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by small_model11 hours ago |
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upvoteby jayers11 hours ago|
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That seems like an unfounded inference. Plenty of animals have more neurons than humans but lesser cognitive and language abilities. Language has lot to do with structure of the brain in addition to neuron count.
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upvoteby pegasus10 hours ago|
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One thing I've learned by following a link from elsewhere in this thread is that while the total count of neurons in an animal's nervous system is not a good proxy for intelligence, the count of neurons in the forebrain is. By that measure, only the orca ranks higher than humans [1].

That doesn't mean language ability is a natural outcome of crossing a certain threshold of brain complexity; if anything it's more likely the other way around: this complexity being be driven by highly social behavior and communication.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animals_by_number_of_n...

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upvoteby Zambyte8 hours ago|
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Language also has a lot to do with what we do. We do more complex things than animals, so we say more complex things than animals. The biggest difference in the evolution of human language versus the evolution of elephant language might just be that we have thumbs.
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upvoteby vablings11 hours ago|
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https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02855-9

Birds have areas of the brain that we would consider language alike. Both for native bird communication and I would also speculate that for human to bird communication.

If you have ever owned a parrot this is blatantly obvious since they actively communicate and vocalize both observations and needs/desires

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upvoteby lukan11 hours ago|
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Where do you get the conclusion from, that there is a "must"? There can be lot's of neurons ... but dedicated to other purposes.
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upvoteby Philip-J-Fry11 hours ago|
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Parrots can't "talk". They just mimick noises they've heard before
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upvoteby deelowe11 hours ago|
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This reminds me of being told dogs don't feel emotions by someone who never owned one. Parrots most definitely can talk. Their language is extremely primitive but if you've ever been around a grey and it's owner for some time, they definitely talk to each other. The parrot will readily communicate observations and desires.
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upvoteby unzadunza11 hours ago|
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Isn't that what humans do too? We mimic noises we've heard before and we associate meaning to the noises. Parrots can do that. Our quaker parrot would bite you, then say 'not supposed to bite'. He clearly associated some kind of meaning to that phrase.
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upvoteby Zambyte8 hours ago|
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Not to make an argument against parrots understanding, but humans understand noises before they mimic them. Children are often able to learn and express themselves in sign language (if taught obviously) earlier than they can learn to speak, and they can respond to spoken word in sign language before they can speak.
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upvoteby SoftTalker8 hours ago|
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Or maybe he just learned that's what people say when he bites them, so he started saying that himself.
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upvoteby vablings11 hours ago|
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_(parrot)

Common misconception. Parrots are much more than just mimicry machines. There is also Apollo the parrot that shows this in detail and following from Irene's research with Alex

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upvoteby onlyrealcuzzo11 hours ago|
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Many animals can communicate.

Parrots can't speak fluent English, which shouldn't be surprising. Last I checked, no human is fluent in Parrot or Dolphin.

Though, at least one parrot may have demonstrated an ability to understand language at more than a surface level.

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upvoteby PurpleRamen10 hours ago|
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Bumblebee (the Transformer) might have an objection here. Purposeful mimicry can be used for talking on certain complexity. It does not have to be human-level to be communication.
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upvoteby throwway12038510 hours ago|
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This is also what toddlers do until bit by bit they're repeating everything you say back to you in context.
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upvoteby small_model10 hours ago|
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So do we, otherwise we would all speak our own individual language.
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upvoteby tobr11 hours ago|
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So what you’re saying is that parrots are stochastic parrots.
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upvoteby rossjudson11 hours ago|
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You've just described most of the information economy.
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upvoteby SoftTalker11 hours ago|
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This thread is going to end with Monty Python jokes.
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upvoteby ofrzeta10 hours ago|
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Like Starlings do.
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upvoteby mock-possum10 hours ago|
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I mean, isn’t that just what you’re doing too? If you see a cow, and you’ve been taught that ‘cow’ is the sound that describes a cow, don’t you say “cow?”
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upvoteby tokai11 hours ago|
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Lots of birds can talk, not only the very clever ones like parrots and covids. Its mimicry and that generally doesn't seem to take many neurons.
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upvoteby dboreham11 hours ago|
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Plausible, and likely similar.
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upvoteby fredgrott11 hours ago|
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mimicking is not talking....

Its part of their calling social members wiring....

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upvoteby DetroitThrow11 hours ago|
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Given parrots eat their own poop (https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/questions/parrots-eating-poop/), there must be a neuron count/density that activates self-poop eating (assuming anatomy allows it), similar to LLM parameter count.
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upvoteby SoftTalker11 hours ago|
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Dogs do that too.
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upvoteby IAmBroom11 hours ago|
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My dogs eat poop, and therefore are also like LLMs.

Your hypothesis has therefore been peer-reviewed.

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