To Talk With Aliens, Learn to Speak With Dolphins

[Christopher O'Brien]

Wired News article by Danielle Venton
Complete Article HERE:

"...Before we hope to understand extraterrestrials...perhaps we should practice with smart animals right here on Earth. Astronomer Laurance Doyle of the SETI Institute was struck by this thought at a recent conference...

[This is a fascinating article that looks at scientific efforts to establish two-way communication with dolphins and the implications for communicating with "aliens.".]

"The Kepler Space Telescope announced a new bonanza of distant planets this month, reconfirming that solar systems, some possibly hosting life, are common in the universe. So if humanity someday arrives at an extraterrestrial cocktail party, will we be ready to mingle? At the Wild Dolphin Project in Jupiter, Florida, researchers train for contact by trying to talk with dolphins.

"Behavioral biologist Denise Herzing started studying free-ranging spotted dolphins in the Bahamas more than two decades ago. Over the years, she noticed some dolphins seeking human company, seemingly out of curiosity.

“We thought, ‘This is fascinating, let’s see if we can take it further,’” Herzing said. “Many studies communicate with dolphins, especially in captivity, using fish as a reward. But it’s rare to ask dolphins to communicate with us.”

 

[Sean Elifritz]

This is exactly the same point I've raised before. If we can't communicate with other species sharing the same rock we're on then how are we going to do so with extraterrestrials?

 

[mike]

Actually we can communicate with some animals already.
The trick its a process called enculturation.
In the case of the beings below, they have been raised like we would a human child.
You basically teach them human culture in the same way you do a child.

The results are impressive

in this clip Sue wears a welding goggle to demonstrate there are no other ques but spoken word

When Kanzi nods in this clip it certainly seems like hes communicating to my eye

There are other examples of apes using sign language that show cognition and comunication, my favourite story being when greg a trainer started mixing up the symbols so they didnt give the right answer, the ape concerned signed "greg you green shit" in context green was a colour this ape did not like, so he used it in context.

whats funny is that these beings can learn human language, be we cant understand theirs , instead using an interface.

Its possible the hybrid project reported in the abduction scenario is part interface part enculturation.

Funnily enough one of the quickest methods of bridging the gap would be to give them the genes needed, genetic uplift as posited by David Brin in his uplift series of books

 

[dyingsun]

We are all precious flowers, guys and girls. Dogs seem to inhabit a wider emotional range then many people these days. I'm biased though, dog owner. I never swam with Dolphins though.

They are in my Tuna can :\