Humans Are Not The Only Apes That Could Read Minds

A few months ago, the world grieved for the death of a rare ape, many arguing that he was shot dead despite protecting a child. Many also took the opposite stance, saying that he was violent - but whatever side one stood regarding the matter, the fact remains that apes have more than the average animal instinct.

In fact, new research showed that apes can actually understand what someone else is thinking, which could lead to more debate as to regarding Harambe's actions before he was shot dead. As The Los Angeles Times noted, humans were the only animals to have been thought to be able to understand nonverbal thoughts, beliefs, and even desires of others. This skill, which is important in terms of evolution, is important for complex societies.

A team led by Christopher Krupeyne, an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University, and comparative psychologist Fumihiro Kano of Kyoto University enlisted 41 apes of different kinds - including chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans, and showed them a series of videos of a man in regular clothes and another one dressed as King Kong, in an attempt to test whether or not apes understand the events of the video.

In the different scenarios presented, the apes were able to correctly anticipate the actions of the person, even when the said person looked for King Kong or the rock in the wrong place. The results showed that humans may be wrong in thinking that they were the only ones to ascertain mental states of other people around them.

Still, as Science Mag reported, not everyone accepts this possibility. Yale University cognitive psychologist Laurie Santos stated that the study just raises more questions as there had been previous past results that showed that apes and other primates lack the capacity of understanding nonverbal cues of others, insisting that humans are the only ones who are able to do such things.