ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Susan Savage-Rumbaugh - Primate authority
Susan Savage-Rumbaugh has made startling breakthroughs in her lifelong work with chimpanzees and bonobos, showing the animals to be adept in picking up language and other "intelligent" behaviors.

Why you should listen

Into the great debate over intelligence and instinct -- over what makes us human -- Susan Savage-Rumbaugh has thrown a monkey wrench. Her work with apes has forced a new way of looking at what traits are truly and distinctly human, and new questions about whether some abilities we attribute to "species" are in fact due to an animal's social environment. She believes culture and tradition, in many cases more than biology, can account for differences between humans and other primates.

Her bonobo apes, including a superstar named Kanzi, understand spoken English, interact, and have learned to execute tasks once believed limited to humans -- such as starting and controlling a fire. They aren't trained in classic human-animal fashion. Like human children, the apes learn by watching. "Parents really don't know how they teach their children language," she has said. "Why should I have to know how I teach Kanzi language? I just act normal around him, and he learns it."

Her latest book is Kanzi's Primal Language: The Cultural Initiation of Primates into Language.

Also, in 2011, she was named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People


 

More profile about the speaker
Susan Savage-Rumbaugh | Speaker | TED.com
TED2004

Susan Savage-Rumbaugh: The gentle genius of bonobos

Filmed:
2,759,598 views

Savage-Rumbaugh's work with bonobo apes, which can understand spoken language and learn tasks by watching, forces the audience to rethink how much of what a species can do is determined by biology -- and how much by cultural exposure.
- Primate authority
Susan Savage-Rumbaugh has made startling breakthroughs in her lifelong work with chimpanzees and bonobos, showing the animals to be adept in picking up language and other "intelligent" behaviors. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:25
I work with a species called "Bonobo."
0
0
3000
00:28
And I'm happy most of the time,
1
3000
2000
00:30
because I think this is the happiest species on the planet.
2
5000
3000
00:33
It's kind of a well-kept secret.
3
8000
3000
00:36
This species lives only in the Congo.
4
11000
2000
00:38
And they're not in too many zoos, because of their sexual behavior.
5
13000
6000
00:44
Their sexual behavior is too human-like
6
19000
2000
00:46
for most of us to be comfortable with.
7
21000
2000
00:48
(Laughter)
8
23000
1000
00:49
But --
9
24000
1000
00:50
(Laughter)
10
25000
1000
00:51
actually, we have a lot to learn from them, because they're a very
11
26000
5000
00:56
egalitarian society and they're a very empathetic society.
12
31000
4000
01:00
And sexual behavior is not confined to one aspect of their life
13
35000
4000
01:04
that they sort of set aside.
14
39000
3000
01:07
It permeates their entire life.
15
42000
2000
01:09
And it's used for communication.
16
44000
3000
01:12
And it's used for conflict resolution.
17
47000
2000
01:14
And I think perhaps somewhere in our history we sort of,
18
49000
4000
01:18
divided our lives up into lots of parts.
19
53000
3000
01:21
We divided our world up with lots of categories.
20
56000
4000
01:25
And so everything sort of has a place that it has to fit.
21
60000
3000
01:28
But I don't think that we were that way initially.
22
63000
4000
01:32
There are many people who think that the animal world is hard-wired
23
67000
4000
01:36
and that there's something very, very special about man.
24
71000
4000
01:40
Maybe it's his ability to have causal thought.
25
75000
4000
01:44
Maybe it's something special in his brain
26
79000
3000
01:47
that allows him to have language.
27
82000
2000
01:49
Maybe it's something special in his brain
28
84000
3000
01:52
that allows him to make tools or to have mathematics.
29
87000
5000
01:57
Well, I don't know. There were Tasmanians who were discovered
30
92000
6000
02:03
around the 1600s and they had no fire.
31
98000
4000
02:07
They had no stone tools.
32
102000
3000
02:10
To our knowledge they had no music.
33
105000
3000
02:14
So when you compare them to the Bonobo,
34
109000
3000
02:19
the Bonobo is a little hairier.
35
114000
2000
02:21
He doesn't stand quite as upright.
36
116000
4000
02:26
But there are a lot of similarities.
37
121000
2000
02:29
And I think that as we look at culture,
38
124000
4000
02:33
we kind of come to understand
39
128000
3000
02:36
how we got to where we are.
40
131000
2000
02:38
And I don't really think it's in our biology;
41
133000
3000
02:41
I think we've attributed it to our biology,
42
136000
2000
02:43
but I don't really think it's there.
43
138000
3000
02:46
So what I want to do now is introduce you
44
141000
2000
02:48
to a species called the Bonobo.
45
143000
2000
02:52
This is Kanzi.
46
147000
2000
02:54
He's a Bonobo.
47
149000
2000
02:56
Right now, he's in a forest in Georgia.
48
151000
3000
02:59
His mother originally came from a forest in Africa.
49
154000
4000
03:03
And she came to us when she was just at puberty,
50
158000
4000
03:07
about six or seven years of age.
51
162000
2000
03:10
Now this shows a Bonobo on your right,
52
165000
2000
03:12
and a chimpanzee on your left.
53
167000
1000
03:14
Clearly, the chimpanzee has a little bit harder time of walking.
54
169000
4000
03:18
The Bonobo, although shorter than us and their arms still longer,
55
173000
4000
03:22
is more upright, just as we are.
56
177000
4000
03:26
This shows the Bonobo compared to an australopithecine like Lucy.
57
181000
5000
03:31
As you can see, there's not a lot of difference
58
186000
3000
03:34
between the way a Bonobo walks
59
189000
2000
03:36
and the way an early australopithecine would have walked.
60
191000
4000
03:40
As they turn toward us you'll see
61
195000
2000
03:42
that the pelvic area of early australopithecines is a little flatter
62
197000
5000
03:47
and doesn't have to rotate quite so much from side to side.
63
202000
4000
03:51
So the -- the bipedal gait is a little easier.
64
206000
2000
03:53
And now we see all four.
65
208000
2000
03:56
Video: Narrator: The wild Bonobo lives in central Africa, in the jungle
66
211000
4000
04:00
encircled by the Congo River.
67
215000
3000
04:05
Canopied trees as tall as 40 meters, 130 feet,
68
220000
4000
04:09
grow densely in the area.
69
224000
4000
04:13
It was a Japanese scientist
70
228000
3000
04:16
who first undertook serious field studies of the Bonobo,
71
231000
4000
04:20
almost three decades ago.
72
235000
3000
04:26
Bonobos are built slightly smaller than the chimpanzee.
73
241000
4000
04:30
Slim-bodied, Bonobos are by nature very gentle creatures.
74
245000
5000
04:36
Long and careful studies have reported many new findings on them.
75
251000
5000
04:43
One discovery was that wild Bonobos often walk bidpedally.
76
258000
6000
04:55
What's more, they are able to walk upright for long distances.
77
270000
5000
05:07
Susan Savage-Rumbaugh (video): Let's go say hello to Austin first and then go to the A frame.
78
282000
3000
05:11
SS: This is Kanzi and I, in the forest.
79
286000
2000
05:13
None of the things you will see in this particular video are trained.
80
288000
4000
05:17
None of them are tricks.
81
292000
2000
05:19
They all happened to be captured on film spontaneously,
82
294000
3000
05:22
by NHK of Japan.
83
297000
2000
05:25
We have eight Bonobos.
84
300000
2000
05:27
Video: Look at all this stuff that's here for our campfire.
85
302000
2000
05:30
SS: An entire family at our research centre.
86
305000
3000
05:38
Video: You going to help get some sticks?
87
313000
3000
05:42
Good.
88
317000
1000
05:47
We need more sticks, too.
89
322000
2000
05:56
I have a lighter in my pocket if you need one.
90
331000
2000
05:59
That's a wasps' nest.
91
334000
2000
06:01
You can get it out.
92
336000
2000
06:05
I hope I have a lighter.
93
340000
3000
06:08
You can use the lighter to start the fire.
94
343000
2000
06:12
SS: So Kanzi is very interested in fire.
95
347000
2000
06:14
He doesn't do it yet without a lighter,
96
349000
3000
06:17
but I think if he saw someone do it, he might be able to do --
97
352000
4000
06:21
make a fire without a lighter.
98
356000
2000
06:25
He's learning about how to keep a fire going.
99
360000
2000
06:28
He's learning the uses for a fire,
100
363000
2000
06:31
just by watching what we do with fire.
101
366000
3000
06:34
(Laughter)
102
369000
2000
06:43
This is a smile on the face of a Bonobo.
103
378000
2000
06:45
These are happy vocalizations.
104
380000
2000
06:47
Video: You're happy.
105
382000
2000
06:49
You're very happy about this part.
106
384000
2000
06:51
You've got to put some water on the fire. You see the water?
107
386000
4000
07:00
Good job.
108
395000
2000
07:03
SS: Forgot to zip up the back half of his backpack.
109
398000
3000
07:07
But he likes to carry things from place to place.
110
402000
2000
07:10
Video: Austin, I hear you saying "Austin."
111
405000
2000
07:12
SS: He talks to other Bonobos at the lab, long-distance,
112
407000
3000
07:15
farther than we can hear.
113
410000
2000
07:18
This is his sister.
114
413000
2000
07:20
This is her first time to try to drive a golf cart.
115
415000
3000
07:25
Video: Goodbye.
116
420000
2000
07:27
(Laughter)
117
422000
2000
07:29
SS: She's got the pedals down, but not the wheel.
118
424000
4000
07:37
She switches from reverse to forward
119
432000
3000
07:40
and she holds onto the wheel, rather than turns it.
120
435000
2000
07:42
(Laughter)
121
437000
3000
07:45
Like us, she knows that that individual in the mirror is her.
122
440000
5000
07:50
(Music)
123
445000
4000
07:54
Video: Narrator: By raising Bonobos in a culture that is both Bonobo and human,
124
449000
5000
07:59
and documenting their development across two decades,
125
454000
4000
08:03
scientists are exploring how cultural forces
126
458000
3000
08:06
(Laughter)
127
461000
1000
08:07
may have operated during human evolution.
128
462000
3000
08:12
His name is Nyota.
129
467000
2000
08:14
It means "star" in Swahili.
130
469000
2000
08:16
(Music)
131
471000
7000
08:26
Panbanisha is trying to give Nyota a haircut with a pair of scissors.
132
481000
5000
08:32
In the wild, the parent Bonobo is known to groom its offspring.
133
487000
5000
08:37
Here Panbanisha uses scissors, instead of her hands,
134
492000
4000
08:41
to groom Nyota.
135
496000
2000
08:45
Very impressive.
136
500000
3000
08:51
Subtle maneuvering of the hands is required
137
506000
3000
08:54
to perform delicate tasks like this.
138
509000
3000
09:06
Nyota tries to imitate Panbanisha by using the scissors himself.
139
521000
5000
09:13
Realizing that Nyota might get hurt,
140
528000
3000
09:16
Panbanisha, like any human mother,
141
531000
2000
09:18
carefully tugs to get the scissors back.
142
533000
4000
09:37
He can now cut through tough animal hide.
143
552000
3000
09:41
SS: Kanzi's learned to make stone tools.
144
556000
2000
09:43
Video: Kanzi now makes his tools,
145
558000
1000
09:44
just as our ancestors may have made them,
146
559000
2000
09:46
two-and-a-half million years ago --
147
561000
2000
09:48
by holding the rocks in both hands, to strike one against the other.
148
563000
5000
09:53
He has learned that by using both hands
149
568000
3000
09:56
and aiming his glancing blows,
150
571000
2000
09:58
he can make much larger, sharper flakes.
151
573000
4000
10:02
Kanzi chooses a flake he thinks is sharp enough.
152
577000
3000
10:10
The tough hide is difficult to cut, even with a knife.
153
585000
4000
10:14
The rock that Kanzi is using is extremely hard
154
589000
3000
10:17
and ideal for stone tool making, but difficult to handle,
155
592000
4000
10:21
requiring great skill.
156
596000
2000
10:23
Kanzi's rock is from Gona, Ethiopia
157
598000
2000
10:25
and is identical to that used by our African ancestors
158
600000
4000
10:29
two-and-a-half million years ago.
159
604000
2000
10:34
These are the rocks Kanzi used
160
609000
3000
10:37
and these are the flakes he made.
161
612000
2000
10:39
The flat sharp edges are like knife blades.
162
614000
4000
10:44
Compare them to the tools our ancestors used;
163
619000
3000
10:47
they bear a striking resemblance to Kanzi's.
164
622000
3000
11:00
Panbanisha is longing to go for a walk in the woods.
165
635000
3000
11:03
She keeps staring out the window.
166
638000
3000
11:08
SS: This is -- let me show you something we didn't think they would do.
167
643000
3000
11:11
Video: For several days now, Panbanisha has not been outside.
168
646000
5000
11:17
SS: I normally talk about language.
169
652000
2000
11:19
Video: Then Panbanisha does something unexpected.
170
654000
3000
11:22
SS: But since I'm advised not to do what I normally do,
171
657000
3000
11:25
I haven't told you that these apes have language.
172
660000
2000
11:27
It's a geometric language.
173
662000
2000
11:29
Video: She takes a piece of chalk
174
664000
1000
11:30
and begins writing something on the floor.
175
665000
2000
11:32
What is she writing?
176
667000
2000
11:40
SS: She's also saying the name of that, with her voice.
177
675000
4000
11:44
Video: Now she comes up to Dr. Sue and starts writing again.
178
679000
3000
11:47
SS: These are her symbols on her keyboard.
179
682000
3000
11:50
(Music)
180
685000
1000
11:51
They speak when she touches them.
181
686000
2000
11:53
Video: Panbanisha is communicating to Dr. Sue where she wants to go.
182
688000
3000
11:56
"A frame" represents a hut in the woods.
183
691000
4000
12:00
Compare the chalk writing with the lexigram on the keyboard.
184
695000
4000
12:14
Panbanisha began writing the lexigrams on the forest floor.
185
709000
4000
12:20
SS (video): Very nice. Beautiful, Panbanisha.
186
715000
4000
12:24
SS: At first we didn't really realize what she was doing,
187
719000
3000
12:27
until we stood back and looked at it and rotated it.
188
722000
3000
12:30
Video: This lexigram also refers to a place in the woods.
189
725000
2000
12:32
The curved line is very similar to the lexigram.
190
727000
4000
12:39
The next symbol Panbanisha writes represents "collar."
191
734000
4000
12:43
It indicates the collar that Panbanisha must wear when she goes out.
192
738000
4000
12:47
SS: That's an institutional requirement.
193
742000
2000
12:50
Video: This symbol is not as clear as the others,
194
745000
3000
12:53
but one can see Panbanisha is trying to produce a curved line
195
748000
5000
12:58
and several straight lines.
196
753000
2000
13:00
Researchers began to record what Panbanisha said,
197
755000
4000
13:04
by writing lexigrams on the floor with chalk.
198
759000
4000
13:08
Panbanisha watched.
199
763000
2000
13:10
Soon she began to write as well.
200
765000
3000
13:14
The Bonobo's abilities have stunned scientists around the world.
201
769000
4000
13:18
How did they develop?
202
773000
2000
13:20
SS (video): We found that the most important thing
203
775000
2000
13:22
for permitting Bonobos to acquire language is not to teach them.
204
777000
5000
13:27
It's simply to use language around them,
205
782000
3000
13:30
because the driving force in language acquisition
206
785000
3000
13:33
is to understand what others, that are important to you, are saying to you.
207
788000
5000
13:38
Once you have that capacity,
208
793000
2000
13:40
the ability to produce language
209
795000
3000
13:43
comes rather naturally and rather freely.
210
798000
4000
13:47
So we want to create an environment in which Bonobos,
211
802000
3000
13:50
like all of the individuals with whom they are interacting --
212
805000
4000
13:54
we want to create an environment in which they have fun,
213
809000
3000
13:57
and an environment in which the others
214
812000
2000
13:59
are meaningful individuals for them.
215
814000
3000
14:04
Narrator: This environment brings out unexpected potential
216
819000
3000
14:07
in Kanzi and Panbanisha.
217
822000
3000
14:17
Panbanisha is enjoying playing her harmonica,
218
832000
4000
14:21
until Nyota, now one year old, steals it.
219
836000
4000
14:25
Then he peers eagerly into his mother's mouth.
220
840000
4000
14:29
Is he looking for where the sound came from?
221
844000
2000
14:32
Dr. Sue thinks it's important to allow such curiosity to flourish.
222
847000
4000
14:47
This time Panbanisha is playing the electric piano.
223
862000
3000
14:50
She wasn't forced to learn the piano;
224
865000
3000
14:53
she saw a researcher play the instrument and took an interest.
225
868000
4000
15:25
Researcher: Go ahead. Go ahead. I'm listening.
226
900000
2000
15:29
Do that real fast part that you did. Yeah, that part.
227
904000
3000
15:36
Narrator: Kanzi plays the xylophone;
228
911000
2000
15:38
using both hands he enthusiastically accompanies Dr. Sue's singing.
229
913000
5000
15:44
Kanzi and Panbanisha
230
919000
1000
15:45
are stimulated by this fun-filled environment,
231
920000
3000
15:48
which promotes the emergence of these cultural capabilities.
232
923000
4000
15:56
(Laughter)
233
931000
2000
16:06
Researcher: OK, now get the monsters. Get them.
234
941000
3000
16:09
Take the cherries too.
235
944000
2000
16:12
Now watch out, stay away from them now.
236
947000
3000
16:16
Now you can chase them again. Time to chase them.
237
951000
3000
16:23
Now you have to stay away. Get away.
238
958000
3000
16:26
Run away. Run.
239
961000
3000
16:29
Now we can chase them again. Go get them.
240
964000
4000
16:35
Oh no!
241
970000
1000
16:37
Good Kanzi. Very good. Thank you so much.
242
972000
3000
16:44
Narrator: None of us, Bonobo or human, can possibly even imagine?
243
979000
7000
16:57
SS: So we have a bi-species environment, we call it a "panhomoculture."
244
992000
7000
17:04
We're learning how to become like them.
245
999000
2000
17:06
We're learning how to communicate with them,
246
1001000
2000
17:08
in really high-pitched tones.
247
1003000
2000
17:10
We're learning that they probably have a language in the wild.
248
1005000
4000
17:14
And they're learning to become like us.
249
1009000
2000
17:16
Because we believe that it's not biology; it's culture.
250
1011000
3000
17:19
So we're sharing tools and technology and language
251
1014000
4000
17:23
with another species.
252
1018000
2000
17:25
Thank you.
253
1020000
2000

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Susan Savage-Rumbaugh - Primate authority
Susan Savage-Rumbaugh has made startling breakthroughs in her lifelong work with chimpanzees and bonobos, showing the animals to be adept in picking up language and other "intelligent" behaviors.

Why you should listen

Into the great debate over intelligence and instinct -- over what makes us human -- Susan Savage-Rumbaugh has thrown a monkey wrench. Her work with apes has forced a new way of looking at what traits are truly and distinctly human, and new questions about whether some abilities we attribute to "species" are in fact due to an animal's social environment. She believes culture and tradition, in many cases more than biology, can account for differences between humans and other primates.

Her bonobo apes, including a superstar named Kanzi, understand spoken English, interact, and have learned to execute tasks once believed limited to humans -- such as starting and controlling a fire. They aren't trained in classic human-animal fashion. Like human children, the apes learn by watching. "Parents really don't know how they teach their children language," she has said. "Why should I have to know how I teach Kanzi language? I just act normal around him, and he learns it."

Her latest book is Kanzi's Primal Language: The Cultural Initiation of Primates into Language.

Also, in 2011, she was named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People


 

More profile about the speaker
Susan Savage-Rumbaugh | Speaker | TED.com