to benefit from major advances invented by the few, but it seems all the more remarkable to discover that the same is true of the humble bumblebee.

If this is true for animals as different as the ape and the bee, traditional ideas about what makes human culture different to animals are going to need some rethinking.

  • @thantik
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    7 months ago

    We’ve known this forever. About Corvids, Dolphins, etc too. People haven’t held the belief that “Only Humans Learn Complex Behaviors from others” – since like the 1980s…probably waaaaaay earlier than that.

    • SonyOPM
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      7 months ago

      Those experiments to determine whether bee’s or chimps could learn 'from others of their own species ’ how to solve complex puzzles current human understanding considered to be out with their capabilities were rather pointless then !