Descriptions ARE Internal Representations of the World
Jane Goodall observed a remarkable example of
the latter principle. For chimpanzees in the Gombe reserve, food
is usually scarce. The chimps forage around a large territory
for food. Dr. Goodall noted that chimpanzees would leave one area,
journey for several days, and arrive at a particular tree just
at the moment that it bore fruit. They would feed from the tree
for a week or two, then not visit it for another year, when it
once again blossomed out and produced fruit.
To perform this feat, chimpanzees had to remember
the location of the various trees in their territory, remember
the time of the year that the tree bore fruit, and plan a route
of many miles from their current locale to the tree. None of these
activities would be possible unless the chimpanzees were able
to internalize the world, to construct a description of their
environment.
Next: our senses and world descriptions
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