Talks Susan Savage-Rumbaugh: Apes that write, start fires and play Pac-Man

Share this talk

Email to a friend »

Post to Digg or del.icio.us

Discuss this talk: Apes that write, start fires and play Pac-Man ( Susan Savage-Rumbaugh )

About this talk

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.

About Susan Savage-Rumbaugh

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 and more links  »

Other talks from "Inspired by Nature"

Robert Full on engineering and evolution
Length: 20:21
Filmed: Feb 2002
Posted: Jun 2008
Juan Enriquez on genomics and our future
Length: 22:32
Filmed: Feb 2003
Posted: Apr 2007
Alan Russell on regenerating our bodies
Length: 19:37
Filmed: Feb 2006
Posted: Jul 2007
Majora Carter's tale of urban renewal
Length: 19:15
Filmed: Feb 2005
Posted: Jun 2006
Paul MacCready flies on solar wings
Length: 21:32
Filmed: Feb 2003
Posted: Sep 2007
Theo Jansen creates new creatures
Length: 08:25
Filmed: Mar 2007
Posted: Sep 2007

Subscribe to TED

New talks are released weekly. Be the first to know!

Newsletter:  
iTunes Podcast:
Video  |  Hi-res Video  |  Audio
RSS:
Video  |  Hi-res Video  |  Audio
Blogs:

Related themes

Related tags

Share this talk

TED's mission is to spread ideas, and we encourage you to share these talks widely: Email them; link to them; embed them in your website; show them in your classroom; discuss them at a salon... All our videos are distributed under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely played and reposted (so long as you follow certain guidelines).