yeetin' time

solve the multiplication equation for each pair of individual digits and arrange them in the boxes just so

AND THEN ADD UP ALL THE NUMBERS IN EACH COLUMN AND GET THE RIGHT ANSWER????

— petrichor surrounds me

10.05.21// cozy spaces ✨ my plants are thriving, there’s vinyl in the mail and I’ve got plenty of secret candy! It’s been so nice being able to go to the bakery as much as I have, their buns are to die for!

[plants monoculture of non-native grass]

[sprays chemicals to preserve monoculture of non-native grass]

[mows grass extremely short]

[collects and removes grass clippings]

They don’t actually understand what the buttons mean. These animals aren’t capable of processing language like we humans do and they tend to react more to your tone and visual cues then the actual words you’re saying. 

The buttons are just very basic operant conditioning. I very basic form of cognition in animals. They press the buttons because they are rewarded for doing so, not because they actually understand the meaning behind the buttons.

You can see in those videos (they do usually edit it out, but sometimes the creator of these videos just outright admits it) that it can take their pet something like 15 - 20 minutes to respond via the buttons.

Claims that the pets are asking questions ect. feel very staged / trained (like the below for example). Remember these videos are all coming from people on tiktok and people will do anything for a bit of internet fame. Scientific research has shown that dogs do not pass the “mirror test” but the mirror test is a very outdated way to show self-recognition in animals.

You compare this to the language studies done by Pepperberg with African Grey Parrots like Alex; in which they were able to ask questions they weren’t already trained to ask, form sentences they weren’t previously trained to do, display self-recognition (via asking what colour they were), could understand syntax and form their own words eg. Alex called apples “banerries”,  a combination of "banana" and "cherry", two fruits he was more familiar with.

“I was always going to the bookcase for another sip of the divine specific.”