Dolphins, humans, learning common language

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February 18, 2011

Dolphins, humans, learning common language

Researchers report progress developing language allowing humans and dolphins to

communicate(Discover)

Humans and dolphins are inventing a common language together. This is big news!

In all the hoopla over the world ending due to being asteroid-smashed, man

becoming immortal thanks to the singularity in 2045, and the

trivia-machine winning Jeopardy! the story of budding interspecies communication

got under-reported. Herzing and her team with the Wild Dolphin project

has begun developing a language to allow humans and dolphins to communicate. If

successful, the ability to communicate with dolphins would fundamentally change

animal intelligence research, animal rights arguments, and our ability to talk

to aliens.

Herzing and her team faced two huge problems when it came to talking to

dolphins. The first problem is that the current state of animal language

research creates an asymmetrical relationship between humans and the animals

with whom they wish to communicate. The second problem is that (save for

parrots) animal vocal cords cannot replicate human speech, and visa versa.

Most, if not nearly all, animal language research involves either studying how

animals communicate with one another, or teaching them a human language to see

if they can communicate with us. There is a problem with both methods-humans

don’t learn much (if any) animal language in the process. Think of it this way:

how many commands does the smartest dog you’ve met know? Some border collies,

like Chaser, can learn upwards of 1000 words. Now how many words do you know in

dog? Or parrot? How about gorilla or whale? Know any corvid? I bet you can at

least read cuttlefish patterns, right? No? Of course, I’m being facetious, but

with a purpose: up to this point, humans have always attempted to understand

animal language by teaching animals how to talk to humans. The glaring flaw in

this process of teaching animals to use human language is that it is nary

impossible to prove the animal is using language, not merely playing a very

complex game of repeater.

There is a second, equally interesting problem. Think about your favorite

science fiction series populated by aliens (for me, that’s a toss up between

Star Trek and Mass Effect). At some point in that series, an alien has

introduced itself as having a very un-alien name, like “Grunt.” The reason? “My

real name is unpronounceable by humans.” That is rarely an actual problem,

because as it always works out the other alien species (why do we refer to

aliens as “races” btw?) can pronounce our human words. One of the only films I

can think of that doesn’t have this common sci-fi fallacy is District 9. Humans

and prawn seem to be able to understand the other’s language in a rudimentary

way, despite neither species being even remotely able to reproduce the other’s

sounds. Cetaceans pose the same problem: humans cannot whistle, squeak, chortle,

or pop the way a beluga or bottle-nose can. Further, the higher squeals of some

dolphins and the low rumbles of some whales are beyond the human auditory

spectrum. Dolphins can’t say a word in human languages and we certainly can’t do

more than parody the spectrum of cetacean sounds.

Which presents quite a question: How in the heck did Herzing figure out a way to

both not teach the dolphins an anthropocentric language and ensure the language

was speakable by both species?

Herzing’s team developed a communication system with a sprig of technology and a

heaping helping of ingenuity:

Herzing created an open-ended framework for communication, using sounds,

symbols and props to interact with the dolphins. The goal was to create a

shared, primitive language that would allow dolphins and humans to ask for

props, such as balls or scarves.

Divers demonstrated the system by pressing keys on a large submerged

keyboard. Other humans would throw them the corresponding prop. In addition to

being labeled with a symbol, each key was paired with a whistle that dolphins

could mimic. A dolphin could ask for a toy either by pushing the key with her

nose, or whistling.

Herzing's study is the first of its kind. No one has tried to establish

two-way communication in the wild.

Amazing! Herzing’s method is effectively the same as that used in Close

Encounters of the Third Kind. The keyboard allows for dolphins to teach humans

as much as the humans teach the dolphins. Furthermore, the matched whistle will

allow for a more natural integration of communication into the dolphin’s speech.

Given the early stages of the project, it seems to have tremendous potential

already.

Yet Wired found it necessary to frame Herzing’s breakthrough within the search

for extra terrestrial intelligence. As an analogy, I totally understand the

reference to aliens. That’s why I used the examples I did above. What is

frustrating is that the article seems to see Herzing’s research only as

important when in the light of alien communication. No disrespect to NASA (pace

the Bad Astronomer), but I’d rather we dumped the funds from our space

exploration and focused instead on the oceans of Earth. We’ve got enough aliens

and unexplored frontier right here on two-thirds of our pale blue dot.

Thankfully, the flow of information among SETI scientists and marine biologists

is two-way. Information theorists like ce Doyle (mentioned in the side bar

of the Wired article) has used techniques for signal-searching developed with

SETI to determine that whales and dolphins use grammar and syntax in their

communication. The consequences for genuine communication between a new species

is enormous. It would dramatically improve animal intelligence research, as well

as make a real case that non-human persons should have limited rights. Success

with the dolphins might enable researchers to devise forms of communication with

a whole host of other intelligent animals. And, in the far flung future, we

might get ourselves a universal translator.

I’m at least hoping for a collar like Dug’s in Up!