Ya, humans are really good at pattern recognition. I can understand what my parrot (who can’t speak) is communicating. But did I learn my parrot’s patterns or

Ya, humans are really good at pattern recognition. I can understand what my parrot (who can’t speak) is communicating. But did I learn my parrot’s patterns or is he intending to communicate with me? Hard to say. If he is intending to communicate, did he just learn what works through operant conditioning? Hard to say. If it is just operant conditioning (for both of us) and a pinch of antropomorphizing from me, does that even matter when the end result is that we are successfully communicating? Hard to say. Whatever it is, it works. We can’t have a philosophical discussion, but he can usually get what he needs from me and I can usually understand what he wants and get him to change course of action when needed or get him to perform tricks on command.