In Nova's latest episode, the series makes it quite clear that we still have a lot to learn about the world in which we live. Specifically, the show focuses on apes, and how they act differently than we once thought they did. For instance, some like to go swimming and can use sticks to poke at things. Others have the ability to learn how to count and operate simple machines. They still don't learn in the same way as humans, but they do learn.
The whole episode is, nominally, interesting, and some of the experiments are intriguing, but, as a whole, it leaves the viewer wondering why they bothered watching, or why the producers bothered putting the whole episode together. Watching an ape learn that if they spin a disc and pull on a lever they can get a grape is all well and good, but the episode fails to really paint a larger picture. It makes some stabs at establishing a grandiose theory or opinion, but nothing that really satisfies.
The episode goes into great detail on how different groups of apes in different parts of the world act differently, and how some exhibit more human characteristics than we might think. It also goes into how some of these characteristics might place certain ape groups within the definition of having a culture or civilization.
One of the basic problems with all these talks in advancement from what we thought we knew to what we're now learning is that the former is never really established. There is little to no discussion in the episode about how and why we came to our initial assessments of apes in the way that we did. There is no talk of whether our original opinions came from observation, inference, or were simply pulled out of thin air. As such, it is difficult at times during this episode to understand why some of what the audience is shown is as astounding and wonderful as the scientists certainly believe it to be.
Article comments
1 - Josh Lasser
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2 - Neal
To be honest I thought the episode was very well done. The episode presented the recently discovered facts and hinted towards larger themes leaving the viewer to think (something rarely seen on t.v. today) about what the implications of these new data are. Hopefully a viewer with a young mind is watching and still has the imagination to propose the unthinkable, as is usual with scientific progression.