Every day, more often, we reach information about the capacity and intelligence of chimpanzees to understand and solve problems posed in front of them, as humans do. In a latest discovery of Japanese scientists, working with a couple of chimpanzees and humans on the game developed in 1994 by Nobel Economics Prize John Nash, they demonstrated mathematical skill similar or superior to humans.

In this game, which exploits the predictability in front of a computer, the winner is the one who previews the attitude of the opponent. Chimpanzees dominated the game, after getting used to it.

Our experience with chimpanzees also leads us to the same conclusions. It’s hard to fool a chimp when he or she did not want to be fooled. We have tried many times and have only won when they let us win.

The big problem of chimpanzees, like humans, is the lack of concentration that generates lack of productivity, very usual in most Homo sapiens, and also in our siblings Troglodites. Johnny is a chimpanzee who lived in a house of humans for years and knows many things, more than we realize. I’m getting him used to clean his garbage that remains in the tunnel, especially packaging. I put a small cardboard box on his tray of food, and put some garbage that is out of the tunnel, and I ask him to give me other packages, and he puts them in the box. The problem, as with any child, is that he wants to play more than work and distracts very ease.

The same happened in the group of Guga in their childhood, when he led them to the river every day. I used to ask them to help me to take the branches out of the river border and all were made of misunderstandings; Only Carlos helped me clean the area. They, like humans, are also masters in the simulation. As I affirm repeatedly, if someday they, like humans did only 50,000 years ago, learn to form words and speak, quickly they would obtain the rights that are denied for them.

Unfortunately, humans cannot tolerate competition, and will extinct them in the next decade.

Related News (in Spanish):

http://actualidad.rt.com/ciencias/view/130828-chimpances-juegos-matematicos-rapido-humanos

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian

President, GAP Project International