2 ms·

I wonder what the likelihood is of big leaps forward there, in terms of communicating with other intelligent Earth life. As in, will our ability to wrangle vas

I wonder what the likelihood is of big leaps forward there, in terms of communicating with other intelligent Earth life. As in, will our ability to wrangle vast amounts of data and characterise it gives us enough insight into what whales are saying to one another that we might be able to start asking them questions? It doesn't seem absurdly far-fetched at this point. But they're probably even more pissed at us for the last couple of centuries' behaviour than the various Indigenous peoples we Westerners have screwed over.

asdff 2y ago
The hard part is that it goes two ways. Most animals are adapted for interactions within their own species. A seagull is adapted to react a certain way when another seagull screams the same way we smile when someone laughs or get a sense of panic if we hear someone shriek. A seagull has no concept of our behavior really beyond if we move at it in a threatening manner like other potential predators. The most you can do is probably some simple conditional learning akin to dog training considering seagulls in recreational areas have associated beachgoers with potential food source already. Why might a whale speak back to us? Maybe it we chum the water when whales make certain noises they will begin making those noises and expect chum. I wouldn’t call that communication as people expect it to be with ET however. A primitive form of trade perhaps.
- Earw0rm 2y ago
  Whales are unusual in that they use complex sound for beyond visual range communication, and they may (emphasis may) be intelligent enough to treat our proxy sounds as an attempt to recreate their own and respond in kind. I doubt we'd get much out of a seagull or even a cat. They don't seem to communicate much. Whales however seem to be able to "speak" over long distances and emit long phrases in which individuals are identified by something like a name. There's a lot more to work with there than even most mammals.

asdff 2y ago

The hard part is that it goes two ways. Most animals are adapted for interactions within their own species. A seagull is adapted to react a certain way when another seagull screams the same way we smile when someone laughs or get a sense of panic if we hear someone shriek. A seagull has no concept of our behavior really beyond if we move at it in a threatening manner like other potential predators. The most you can do is probably some simple conditional learning akin to dog training considering seagulls in recreational areas have associated beachgoers with potential food source already. Why might a whale speak back to us? Maybe it we chum the water when whales make certain noises they will begin making those noises and expect chum. I wouldn’t call that communication as people expect it to be with ET however. A primitive form of trade perhaps.

Earw0rm 2y ago
Whales are unusual in that they use complex sound for beyond visual range communication, and they may (emphasis may) be intelligent enough to treat our proxy sounds as an attempt to recreate their own and respond in kind. I doubt we'd get much out of a seagull or even a cat. They don't seem to communicate much. Whales however seem to be able to "speak" over long distances and emit long phrases in which individuals are identified by something like a name. There's a lot more to work with there than even most mammals.