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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
Read this back in Freshman year and just remembered I hadn't logged it. Basically, the title says it all, and I adore this book. Big fan of animals folks!
emotional
fast-paced
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
skimmed this one for Coffee and Books. Really interesting memoir that details her work with the surprisingly intelligent African Grey Parrot.
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
Although initially hesitant due to its age and not being my usual genre, I found great delight in exploring the unique bond between Alex and Dr. Pepperberg in this book. The accomplishments they achieved during their (regrettably brief) time together were truly remarkable. Like the author, I developed a genuine affection for Alex, and I wholeheartedly recommend this heartwarming tale to animal lovers or anyone seeking a quick feel-good story about a passionate woman and a clever bird challenging stereotypes.
Fast and fascinating read. But I wonder if Alex really liked life in a lab talking to humans. I suspect he would have preferred life in a tree talking to parrots.
Alex seems like he was a really awesome parrot. The book seemed to wander aimlessly to me, jumping from one anecdote to another.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Dang what a great book. Pepperberg and Alex pretty much single-handedly showed the scientific world, who had previously seen birds as mindless automatons, that birds can be smart, and grey parrots in particular rival chimpanzees for verbal and math skills.
Interestingly, I'm reading [b:The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language|5755|The Language Instinct How the Mind Creates Language|Steven Pinker|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388342388s/5755.jpg|2422982] right now too, and while Pinker is making a great argument that humans do acquire language as an inborn process, I'm now noticing he's not addressing that other animals can't learn language. Which is kind of the point of the book, or, at least, a major theme of Pinker's career - that humans are unique in language ability. Maybe he thinks that demonstrating that humans pick it up instinctively is enough, implying that because other animals don't pick it up naturally they can't.
Or maybe it gets to how you define language. If you define language as using verbal (or other) abstract labels to communicate, Alex could do it. If you define language as a very sophisticated grammar using those abstract labels, well, Alex had a pretty simple grammar. He knew that putting 'what' in front of a word with a rising intonation made something a question. And he knew the verb 'want.'
Maybe he could have learned more. His early death is a tragedy.
Interestingly, I'm reading [b:The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language|5755|The Language Instinct How the Mind Creates Language|Steven Pinker|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388342388s/5755.jpg|2422982] right now too, and while Pinker is making a great argument that humans do acquire language as an inborn process, I'm now noticing he's not addressing that other animals can't learn language. Which is kind of the point of the book, or, at least, a major theme of Pinker's career - that humans are unique in language ability. Maybe he thinks that demonstrating that humans pick it up instinctively is enough, implying that because other animals don't pick it up naturally they can't.
Or maybe it gets to how you define language. If you define language as using verbal (or other) abstract labels to communicate, Alex could do it. If you define language as a very sophisticated grammar using those abstract labels, well, Alex had a pretty simple grammar. He knew that putting 'what' in front of a word with a rising intonation made something a question. And he knew the verb 'want.'
Maybe he could have learned more. His early death is a tragedy.
Though I, as a heartless kind of bastard, had a hard time wading though the first twenty percent concerned with Alex's death and the reaction of the public, once I got to the other side, I found a delightful and intriguing book that ultimately caused massive admiration for Alex and for Pepperberg. Our anthropocentric view must go. That and Aristotelian and Cartesian misunderstandings. Highly recommended for animal intelligence lovers.