What is Work?

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Aya Katz

What is Work?

[This article was first published on Hubpages in 2009. Because it has gone idle there, I have decided to put it to work here on PubWages!]

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Tom Sawyer

Image Credit: pbs.org

Excerpt from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

“Say — I’m going in a-swimming, I am. Don’t you wish you could? But of course you’d druther work — wouldn’t you? Course you would!”

Tom contemplated the boy a bit, and said:

“What do you call work?”

“Why, ain’t that work?”

Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly:

“Well, maybe it is, and maybe it ain’t. All I know, is, it suits Tom Sawyer.”

“Oh come, now, you don’t mean to let on that you like it?”

The brush continued to move.

“Like it? Well, I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”

That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom swept his brush daintily back and forth — stepped back to note the effect — added a touch here and there — criticised the effect again — Ben watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed. Presently he said:

“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.”

People seem to think that having a job is a good thing, and even a human right, and if there aren’t enough jobs, then this presents a bit of a crisis. But what is a job, exactly, and which part of the job is the thing that everyone is clamoring for? Are they worried that without an employer telling them what to do, they will be bored silly? Or does it have more to do with the money?

One definition of a job is a contractual arrangement under which someone is paid for doing work. But what is work? And how do you decide who has to pay whom? Have you ever thought about it?

If you go to the doctor’s office, and he examines you for about ten minutes, then writes out a prescription, should you pay him for practicing on you, or should he pay you for letting him practice on you? After all, practice makes perfect! You have given him an opportunity to learn his profession. If you call the plumber, and he fumbles around and spends hours in your kitchen making a terrible mess, then not bothering to clean it up, should you pay him or should he pay you for letting him run his snake through your pipes? At the hairdresser’s, should you pay her or should she pay you for letting her run her fingers through your hair?

Well, if it seems obvious to you that the doctor, the plumber and the hairdresser are providing a service, and that you are receiving the service, just consider this: if you wanted to play doctor and examine somebody, would they have to pay you, or would you have to pay them? If you wanted to go to somebody else’s house and take apart their plumbing, would they have to pay you, or would you have to pay them? If you wanted to practice hairdressing skills on someone who would just sit still and let you do whatever you wanted, would they have to pay you or would you have to pay them?

The key to understanding the job market is to know that it isn’t what somebody does that makes it work. It’s whether or not somebody else is willing to pay for it! And how do two people involved in a transaction decide which one is going to pay the other? The one who wants it more is the one who will end up paying!

Paying for the Privilege of Working

Mark Twain seems to have mastered this principle early on. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, there is a famous scene where Tom, entrusted with the chore of whitwashing Aunt Polly’s fence, cons other boys into paying him for the right to do his work for him.

Tom Sawyer is just a fictional character. As realistic as Twain’s writing is, it’s just satire. In real life, that would never happen, right? Well, it happens all the time.

Consider a person who buys a small mom and pop store, or a sole proprietorship like a homestyle restaurant. These small businesses go for a few hundred thoudand dollars worth of investment, and what is it that one gets in return? Usually, the right to work as the manager of the business, collecting no more than an employee of a comparable business might make without investing a single penny. These are not investments. People are simply buying the right to work for a living.

What about going to law school or medical school in order to gain entry into one of the professions? Isn’t that paying for a license to work? Someone might argue that law school and medical school are places where we gain an education, and that what we are paying for is the right to go to school. But why is it that a grad student in mathematics or linguistics is paid by his department for going to school, whereas the med student or law student has to pay a hefty fee for the same thing? It’s supply and demand.

Sometimes, during really hard times when jobs are scarce, people even pay their employers for the right to work for free!

According to the Telegraph article linked here: ” …fund-raising websites have reported a sharp increase in supposedly sexy media companies – including Rolling Stone and Ellemagazines, and Atlantic Records – auctioning their internships. A week polishing CD boxes for a music-production company went last month for $12,000.” They say some companies are creating internships as a way to increase revenue.

Work in Physics

Work (physics) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Internal Psychological Experience of Work

The Overjustification Effect – PsychWiki – A Collaborative Psychology Wiki

The Physical, Economic and Psychological Definitions of Work

The meaning of the word “work” is dependent on the context in which it is used, When used in physics, work refers to the amount of energy expended by a force to move an object over a distance. Physical work is measured in units of joules.

In common parlance, sometimes “work” simply refers to the amount of effort it takes to get a task done. But in economic terms, “work” refers only to those efforts that we make when someone else is paying us. The economic value of any work is dependent on how much others are willing to pay to have it done. If nobody is willing to pay for it, then in economic terms, it’s not work.

There is also another meaning of “work.” Sometimes “work” is contrasted with “play”. Work is labor or toil, a difficult and distasteful task that nobody would do unless paid. Play is what we do because it is fun. The motivation for work is external. The motivation for play is intrinsic.

The result of the interplay between these different concepts is that the more others pay someone for his work, the higher that person ranks in society, but the less he is likely to enjoy his own efforts. The moment something becomes work, it ceases to be just for fun.

Blacksmith at Work

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Latrell Sprewell + Pizza Hut < Intrinsic Motivation | Psychology Today
When can rewards backfire? By John Tauer, Ph.D….

What’s the best way to motivate employees?

Psychological studies have shown that receiving payment for performing an otherwise intrinsically interesting activity diminishes the internal stimulus that we have for participating in the activity. If you like to read, being paid for reading will reduce your pleasure. If you like to play basketball, being paid to play basketball will make you enjoy it that much less. When we don’t enjoy things, we tend to lose interest, and after a while our efforts become less energetic. So paying someone to do a job is possibly the best way to make him do it poorly.

In that case, why would anyone ever pay anyone else to do a job? And why would anyone take money for doing work when it would be so much more fun to do it for free?

The Reasons to Employ and Be Employed

From the point of view of an employer, the reason to offer someone a job is in order to secure a commitment. Sometimes we have tasks that need to be done whether anyone feels like doing them that day or not. When an employer and an employee enter into an employment contract, one of the chief benefits to the employer is knowing that the employee will be there and do the work, regardless of his level of engagement with the task on any particular day. It’s for this reason that employers, when they interview potential workers, try to find people whose motivation for taking the job is not entirely based on an intrinsic interest in the work. One way or another, the interviewer tries to ascertain that you really “need” this job, so that you won’t quit the moment it stops being fun.

What does it mean to really “need” a job? It means that you feel that in some way, your very survival is dependent on the payment that you expect to receive in return for doing the work. How can someone be entirely dependent on receiving a reward for work in order to live? Aren’t all people capable of feeding themselves?

Of course, we can all feed ourselves by growing our own food or hunting for it, but this requires time and also a certain amount space. In an industrialized society, most people find that they can get more material goods, including food, by working for somebody else than by working for themselves. They become accustomed to selling their time as a way of surviving. As such, their interest in the work they do is secondary to their interest in the reward they earn for performing the work.

Since employers are looking for people who can make a commitment in return for money, and employees are looking for employers who will support them in return for work, people who can be motivated only by an intrinsic interest in the task at hand rarely find employment.

Variable Degrees of Internal versus External Motivation

The psychological studies I cited above don’t tell the whole story, because human motivation for work is a variable trait. Not all people have a strong innate preference for some tasks over others; not all are equally motivated by an intrinsic interest in work. Some respond more favorably to external stimulus than others, and there are even people who thrive in a structured environment where external rewards are lavished on desirable behavior.

Because of such variation in personal motivation, some people make very good employees, while others are more inclined to earn their bread independently. The degree of industrialization of a society may determine which people are going to find work to be rewarding. The more capital is concentrated under the control of a few, the more people are going to have to be amenable to external rewards, and to defer intrinsic gratification.

Even so, it is possible to find people who are willing to perform a job with no pay, for the sheer reward of getting to do the work. I have given some of these people work to do, and I can vouch for the efficacy of this payment method!

A Spoonful of Sugar

This Hub was last updated on September 29, 2009

Comments

Jerilee Wei 2 years ago from United StatesLevel 2 Commenter

Loved the physician analogy! My work for the most part has always been pure play and joy, with very few exceptions. As we both know, some “jobs” we’d gladly do and sometimes do for “free.” The rewards to me casn’t be measured in paper and coin.

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Thanks, Jerilee! It’s good to know that you have always been able to find work you enjoy. I think some of the best and most important work we do is done for the joy of doing it!

LeonJane 2 years ago from Australia

Remember, work is only a four letter word.

Storytellersrus 2 years ago from On the edgeLevel 6 Commenter

So if full time moms don’t get paid, does this mean they don’t work? Even if they have 2+ kids under four? Or someone takes care of their aging parent for free. Is this not work? This is such a timely hub for me. I have a friend who insists stay at home moms don’t work. And a husband who claims finding a job is work. What do you think?

BTW, I love your humor, Aya.

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

LeonJane, how true! It is one of those strong, Anglo-Saxon four letter words.

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Storytellersrus, thanks! You raise a very good point. Personally, I feel that raising children is the most important work that many of us do! That’s using one meaning of work. But from an economic standpoint, it’s not work. So ironically, many mothers leave their children in someone else’s care so they can go work. Sometimes they even work at jobs caring for or teaching somebody else’s children.

But intrinsically, we have the highest internal motivation to care for our own children. So everybody loses!

nhkatz 2 years ago from Bloomington, Indiana

Aya,

I think there’s a very important lesson here about economic statistics. There is no conservation of work.

Suppose two stay at home moms A and B take care of their own children. No work takes place. But suppose Mom A pays a

certain sum to Mom B and in exchange Mom B takes care of

Mom A’s children and then Mom B pays the same sum to Mom A

and in exchange Mom A takes care of Mom B’s children.

In total, no money has exchanged hands. The same amount of child care is going on. But in the first case there is no work and in the second case there is.

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Nets, that’s a good point. The numbers can be juggled.

Of course, it’s the Federal government that profits from the second arrangement, because of the income and employment taxes generated.

Worker 2 years ago

Got caught up reading this from work…thanks.

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Worker, thanks! How ironic!

EmpressFelicity 2 years ago from Kent, England, UK

“fund-raising websites have reported a sharp increase in supposedly sexy media companies … auctioning their internships. A week polishing CD boxes for a music-production company went last month for $12,000.”

I don’t know what to be more depressed by here – the cynicism of the companies who raise funds this way, knowing there are so many young people out there who are desperate to get media jobs, or the fact that said people are prepared to *pay* in order to be exploited. (Although it’s more likely to be their parents who pay on their behalf – more fool them.)

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

EmpressFelicity, it’s a crazy world! A job, like any commodity, has always been worth whatever the market will bear. And, yes, these are obviously not poor people who are buying into these internships — so there’s no need to feel sorry for either the children or the parents.

The idea that by creating jobs we can improve the economy doesn’t work, whether the jobs are bought by the wealthy or given away to the poor. Unless the enterprise supporting the employment relationship is actually producing something useful, it’s all smoke and mirrors.

Teresa McGurk 2 years ago from The Other Bangor

Clever, and thoughtful. Smoke and mirrors and an illusion of health benefits. Thanks for writing this excellent piece.

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Thanks, Teresa!

James A Watkins 2 years ago from Michigan and FloridaLevel 7 Commenter

Work goes way back. Did not God assign Adam work to do in the Garden of Eden?

If not, surely thereafter, work was ordained.

I have found that different generations of Americans are motivated to work well by different methods. A good manager can sense what motivations will work with each individual.

Great article. Very interesting and thought-provoking.

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

James, thanks! In Genesis, work was definitely an assigned chore. But consider picking fruit for a living. If you pick it because you want to eat it right there on the spot, it’s a fun thing to do. But if you are picking more than you need so that others will pay you by the bushel, it can get tedious.

James A Watkins 2 years ago from Michigan and FloridaLevel 7 Commenter

I have picked fruit, when I was a lad. I enjoyed it. And looked forward to a bit of jingle in my pocket. 🙂

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

James, well, I’m glad you enjoyed it! It’s always easier to do a job if you can find the fun in it! Money alone is not a good motivator.

LEWJ 2 years ago

This is a truly outstanding hub, fresh, informative, well-written, and fun!

Your Tom Sawyer download is a beautiful touch. And the videos are well-selected.

I read the story so long ago, and it’s still a wonderfully entertaining novel.

I have’nt seen the old movie since boyhood but plan to buy it some day.

Thank you much for a meaningful, thought-provoking hub.

You’ve just hooked another fan, Aya….

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

LEWJ, thanks! I had read that scene in Tom Sawyer years ago, when I was a child, and I remember disapproving of Tom’s antics. But when you think about it, it really all depends on the point of view. Is it work or is it fun? It depends on how you feel about it!

BookFlame 2 years ago

Excellent hub! Very thoughtful. Work and good work are two different things, I believe. I’ve read the Thomas Moore book you mention!

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Bookflame, thanks! What Thomas Moore book?

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Ben Zoltak 2 years ago from Madison, Wisconsin USALevel 3 Commenter

Well thought out piece Aya. I especially enjoyed revisiting Tom Sawyer. I think about that notion all the time. I am an artist and a writer and to make either of those two careers work for me it seems I need to take all manner of other odd jobs to keep the pot boiling at home, then squeeze in time to make are and write! I also enjoyed the comparison you made between intrinsic and external reward, it’s given me some solid insight. Well done.

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Ben, thanks! Many of us on Hubpages are artists and writers who wear several different hats to get by. Welcome to the club! I think there is a way to do what you want and earn also, and we’re all looking for it together. The great thing about Hubpages is that when one of us finds a piece of the puzzle, we can share that information with others!

Bank cd rates 2 years ago

Hmm, i think next time i shall ask my physician to pay me for practicing on me. On serious notes one should enjoy his/her job. This is the greatest motivation, it is worthless to work when you don’t love it actually. Motivation is different for every individual, so no standard protocol to follow.

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Bank cd rates, yes, I agree! Enjoying a job is the best possible motivator, but each person responds differently to different types of stimulus. One size does not fit all.

maya65 2 years ago

tom sawyer.i remember reading that book a while back!!

Aya Katz 2 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Maya65, yes, just about everyone has read Tom Sawyer at one point or another. It’s a very popular book.

wba108@yahoo.com 4 months ago from upstate, NYLevel 6 Commenter

“Usually, the right to work as the manager of the business, collecting no more than an employee of a comparable business might make without investing a single penny. These are not investments. People are simply buying the right to work for a living.”

There’s alot of truth to this, if you work for someone else, your job owns you and if you work for yourself you own your job!

Aya Katz 4 months ago from The OzarksHub Author

Thanks, wba108@yahoo.com! I agree.

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Posted in Marketplace and Trading, Opinion Pieces and Editorials, Politics and Philosophy | Tagged avocation, Aya Katz, finding your vocation, hobbies, idleness, labor, Labor Day, Mark Tawain, paying for a job, the right to work, toil, toil. hardship, Tom Sawyer, vocation, what are wages, what is a job, what is work, why do people work | 2 Comments

The Romance of Poldark by Winston Graham

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Medora Trevilian

The Romance of Poldark by Winston Graham

When Ross Poldark returns to Cornwall after fighting in the colonies for three years, he finds his father dead, the mines mortgaged, the house a shambles, the servants drunk and his beloved Elizabeth engaged to his insipid cousin Francis. Could there be any drearier homecoming?

He secures a loan to pay off his debauched father’s debt to his uncle in order to prevent the scheming Warleggan clan from taking over the two mines he has inherited: Wheal Grace and Wheal Leisure. He knows that Elizabeth can’t possibly be in love with Francis, and he learns that she is marrying his cousin in order to help her own parents out of debt. But when he offers to remove the financial incentive for the marriage, Elizabeth informs him that she will not marry him, anyway. There is something dark and unruly in his spirit and he frightens her. She wants to be safe. Francis is safe. She knows every nook and cranny of his soul.

The Darkness of Poldark

Elizabeth does not appreciate mystery in a man. When Ross suggests to her that part of the joy in a marriage is to learn to know one another, Elizabeth replies that she will get to know her children. The man she marries must be transparent to her from the start. She wants no surprises. The choice to marry Francis is her own. She weds him of her own free will, while Ross Poldark scowls at the sea from the majestic heights of a Cornish cliff.

Ross does not accept the marriage. He will not gracefully walk away and seek his comfort elsewhere. He will pursue Elizabeth throughout her marriage to the weak but lovable Francis and later through her other marriage to the strong, but wicked Warleggan.

The Poldark Series

By now, you have probably deduced that the story I am relating to you is a bodice ripper, a romance, an unrealistic tale in which derring do and steamy love scenes take center stage, and reality, as we all know it, is left far behind.

The Poldark novels, from which the Poldark television drama derived, were a series of books by the British author Winston Graham. Set in Cornwall in the late eighteenth century, they centered on the social and psychological struggles of a lesser member of the gentry. Like many a novelist, Graham used the average reader’s sympathy for the common man, along with everyone’s aspirations to rise in social rank, in order to squarely ally us with Ross Poldark. Poldark is noble, but poor. Poldark is good natured, but intransigent. Poldark is hard working, but he is also entitled to his land by a long line of succession. It is his by right of primogeniture, but he has to fight for it and earn it all over again.

Poldark is handsome and manly and brave and strong, but for some reason the woman of his dreams is just outside his reach. He clearly deserves to have her, but any consummation of his burning desire will have to be deferred for years, and taken hungrily and under cover of darkness, with the whole world against him

Robin Ellis and Angharad Rees as Ross Poldark and his other sweetheart Demelza

The BBC did an excellent job of putting the Poldark series together. An able cast led by Robin Ellis as Poldark and introducing the splendid Welsh actress Angharad Rees as Demelza, Poldark’s lower class love interest, kept the drama going despite some rather dreary sets and more dialogue than action.

The Moral of the Poldark Series

So what is the moral of the story? The next time you fall in love and are rebuffed and totally rejected, what will you do? Will you tell yourself that she doesn’t deserve you if she doesn’t leap into your arms at the first opportunity, or will you hunt her down and follow her wherever she goes, despite the fact that she has married someone else — and after that, yet another someone else. If you do the former, then you are a “laggard in love” as Sir Walter Scott would put it. If you do the latter, then you are a modern day stalker.

Society does not approve of romantic love. Society says we must settle. But everyone loves a good bodice ripper. Even the BBC!

Copyright Protected 2010 by Medora Trevilian

Posted in Books and Authors, Relationships | Tagged Angharad Reese, Cornwall, Demelza, Poldark, Robin Ellis, romance, Ross Poldark, settling, stalking, unrequited love, Warleggan, Wheal Grace, Winston Graham | Leave a comment

Chimpanzee Development: Age Three through Five

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Aya Katz

[This article was first published on Hubpages in 2008. It has been deemed idle, and so is now republished on pubWages]

Bow’s Development: Age Three Through Five

Sword and Bow on trampoline (2005)

When Bow was three years old, he could use his lexigrams to ask for what he wanted;he could understand what we told him; and he could even show real concern about our feelings, giving someone who was sad a big hug and knowing when something was said in jest and when it was serious. Yet there were several obvious problems. He seldom initiated conversations. His utterances were for the most part at the one word level, and he seemed uninterested in doing anything constructive. Give him a set of blocks to play with, and he never put two together to form a new configuration. If you built something from plastic blocks for him, he would tear it apart. He loved to tear things apart, but would not put them back together. He would open the door, but he never closed it. He used toys as projectiles, but not as outlets for imaginative play. The biggest problem of all was discipline. He was a fun-loving, fairly good-natured little boy, but he wouldn’t do what he was told when he was told, and this was becoming a serious problem, considering that he was rapidly growing stronger than I was.

Bow had been free to wander the house and play with toys from infancy (Photo from 2002)

Bow on my shoulders during an outing (2005)

Bow with Hebrew lexigrams and Easter basket (2006)

When Bow was an infant, he had had free access to every part of the house. He could freely crawl and later walk wherever he wished. He had a playpen full of toys. I treated him as much as possible just like another child. He and Sword played together and shared their toys. Sometimes they had disagreements, but it was nothing that I couldn’t handle. As Bow grew older, he started to become destructive, and his free roaming became more limited.

Bow liked to ride on my back, and as long as he held tightly onto me, I knew he would not cause any trouble. In a way, every restriction on his freedom of movement was self-imposed. He trained me to carry him on my back, because as long as he was perched there, he behaved. He trained me to confine him to the sunroom when I couldn’t give him my full attention, because letting him roam freely through the house destroyed valuable objects.

He trained me to put straps that fastened in the back on his clothes, because whenever I didn’t, he would remove his dirty diapers and play with their contents. He trained me not to leave him alone with stuffed animals and other toys, because he invariably tore them apart and filled the room with the stuffing. Not only was the toy destroyed, but its internal components created a health hazard.

My goal was to give Bow as much freedom as he could handle, and as much enculturation in the human way of life as possible, because, as a linguist, I believe that total immersion is the very best way to learn language. I don’t think real language use is acquired by rote memorization. What works for humans is engagement in context. I do not believe it is any different for chimpanzees.

Besides our time in the house, we went on many outings. Bow loved the outdoors. As long as I sat down in one spot, Bow felt free to explore, staying within a tight radius of me. If I got up and indicated that we were going home, he would climb onto my back, and off we would go.

The key point, which was difficult to explain to others, was that I didn’t train Bow to do anything. I couldn’t force him to behave in any particular way if I wanted to. I interacted with him naturally, and we negotiated the rules of our relationship as we went along.

Bow happy with his Easter loot

When Bow turned three, I started the internship program. The interns were college graduates who came for three months periods. They were eager to interact first hand with a chimpanzee, and they brought with them boundless energy, tremendous dedication, and many great ideas that were added to the program.

The interns were provided with room and board, but there was no salary. I was very lucky that so many people gave freely of their time and energy to Project Bow. The first intern was Samina Farooqi, and she came all the way from India to be with us! Samina was extra dedicated in that she only required one day off, but normally interns had two days off and worked eight hours a day, five days a week. When you consider that they could have been earning a real salary during that time, you can understand what a very big contribution they made!

The interns worked diligently with Bow for three hour periods, five days a week. That accounted for six of the eight hours. The other two hours were spent editing video footage, transcribing dialogues with Bow and preparing written reports.

We used an adapted form of floortime DIR, a method pioneered by Dr. Stanley Greenspan. Bow was not taught anything by rote. We played with him, paid attention to what he was interested in, and tried to engage him on his terms. All the while we were using lexigrams and talking to him in ordinary spoken language. The interns used English. I used Hebrew.

Methods of Pointing and Methods of Transcribing

The lexigrams were words printed in the standard spelling of the languages we used. In 2005, I started arranging them in menus, based on semantic relationships. However, the menus were constantly being rearranged, so Bow could not memorize the position of the lexigram in the menu. He had to remember how each word looked. We used different fonts and colors, so Bow couldn’t rely on color or font to distinguish lexigrams.

The menus were laminated sheets at first, which we held in our hands and Bow could touch. Later we started posting them on the glass of the sunroom, so Bow could point to them, but could not destroy them. We also used menu stands for mealtime, and the fall interns of 2005 and 2006 made themselves shirts with lexigrams printed on them, for the purpose of even better engagement with Bow.

Bow could select the lexigram he wanted to use by pointing at it. There were several different pointing methods:

open handed point (OHP) — the very best evidence of language use, because he did it all by himself.
assisted finger (AF) — where he held the finger of one hand with the other hand to help himself point. (Pointing isn’t a very natural gesture for a chimpanzee.)
researcher’s hand (RH) — Bow would use one of our hands as if it were a pointer.
prompted (PR) — We would take his hand and prompt him to point at something.

In the fall of 2005, our method of recording dialogues with Bow was still quite primitive. Sometimes one intern would take handwritten notes while another played with Bow. Sometimes one intern would do floortime with Bow, while the other filmed the interactions. Handwritten dialogues were later transcribed on the computer. Filmed dialogues were edited down to about three minute segments.

The weakness of this methodology was that we had no film footage of transcribed dialogues, and we had no transcript of filmed dialogue. This would not have been such a big problem, if not for one thing: none of us were able to catch everything Bow pointed at with a single viewing!

Chimpanzees have a very high metabolism. They tend to do everything fast. They can complete a social transaction in the blink of an eye, They can have a fight, sulk and reconcile faster than we can tie our shoelaces. They think faster, they process information faster, and they move faster. Bow seemed hyperactive, when viewed from the human perspective, and he had trouble slowing down to accomodate us. The irony is that he was answering our questions faster than we could notice. When we failed to register what he said, we would slow down even more, assuming he was slow. You can imagine how frustrating this must have been for him!

In the fall of 2006 we changed our method of documentation. The practice of taking handwritten notes was discontinued. Instead, every filmed dialogue was transcribed after multiple viewings of the video clip. That’s when we saw what was really happening: in real time, we didn’t notice Bow’s answers. But when we were able to slow down the video and view it over and over again, we saw that Bow had used OHP — his own hand, without assistance — to answer our questions and to try to engage us in spontaneous conversation about the current context.

Frustrated by our inattention, Bow took to using our hands (RH) in order to make sure we saw what he was saying. This was the state of affairs when in the spring of 2007 I suddenly found myself with no interns and Bow riding on my back twelve hours a day.

Sometimes I have lots of applicants for the internship. Sometimes there are none. When I have no help, the responsibility for taking care of Bow falls squarely on my shoulders. And I mean that literally! In April of 2007, there was no replacement for two departing volunteers. Bow weighed about 45 lbs, and he behaved well only when I was carrying him on my back. My own weight fell during that period from around 120 lbs to 109. This was good for my overall health, but carrying Bow’s weight was beginning to affect my joints.

Bow was no longer wearing clothes. The use of straps to keep his diapers on had to be discontinued, because he could remove them unless they were skin-tight, and this posed a health hazard to him. He was now in pull-ups, and used the potty consistently, as long as I was with him every moment of the day. But I needed to get to the grocery store and the bank and the post office, and many places are only open during business hours, when Bow is awake. Bow is not allowed into these businesses, and I could not leave him unattended in the car.

Reluctantly, I had an outdoor pen constructed, intending to use it only for absolutely necessary errands. But Bow hated the pen, and on the third time I tried to leave him there, he refused to go in. In the struggle that ensued, I injured my hand on his leash. He did not intend to hurt me. I just grabbed the leash by my left hand when I couldn’t hold onto it by the handle using the muscles power of my right hand alone. But the chain part of the leash was metal, and Bow kept pulling on the leash with his arm, and I ended up splitting open the flesh of my left index finger. When Bow saw that I was seriously injured, he stopped struggling. He let me put him in the pen so I could go to the emergency room.

Keep in mind: going into the pen was his choice. I couldn’t force him to do anything. He went in of his own free will, because he realized I was in trouble.

After I returned from the emergency room, I took Bow back out of the pen, but the realization was beginning to dawn that we could not go on this way. I couldn’t allow Bow to dictate when I could leave the house. He was a five year old little boy! No five year old could be entrusted with that much power over an entire household.

I commissioned a local contractor to convert the sunroom into two large indoor pens with corridors leading to a metal toilet room and to the outdoor pen. Bow went into the outdoor pen when the construction was still underway, and I slept outdoors in the pen with him every night, to make sure that he was warm and safe out there. Even when the indoor pens were completed, I continued to sleep in the pens with Bow for many months thereafter. I wanted him to know I was not abandoning him. We were still a family. I was still there for him. But the rules had changed.

This was a very difficult time for all of us. Sword felt neglected as I spent most of the day in the pens. Bow and I spent many hours sitting huddled together, silent and glum on the concrete floor. The lack of adornments in our surroundings wasn’t a decorating choice. It was the only option, considering Bow’s behavior. I had given him lots of choices en route to the pens, and the way he exercised his right to choose had landed us in this impasse. I think both Bow and I were depressed when the summer of 2007 began. But the darkest hour is always the one before the dawn.

We began to develop daily routines. Lexigram use was on the upswing. Sword and I took meals with Bow in the pens, so we were still a family. Little by litte, our daily lives re-established themselves.

The pen system created exactly the kind of structure that Bow needed in order to thrive. And we were very lucky in June of 2007 to have a remarkable new intern join Project Bow.

Eden Michaelov and Bow, Summer of 2007

Eden Michaelov is a native speaker of English who was brought up in Canada, but she is also fluent in Hebrew. Some of her family members are native speakers of Hebrew; she went to a school where Hebrew was taught; and she spent some time in Israel as a volunteer. She can speak, read and write Hebrew. This gave her a considerable advantage with Bow, who it turns out, had all this while been looking down on volunteers who did not speak Hebrew. Eden’s easy going personality was an immediate success with Bow, and her arrival was just in time to cheer Bow up about his new living arrangements.

Within a matter of weeks, with a new routine in place, Bow reached the following milestones:

1) Consistent potty behavior with both me and Eden. (He had been fairly consistent with me that spring, but he was very tricky with the interns.)

2) Using his words productively in both Hebrew and English. (For both meals and play sessions.)

3) Spontaneously using language in novel applications.

One of the problems with using lexigrams is that if a new lexigram hasn’t been introduced for an item in Bow’s working vocabulary, then even though Bow knows the word for purposes of comprehension, he cannot use it productively. In June and July of 2007 Bow began to use color words in order to ask for new foods for which a lexigram hadn’t been introduced. See below for a transcript of a session where Bow requested watermelon by using the Hebrew lexigram for “red”.

Bow started using the color of a food to identify it, if he had no lexigram for it

After Bow discovered that color words could be used to label foods, he began to refer to the cereal Sword and I had for breakfast in the pens as “brown”. He referred to cereal as brown, even when he didn’t want any, just to comment on what we were eating. And the next thing that happened was truly amazing: Bow told Eden that her mouth smelled of cereal! He only used two words: “Brown” and “Mouth”. But the way he used them in his exchange with Eden was the very essence of spontaneous communication.

It was a breakthrough!

The turning point in Bow’s spontaneous communication

Bow was not asking for cereal. He wasn’t asking for anything at all. Although he had not seen her eat, he knew that Eden had had cereal, and he was telling her this, by way of conversation. It was precisely the sort of spontaneous occurrence that characterizes human language, and that critics of ape language research claim non-humans are incapable of.

The “Brown Mouth” incident of July 17, 2007 was just the tip of the iceberg. There were many more breakthroughs that summer. But because Bow used RH, we had also opened the door to a whole series of criticisms, concerning cuing and “Clever Hans”. (See link below.)

I will stop my story here for the time being. I look forward to your input.

[Below are reprinted the original comments on this article.]

Comments

( 31 comments)

mistyhorizon2003 4 years ago from Guernsey (Channel Islands)Level 7 Commenter

This is just fascinating and I am riveted by it. What a great character, I would so love to be able to meet Bow, but far too much water between us sadly.

Aya Katz 4 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Mistyhorizon, thanks. I think he’s pretty amazing, too. It might be possible for you to see him without crossing the water, once we get a Skype interface for Bow’s pens. I want to open a window on the world for him, even if he can’t go anywhere right now.

mistyhorizon2003 4 years ago from Guernsey (Channel Islands)Level 7 Commenter

I would love that, as he sounds so intelligent and to see him would be fabulous.

Aya Katz 4 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Mistyhorizon, I’ll let you know when we have the kinks worked out in our communication system.

Bow is very interested in what he sees of the outer world on the computer screen.

Shadesbreath 3 years ago from CaliforniaLevel 5 Commenter

Wow, this is fantastic stuff. That “Brown Mouth” comment is so, you know, just like something random anyone would say, you know. Like, “Dude, your breath smells like tuna.” Amazing to find that out. I wonder what’s really going on in their heads. They must have an internal voice or something just like ours.

On to the next installment, this is great.

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Shadesbreath, thanks for dropping by. Yes, Bow is constantly thinking about things, and his reactions to ordinary events often involve his own particular slant.

SpocksAmanda 3 years ago

This whole venture seems like a modern day venture into what Roger Fouts did with Sign Language with Washoe. I had no idea that studies of this kind were still going on. If I were not graduating this spring from college, I would apply to work with Bow. It sems like a chance of a lifetime. Sad bow only get to makes connections with interns for 3 months though before having to adjust to a new person/persons

Deny

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Spock’sAmanda, thanks for dropping by. Yes, studies like these are still going on. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh is working with bonobos. Up until very recently, Sally Boysen was working with chimpanzees. And I am working with Bow. There’s not a lot of funding available, though, which is why I take volunteers. If you are still interested after you graduate, you could apply for a summer internship.

Mandy Chaverou 3 years ago

Hi Aya

Yes I quite agree with Spock’s Amanda it must be very frustrating for Bow to adapt to someone for a period of time then to find himself a few months later with “another” face, but I suppose then he doesn’t get too attached…. Its very interesting what you are doing with Bow.

If I’m writing to you today it’s because my daughter has been talking to me about what you’re doing. She is “over” passioned with chimpanzees and Bonobos and I know that she was wishing to apply to be an intern for next year but sadly the dates do not correspond with her university.

Perhaps in a year or two when she has finished she could apply or re-apply. In 2006 she spent a few weeks in the Congo with Claudine André and her Bonobos and would like to do so again. She was born to be with animals.

I wish you good luck for the future, it’s a good job there are people like you and claudine….. keep up the good work.

Give Bow a hug.

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Mandy, thanks for your posting! Your daughter sounds like someone we could use around here. Maybe in a few years our schedules will fit just right, and she can apply.

Yes, it is tough on Bow to have to get used to new people every few months. He does get attached, and then he misses his new friends when they are gone. However, he is now able to see some of them on Skype.

It’s actually amazing that we require our human children to get used to a new teacher or a new babysitter without making much fuss. I think none of us were really intended to break off attachments and create new ones as rapidly as society now expects.

joyride 3 years ago

It has long been known, that animals are very intelligent beings, and that they have feelings too, which most people, don t understand, and therefore, take no concideration to them or their feelings, and treat them awfully, and let them suffer greatly, We all know about dolphins being very intelligent, but I recently saw a program, about pigs being extremely intelligent, which quite surprised me, those animals, just being raised, to be eaten, and only get to live a short 12 months, and they were proven to be as smart or even smarter than most humans, Well, that was a very interresting program, and I m so glad that I ve been a vegetarian, for the last 30 years, thus not being the cause, of inflicting any pain on those highly intelligent anmals, I think we, humans have to take more concideration and treat and take care of all animals, the best that we can, Any animal owner, knows, how much love an animal is capable of, who loves us more, than our animals, and who s always glad to see us, So to everyone I say, treat the Animals well, and love them, cause they sure love us, I spent last winter in Cyprus, saving, feeding

neutering,spaying and rehoming the cyprus cats, and all I can say, is that those wild, unwanted,stray cats, showed more love,than anyone could ever think is possible, all the hotel cats, came to my room, on the 2nd floor each night, and slept in my bed,and my love for them is endless. They truly want to be with you,and enjoy your company,they were always waiting for me, when I came home,in the evening, and I m going back there again this winter, to try to save more cats, now when another cattery opened up in the ayia napa area, sincerely kelly ann

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Joyride,

Thanks so much for your comments. I can see that you care a great deal about animals. You have thought about the suffering of animals due to overpopulation and lack of care. But have you thought about the suffering that spaying and neutering inflicts? Is this something you would ever consider as a population control measure for humans?

joyride 3 years ago

Hi aya, I dont understand what you mean with the suffering of the cats, dogs and other animals, being spayed or neutered, I only know, that because there is such an overpopulation of unwanted cats and dogs, in most countries, this is the only way, to at least, keep the ones, that are already here alive, we cannot rehome or replace, most of the cats and dogs, that are already here, and a cat can have kittens, 2 or 3 times in a year, All my animals are spayed and neutered, and I never heard, anyone say, that that would in any way harm them, The mother cats in cyprus, that I had spayed, all seemed quite content, and unfortunatelly, not all of their kittens survive, and before that, they suffer, in cold, draughty places, sincerely kelly ann

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Joyride, many human beings all over the world suffer from hunger and deprivation, but nobody is suggesting that we neuter them. Keep in mind that when a male is neutered, we’re talking about full castration, not just a vasectomy. With a female, we are talking full hysterectomy, not just a tubal ligation. In the case of humans, even a vasectomy or hysterectomy is something the person undergoing it must consent to, because the right to have children is considered a fundamental right. But what is done to animals who are not human is even worse than that. They are deprived of their sex life, and this also affects the functioning of their brain. Hormones from the gonads are part of the complicated system that allows us all to function at our highest intellectual and spiritual potential. Castration is akin to a lobotomy. (A lobotomy often renders the victim more docile, so it gives the impression of being at peace, but really it has just become more phlegmatic.)

Do some research on what happens to women who have undergone a full hysterectomy, not leaving even one ovary in place. It will give you an idea of what is involved.

In nature, animals reproduce, and then some of them don’t survive. There are predators who eliminate the weak, and overpopulation is rarely a problem. To suggest that the human way is always the most humane way is not to consider all of the possibilities.

joyride 3 years ago

Well, most animal lovers, and animal activists are only, trying to do the best for the animals, And I do believe, that staying alive neutered or spayed, is far more better, than being killed in the most cruel of ways, which is the custom, on Cyprus and in Greece, for the feral cats. I can tell you about Little mama at the hotel, and other females, that I encountered, who would be sitting high up in trees, for hours, with a whole army of males, on the ground, Neither little mama, or the other females, were very happy with the situation, and always being chased, by all these males, and never being left alone, I don t know about animal sex, but it might be overrated, I think little mama, is much happier now, when left alone, just running around with black, her daughter, and now, when she s been fixed, the owner, promised to spare her, and not killing her, That s our plan, to spay the females, or house them, so that the hotel, and restaurant owners will not kill them, It s a terrible feeling, to have animals that you care for being killed off, with poisened food, Staying alive, is better, than a painful death, and the cat overpopulation was the problem in the first place, that s why they re poisening the cats or bundelling them up, and drowning the kittens in the ocean, I prefer live cats to dead cats. Also, I had all my bunnies neutered, and I ve never seen, so much humping going on ever, so whatever they did, they must have had some feelings left, and they had their rangs too, first female, male etc, but in their case, only the males were neutered, you do what you think, is best for your animals, that s all there is, there just ain t enough homes, for all these unwanted animals, so that s why we have to do this, kelly ann.

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Kelly Ann. I understand that you are only doing what you think best.

gwendymom 3 years ago from Oklahoma

Very Interesting Aya. I am glad that you were featured in this weeks newsletter and I got the chance to read this hub. Keep up the good work!

countrywomen 3 years ago from Washington, USA

Aya- Is their a web camera or some sort of video footage of bow that we could watch? Seems to be a fascinating character that I would like to see in action. Good job to you, volunteers and Bow for this wonderful information!!

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Gwendymom, thanks for your comment and your encouragement.

Countrywomen, we are working on trying to find the best way to implement this. Of course, there are videos, and I hope to add some of these to my hubsites, but that is not the same as a live webcam. Bow does chat on Skype with people he knows, but even with that there are a number of problems, both technical and behavioral. But I am working on improving the situation!

Murf 3 years ago

Hi there, I was just wondering what will happend to Bow ina year or two when he becomes too large and unmanageable for you to keep him? Will you send him to a zoo or sacntuary to attempt to rehabilitate him? Dont you think its a bit unfair that he will find it very difficult to integrate with other chimps?

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Murf, thanks for your comment. You asked this question concerning the hub about Bow’s Development Age Three through Five. To find out what happened a year or two later, why don’t you read the next hub in the series, Bow and Literacy?

My commitment to Bow is not limited to his being small and “manageable”. This is a commitment for a lifetime. I do hope to find Bow a mate and I understand his need for chimpanzee companionship, as well as human. Do you understand his need for human companionship? Please consider what it would do to him if he were torn out of the only family he’s ever known.

By rehebailitation, do you mean, for instance, that he should forget how to read and write?

Murf 3 years ago

Hello again Aya, I just read the other hubs about Bow, sorry I missed them the first time. He is a pretty amazing chimp but I do worry about what will become of him in the future. I see your point that if he was taken away from you he would probably suffer emotionally for a while, however dont you think he is already? He has already been torn from his own family.

By rehablitation I meant him learning how to behave like a chimp again, he belongs in a group of other chimpanzees where he can follow his instincts. I am far from being an expert but I have seen first hand what happens when adult chimps are kept captive too long and I believe that keeping him with humans for his entire life is mean. If nothing else you could be putting yourself in danger.

I dont intend to offend you as your research is extremely interesting, but just because you can teach him to read and write doesnt mean you necessarily should. People can teach elephants to stand on two legs and perform tricks but that doesnt mean they should.

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Murf, I appreciate that your comments come out of concern for Bow. However, the assumption that Bow’s linguistic achievements are unnatural and not good for him are not something I share. Bow didn’t pick up language because he was forced to. He’s a very stubborn fellow, and when he doesn’t want to do something, he won’t do it. He picked up language and literacy because it IS natural for him. There are things about chimpanzees — and also about humans — that are still not well known.

I am still exploring these issues myself, and I hope to be able to clarify them further in other hubs. Is Bow suffering from isolation? Well, yes, as I am and as my daughter is. We live in a very rural area, and it’s hard to find peers. I am working very hard at finding friends for all of us to interact with!

ngureco 3 years agoLevel 2 Commenter

Good research you are doing here.

I think you should get him a girl chimpanzee so that when the right time come, we can get to know how their children will learn the languages.

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Ngureco, thanks for dropping by! I am planning to get Bow a female chimpanzee companion. I want his life to be complete and happy. I would have done it by now, if not for financial constraints. Hopefully, I will be able to raise the funds and make that dream come true!

Tatjana-Mihaela 24 months ago from Zadar, CROATIA

Well, Aya, up till today, I did not have idea that you are teaching your chimp to speak, so catching up your old Hubs about that topic. This is excellent project and I am trully amazed with it!

Aya Katz 24 months ago from The OzarksHub Author

Tatjana-Mihaela, thanks. It’s an ongoing process. Bow has been spelling out what he wants to communicate for years now, but getting him to do it in a way that will satisfy the scientific community is a challenge I am still grappling with.

Sandyspider 24 months ago from Wisconsin, USALevel 1 Commenter

I always wanted one of these smart animals as a pet. They seem so human.

Aya Katz 24 months ago from The OzarksHub Author

Sandyspider, chimpanzees don’t make good pets in part because they are so very much like us. They want to be treated as equals or our superiors and will not accept a non-dominant position in the household.

Kind Regards 21 months ago from Missouri Ozarks – Table Rock Lake

Aya Katz, I agree with mistyhorizon2003 that “this is just fascinating and I am riveted by it.” Since I follow your blog, Notes from the Pens, I was aware of Bow living in the pens. I had no idea he started out living in the house. He sounds so happy and well-adjusted to the pens nowadays. I’m sure it was just an adjustment period like it would be for any of us in a new living situation. Onto Bow and Literacy, Kind Regards

Aya Katz 21 months ago from The OzarksHub Author

Thanks, Kind Regards! At the time, moving to the pens was a shock for all of us. By now, though, it is not any big deal, and I would venture to say we are fairly well adjusted. It’s not really where you live that’s important. It’s having your family with you, and fellowship and love, that really matter!

Posted in Apes and Language | Tagged chimpanzee development, chimpanzee development adolescent, chimpanzee development infant, chimpanzee five years old., chimpanzee three years old, chimpanzees and language, Project Bow | Leave a comment

Using Vintage Paper to Make Origami Shapes

Posted on August 31, 2012 by PJ Deneen

Origami is a popular past time for people of all ages. This Japanese art of paper folding is used to make figures ranging from simple animal shapes to complex sculptural pieces. You can use most kinds of paper, even newspaper, but paper specific to origami is usually used.

Vintage is all the rage and origami isn’t immune. You can use vintage paper to make unique origami shapes as gifts and for yourself. I experimented with a vintage page from an old copy of Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales to make this paper crane.

Origami crane made with vintage book page.

The thing with vintage paper is that it can be fragile. It’s also not acid-free, so if you want your piece to last, then you’ll want to put some kind of sealant on it. I used artist’s varnish on this crane which is part of a hanging garland I made. To make the crane I cut a square out of the book page and folded it like I would any origami piece of paper but slowly and carefully because of the fragility of the paper.

Just like traditional origami, you can leave the shapes you make as is or transform them into ornaments for hanging or string several together to make a garland with beads and/or knots to keep the figures in place. For this piece, I used a tapestry needle to string the crane on green wool yarn. I placed knots and wood beads on each side of the crane.

I found my vintage book at a library sale. It was falling apart and ready for the trash heap. Otherwise, I wouldn’t tear up a perfectly good albeit old book. But you may have some old books that you were thinking of throwing away. You may also find them at thrift stores and yard sales. You can also add other craft elements like glitter, paint or ink. Just use your imagination and have fun with origami!

Posted in Arts & Crafts | Tagged origami crane, paper crane, vintage book crafts, vintage paper, vintage paper crafts | 2 Comments

Finding a Soulmate: The Spinster and the Beggar

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Medora Trevilian

The Spinster and the Beggar

A lonely spinster walked daily down a narrow street to her place of employment as a librarian. She wanted for nothing, for she had a well paying job, and she was always dressed beautifully and well groomed. On her way to work and on her way back, she always passed by a beggar man, who was homeless and poorly dressed and was not well sheltered from the elements. Sometimes, because she was a woman of conscience, the spinster would drop a few coins into the beggar’s hat.

The beggar enjoyed watching the woman as she made her way to and from work, and he noted that she was always alone and never accompanied. “It’s such a shame,” he thought, “that she should be so lonely. Why doesn’t anyone ever keep company with her? Don’t they see what a fine woman she is?”

Two Beggars: Would one of these suit you?

Two Beggars by Giacomo Ceruti

One day the beggar worked up his courage to speak to the spinster. “Excuse me,” he said, “but I couldn’t help noticing how you are always alone, and sometimes you look so sad, and I was thinking, since I have nothing better to do with my time, why don’t you and I go out sometime?”

The spinster was much affronted by this speech. “Do you think,” she asked in a shaky voice, “that I am so desperate for companionship that I would stoop that low?!”

And from that day forward, she changed her route to work and never saw that beggar man again.

The beggar said to himself: “Well, no wonder she is all alone. She’s a snob!”

The Spinster and the Beggar:The Errors of Our Assumptions

It’s possible that the spinster and the beggar could never have gotten along. One was fastidious, and the other was not. One was a hard worker, and the other did no work. But it’s also possible — and we may never know for sure — that they could have come to some sort of understanding, had they not both been in the habit of thinking in terms of a market price for love.

The beggar was wrong to word his invitation in terms of the spinster’s lack of better prospects. The spinster was wrong to assume that because the man was a beggar, he had no value.

If the beggar had wanted his invitation to be considered, he would have done better to say how he planned to spend the outing with the spinster, and what beautiful things he had to show and what a marvelous time they might have together. He should not have mentioned how obviously lonely the spinster was, because that is insulting.

If the spinster had wanted to understand the true value of the beggar as an individual, she might have asked him about his dreams and aspirations. Perhaps he had turned down many jobs, because none was good enough, just as she had turned down many men, because none was her equal. You never know.

The Spinster and the Beggar: Conclusion

This is only a fable. Such an encounter could never happen today. There are no more beggars in today’s world — there are only the homeless. There are no more spinsters, but only empowered women who are single by choice. And it is surely the case that the marketplace and the laws of supply and demand have nothing to do with love and marriage.

Think of all the single people in the world today of both sexes. If it were just a question of supply and demand, wouldn’t everybody be married by now?

Copyright 2011 Medora Trevilian

Posted in Opinion Pieces and Editorials, Relationships | Tagged beggar, finding a soul mate, finding your soul mate, how to ask a girl out, settling for less, settling. settling on a mate, should you settle, spinster, the spinster and the beggar, why you can't find your soulmate | Leave a comment

A Young Chimpanzee’s Growth and Development

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Aya Katz

Order it on Amazon

Bow’s Development

[This article was first published on Hubpages in 2008 as “Bow’s Development”. It has been deemed idle and is now republished under a different title on PubWages.]

First Meeting With Bow

When my daughter Sword and I first met Bow, Sword was two and a half years old, and we had been told that a baby boy was available for us to adopt. At the time, I was thinking more in terms of adopting a little girl chimp, because I was aware that chimpanzees become much stronger than humans when they are not yet grown. However, I was assured that there was no significant difference between chimpanzee males and females in terms of intelligence, and that if anything, the females can get a bit more tempermental if you try to correct them. Nobody likes to be told they are wrong, and females take it worse than males. That is, males reconcile faster. Females sulk longer.

Bow, like all babies, chimpanzee and human alike, was adorable. I was gazing into his sweet face when I was suddenly aware that I was being hugged by a much larger chimpanzee, who had materialized out of nowhere.

It was Conor, and he was eight years old. He was perfectly friendly with both me and Sword, although he wanted to remove Sword’s shoes and the little ornaments in her hair. He was very gentle with her, but also very curious.

We had passed our first test as a family wanting to adopt a chimpanzee. Everybody likes babies, but we had to prove that we would not be daunted by a meeting with a juvenile, something Bow would one day become.

Sword and Bow on Bow’s First Day Home

When Bow came to live with us, he was a little over a month old. While he could support his entire weight from birth, he still was not crawling, and when I wasn’t bottle feeding him, burping him, changing his diapers and cuddling him, he spent the majority of his time asleep in a bassinet.

Sword was not used to sharing me with another child, and there were flare-ups of sibling rivalry. However, there were also moments of genuine affection between siblings.

At this point no special effort was made to teach Bow language. It was a situation of total immersion. Sword and I spoke Hebrew to each other and to Bow. People in the community where we lived spoke English. Bow was exposed to both languages, but the dominant language in the household was Hebrew, and it was in Hebrew that he eventually became most fluent.

Bow asleep in his bassinet

Bow crawling

Bow was born in February of 2002. By June of 2002, he had begun to crawl. We had guests in the household at the time. My friend June and her daughter Delight came for a summer visit. Thus another language was introduced into the household. June and Delight spoke Chinese (Mandarin) to each other. Sword and I spoke Hebrew to each other and to Bow. And when we wanted to communicate with June and Delight, we all spoke English.

It was my hope that Bow would be the first trilingual chimpanzee. However, it didn’t quite work out that way. June and Delight had to leave at the end of the summer, and although they came for another extended visit in 2003, we were not able to find Chinese speakers to keep up with Bow in the years that followed.

Eventually, we had to drop Chinese as one of Bow’s languages, and we stuck to the languages that Sword and I could speak: Hebrew and English.

Lexigrams

Chimpanzees have an undescended larynx, and they find it very difficult to produce the speech sounds of human languages. A number of different methods have been devised over the years to get around this problem, most notably, the use of ASL (American Sign Language) and Lexigrams.

Examples of chimpanzee language studies that used ASL include the Gardners’ and later Fout’s work with Washoe and Herbert Terrace’s project with Nim Chimpsky. There are even gorillas that use ASL: see the link below to Francine Patterson’s site for Koko.

The advantages of ASL are:

(1) It’s an existing language used by the deaf community;

(2) A chimpanzee can be encouraged to produce a sign by a method called moulding that allows a human to shape the chimp’s hands into an approximation of the sign;

(3) No special technology is necessary for ASL.

The disadvantages of using ASL for chimpanzee communication are as follows:

(1) ASL is a language spoken by deaf individuals; One can’t become truly fluent in ASL without a process of immersion. ASL is not a form of English or any other spoken language. Most chimpanzee language researchers are not fluent speakers of ASL. Because of this, they are not competent to teach ASL to anybody, least of all a non-human.

(2) The gestures of ASL are difficult for a chimpanzee to learn because the chimpanzee hand and the human hand are not designed for exactly the same motions. True ASL speakers who have observed chimpanzee signing have complained that it isn’t accurate.

(3) Chimpanzees sign faster than most humans can see. If you are not fluent in ASL — and even if you are — you are going to miss a lot of what the chimp says.

An alternative method, pioneered by Duane Rumbaugh with Lana, and perfected by Sue Savage-Rumbaugh with the bonobos Kanzi and Panbanisha and their families, is to use lexigrams — abstract printed symbols to stand for words. Most lexigrams bear no relationship to either the meaning or the pronunciation of the words for which they stand. However, lexigrams stand not for ideas, but for words in a particular language. So, for instance, when Kanzi presses one of the lexigrams in his keyboard, he is selecting a particular English word for which it stands. Kanzi and Panbanisha are fluent in English, and their use of lexigrams permits them to communicate in English.

The advantages of a lexigrammatic system such as Sue Savage-Rumbaugh uses with her bonobos are:

(1) The spoken language that the researchers use can be represented by lexigrams; thus fluency for comprehension that the bonobos may have acquired by daily interactions with caregivers can be translated into fluency in production, using a lexigram keyboard. Neither researchers nor apes have to acquire a whole new language in order to communicate with each other.

(2) There is no special dexterity required. Lexigrams can be selected by pointing at a printed sheet or by pressing a key on the keyboard.

The disadvantage of lexigrams, as used by other researchers, are:

(1) The apes are limited to the symbols on the keyboard. If they want to use a word they know, but have no lexigram for, they are stuck.

(2) If used with an inflectional language, such as English, lexigrams limit the ability to speak grammatically. For instance, if you have a lexigram for sing, you can’ t use sangor sung, so you end speaking ungrammatically.

(3) Nobody but the researchers and the apes know the special symbols on the lexigram keyboard. This limits the ability to communicate with strangers, or to surf on the internet.

When I adopted the lexigram system for Project Bow I wanted the best of both worlds. I wanted a standard system of communication. I wanted to be able to speak with Bow in languages I am fluent in. And I wanted him to eventually have unlimited access to any word he wanted, in any grammatical form. This is why I chose to make our lexigrams in the standard orthography of each language.

What does this mean? It means that lexigrams that stand for English words look like English words. Lexigrams that stand for Hebrew words look like Hebrew words. Bow wasn’t required to think of the lexigrams as being composed of letters. He could just memorize each of them as a whole symbol. But the information was there. It left him free to communicate immediately with new friends as well as people he had known all his life. And it paved the way for true literacy.

The design of Bow’s lexigrams is one of my major contributions to the field of ape language research.

Examples of Bow’s Lexigrams in English and Hebrew

Internship Program; Floortime

When Bow was an infant, he was well in advance of human infants his own age. He was aware of his surroundings; he understood social events that a human infant of the same age would not have; he was very easy to care for.

As Bow grew older, the comparison was not always so favorable. He was hyperactive. He had poor impulse control. He had a tendency to destroy objects. And though he recognized lexigrams and could use them to request what he wanted, for quite some time he did not show any desire to communicate verbally beyond a one word request for a tickle, a chase, a banana or a hug. By the time he was three years old, it seemed clear that he was behind most human children in his linguistic accomplishments.

This is the point at which many researchers give up. Between three years and four years of age, a chimpanzee becomes difficult to care for. Without constant supervision, they cause extreme havoc. Even with constant supervision, all sorts of mishaps occur. Washoe left the Gardners at about that age and returned to Oklahoma accompanied by Roger Fouts. At about that age, Herbert Terrace sent Nim Chimpsky back to the Lemmon farm. The road gets very difficult at that point, but there are great things just around the corner.

I did not give up. Instead, I redoubled my efforts. I started an internship program that allowed young college graduates to learn more about chimpanzees, and in turn these volunteers helped me and Bow cope with our twenty-four hour commitment to each other.

In addition, I introduced DIR Floortime into Project Bow. Floortime is a method of interacting with developmentally challenged children that was devised by Dr. Stanley Greenspan. If you want to learn more about it, please follow the link.

http://www.floortime.org/ft.php?page=Our%20Approach

Bow in the Summer of 2007

Bow’s English Lexigram Vocabulary in Summer of 2007

By the summer of 2007, Bow had an English vocabulary of 238 lexigrams, shown above, and a Hebrew vocabulary of 137 lexigrams, as shown below. Though he knew fewer words in Hebrew, he knew them better. He was like many bilingual children whose home language vocabulary was learned from a small number of familiar people. The outsiders brought many English words with them, but they were used less often. The insiders functioned in a limited realm, where everything was understood.

Bow’s Hebrew Lexigram Vocabulary in Summer 2007

At the beginning of the summer of 2007, Bow was still at the one word stage. By the end of the summer, he had begun on a series of astounding advances in his linguistic development. They involved spontaneity, literacy and grammar.

But this has been a really long hub. So I’ll tell you more about it some other time. Bow says it’s a good place to stop.

Available on Amazon

The Comments on the Original Article

21 comments

mistyhorizon2003 4 years ago from Guernsey (Channel Islands)Level 7 Commenter

Really fascinating. I am looking forward to the next instalment.

Aya Katz 4 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Mistyhorizon, thanks for the input!

Karen N 4 years ago from United States

Really good article, Bow is so cute in his baby pictures.

Aya Katz profile image

Aya Katz 4 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Thanks for your comment, Karen.

Shadesbreath 3 years ago from CaliforniaLevel 5 Commenter

I just found this. Sorry I’m so late to the party. This is fantastic reading. I’m headed to the next one.

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Shadesbreath, it’s never too late to join the party. Thanks for dropping by!

joyride 3 years ago

Where is Bow living now, and how long are you planning to keep him?? Where would he be living after he leaves your family, with other chimps in an animal park in the Us, or in a chimp refuge in Africa, and where did Bow come from?? I assume that not many people live with chimpanzees in their homes, kelly ann

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Kelly Ann, Bow is still living in my home, although he does not have complete free run of the place at the moment. In the future, when he grows older, I hope to dedicate a five acre tract adjoining my house to his use, and I plan to build an island there, with a tunnel leading from the island back to the pens in my house.

Bow also needs companions of his own kind, and he constantly asks me to get him a girl friend. (He hasn’t yet gone through puberty, but he’s already very interested in this aspect of life.)

I honor Bow’s right to lead a full life, and it is my hope to be able to provide him with everything he needs as he matures.

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

My dreams for Bow’s future, and his own hopes, of course rest on being able to raise the money necessary to make all this come to pass.

Mr Nice 3 years ago from North AmericaLevel 1 Commenter

Wow it’s amazing chimps hoing through evolution process again. I mean future humans.

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Mr. Nice, thanks for dropping by. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but what we’re doing here isn’t quite as big as what you suggest. This isn’t evolution. Evolution is a process of natural selection that requires many, many generations to unfold. Bow’s enculturation is not a genetic development. It’s the same process that all children go through as they find their place in their family and their community.

Mr Nice 3 years ago from North AmericaLevel 1 Commenter

Shalom, Mashlam Kha Aya, thanks for the detailed feedback for my comments. I understand evolution process is slow and long but I don’t believe our ancestors were chimps. That’s why I was just kidding. But it is amazing and it’s all because of your love and hard work bow learned so much. Do you remember Alex the African Grey parrot ? He died in 2007. Alex parrot worked with US scientists for 30 years. He was able to count to six, identify colors and even express frustration with repetitive scientific trials.

Alex’s advanced language and recognition skills revolutionized the understanding of the avian brain.

Alex was amazing too, I believe every thing is possible & you prove it. Are you looking for a girl friend for Bow on hubpages.:) My Love for Bow & keep up the good work.

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Mr. Nice, you’re quite right. Humans are not descended from chimpanzees (or vice versa.) Yes, I’m familiar with Alex and his achievements. I was really saddened to hear of his death in 2007.

Mr Nice 3 years ago from North AmericaLevel 1 Commenter

Shalom Aya, I think & feel the same way too. Alex death was really sad.

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Mr. Nice, yes it was very sad. I had been at a conference on animal language that summer, and I met Irene Pepperberg, who gave a talk about Alex. Alex was still young by African Grey standards. His death was unexpected. Many mourned.

Diane in Atlanta 3 years ago from Atlanta, Georgia

Aya, I came to visit your site and see that you have a number of very interesting hubs. I look forward to continuing to read about Bow and your other topics!

Aya Katz 3 years ago from The OzarksHub Author

Hi, Diane. Thanks for dropping by! Glad you liked this hub, and hope you go on to the next one that covers Bow’s further development.

Kind Regards 21 months ago from Missouri Ozarks – Table Rock Lake

Aya Katz, It’s nice to catch up on your Hubs. You can expect to keep seeing comments from me. I learned so much from reading this that I wouldn’t even know where to start. I appreciate your great ease with writing. I just start reading your words and never want to stop. I’m curious if you’ve ever been to the Great Ape Trust in Des Moines. Kind Regards

Aya Katz 21 months ago from The OzarksHub Author

Kind Regards, thanks so much for the heartfelt comments! Yes, I have been to the Great Ape Trust in Iowa. I even gave a talk there.

DTR0005 19 months ago from Midwest

Perhaps I haven’t read far enough, but were you ever able to solve the problem for Bow in terms of being able to express past and/or future events using lexigrams? Would something akin to Chinese “particles” possibly do the trick or is a sense of future, past, or even a hypothetical event best serviced with terms suck as “tomorrow,” “yesterday,” maybe,” etc. ?

Another quick question. I assume Bow can create at least some”original” sentences and if that is the case, are his constructions consistant time and again, has he invented his own unique idioms?

Aya Katz 19 months ago from The OzarksHub Author

DTR0005, you need to read a little further in the series to get a complete answer to your question. Bow acquired literacy, and the moment he had that, he also had grammar. It was the lexigrams that were holding him back; he had actually mastered grammar long before, but had no way of expressing it till he could spell.

Posted in Apes and Language, Child Rearing, Family | Tagged adopting a chimpanzee, ape language research, apes and literacy, baby chimpanzee, chimpanzee development, chimpanzee growth, chimpanzees and language, cross-fostering, Project Bow, raising a chimp, raising a chimp with a child | 2 Comments

How to dress when pregnant

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Julianna Evans

Finally you have conceived and just found out that you are pregnant. You may be one of the many women who look forward to the day when you can fit into maternity clothes. Some women loathe wearing maternity clothes; but others are so excited they begin to rummage through the sales rack or comb through the Internet searching for adorable maternity tops and capris anticipating their new arrival. Not being able to no longer fit into your regular clothes is not only exciting but rewarding. You can finally let the world know you are expecting!

Buying maternity tops does not have to be expensive, although you are essentially replacing your entire wardrobe for at least a year. Based on the season you can choose the most adorable maternity tops that will not only look nice; but will also be comfortable during your pregnancy.

Buying on sale

You have plenty of time in your first trimester to purchase maternity clothing. Look for stylish and comfortable outfits that will not affect your pocketbook. Look for the sales and don’t always buy full price. Although you will be wearing them for at least a year you can place the money you save on baby items and other goodies you may need during the pregnancy.

Know what to look for

Online stores such as Mamere’ offer a large selection of styles and sizes to choose from. Many women after their pregnancy do not need to hang onto to their maternity clothing so shipping them off to a consignment shop for someone else to enjoy is beneficial and can also give you a few extra dollars in your wallet.

Remember fabrics such as Lycra and cotton are created to breathe and move. Pieces designed from that type of material will last throughout the pregnancy.

As your pregnancy progresses, your hormones fluctuate and your body temperature can go from cold to hot and hot to cold. Create your wardrobe so that you can eliminate pieces according to how comfortable you are feeling.

Not only will your stomach grow; but so can your posterior and hips. Since maternity pants in general come with many types of stretch panels, purchase a couple of pair to add to your wardrobe.

As your body changes so can your feet. Many women complain about their feet swelling or moving up a size during their pregnancy. Purchase a couple pair of flat shoes that will make your feet comfortable and reduce the strain in your lower back while you are carrying your child.

Feel good about yourself, dress with confidence! Highlight your favorites and wear them well. Choose adorable dresses to show your curves, a blouse with a sexy neckline to flatter your larger breasts or beautiful neckline.

Wear a pretty dangling necklace or scarf to accentuate your glow and radiance. Buy pieces you can wear after pregnancy and for years to come. Being pregnant does not mean, you have to be frumpy pregnancy can be beautiful if you know how to enjoy the entire nine months and dress accordingly to who you are!

Posted in Beauty, Family, Fashion | Tagged mamere', maternity, maternity tops, pregnancy | 1 Comment

Buy Rubies for a Virtuous Woman

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Medora Trevilian

Buy Rubies for a Virtuous Woman

Nothing says “I love you” like a precious stone in a tasteful setting. Many women prefer diamonds, because they can cut glass and can be used as a weapon, as well as an ornament. But there are those who feel that diamonds are exploitative. For those women, who consider themselves too virtuous to be bought with diamonds, there is another alternative: rubies. Somewhere it is written that the price of a virtuous woman is rubies. Or words to that effect. And I ask you, can you put a price tag on love?

Fortunately, rubies come in a variety of sizes and shapes, and there is a ruby that is right for every budget!

ruby rings

Ruby Ring: The Engagement Ring

An engagement ring is a symbol of pledging your troth. In ancient times, rings were often a refection of one person’s loyalty to another. When a woman accepts a ring from a man, this is a very significant step in formalizing the relationship.

According to the Wikipedia, “The custom of giving and receiving rings dates back over 4,800 years.”

Ruby Ring: The Price of A Ruby

The ruby gemstone is prized for its grand red color which inspires passion and pride. While the ruby is the birthstone of all those born in the month of July, its appeal is universal. Rubies can be found in Burma, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Vietnam and Thailand, Kenya and Afghanistan. The biggest and most gorgeous rubies come from Burma. Rubies are rated for their hardness, but cut, color and clarity are not to be underestimated. Nearly as hard as a diamond, they have a much more luxuriant color. They come from the corundum family, but if they are not red, then they are not rubies. Any other color, and it is a sapphire.

When appraising rubies the thing to look for is cut, clarity, color and carats. There are also some synthetic rubies that look nearly as good as the real thing. More important than a jeweler’s appraisal, more important than your own opinion, the deciding factor must be what will please her the most!

Ruby Ring: What she wants is what matters

It is very important to find out what your lady fancies. Will it be a rare Burmese ruby? Or a simple heart shaped synthetic ruby ring? Rubies are an affordable luxury, pleasing to the eye and dazzling to the senses. But be sure to get the one that will win her heart, or you will have missed your mark.

Gift giving in general is the art of pleasing the recipient. When it comes to this most important gift of them all, what she thinks is of paramount importance. Your own taste in the matter, or the jeweler’s expert opinion, are secondary.

Gigi’s Aunt Alicia may have advised her: “Wait for the first class jewels, Gigi. Hold onto your ideals!” But today’s young woman of marriageable age has no Aunt Alicia to guide her, and she cannot tell which are the first class jewels. Because of this, it is not certain that even if you make a wise investment in a quality ruby, that the effort will truly be appreciated, It is much more important that the young woman admire the ring and the jewel it holds. She may never have it appraised.

Painting Credit: From the Wikipedia “Finger rings worn by Mary Nevill, Baroness Dacre, 1559.”

Ruby Rings; Conclusion

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you love her, you will give her a ring worthy of your love. If she loves you, it will seem the most precious of jewels. For a ruby is a fitting symbol of your love when bestowed on the rarest of treasures: a virtuous woman.

7.50 Carat Ruby & White Sapphire Heart Pendant in Sterling Silver with 18″ Chain

Posted in Beauty, Fashion, Jewelry | Tagged a virtuous woman, buy a ruby ring online, buy rubies online, Gigi, good girl fashion, good girls like rubies, hold out for the first class jewels, jewelry, July birthstone, rubies, rubies for a virtuous woman, ruby, the price of a virtuous woman, virtuous woman | Leave a comment

In Case There’s a Fox

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Aya Katz

In Case There’s a Fox

[This article was deemed idle by Hubpages and has been republished here. Its original publication date was November 2010.]

You can order a bilingual version on Amazon

In Case There’s a Fox is a poem I wrote for my daughter when she was four years old. It is accompanied by illustrations that come from two narrative paintings I made at the same time. In those days, Bow was very small, and although I was busy caring for both Bow and Sword, we spent a lot of our time freely roaming the ten acres around my house. I even indulged in acrylic painting in the barn with Sword, the two of us seated on sawhorses, while Bow was in the playpen just behind us. It was all very idyllic and only a little bit lonely, because we seldom had any guests or interactions with the outside world.

All these things eventually changed. The kids grew. Sword went to school. Bow and I had to retire to the pens, and along the way I discovered the internet as a window on the world, and a way to express my opinions, share my thoughts, and even publish.

This year, as a first attempt at publishing with CreateSpace I chose… gasp! …not one of my novels, or a book of my essays, or a collection of my short stories, or an anthology of poetry. I chose instead this tiny little children’s book.

Bilingual Reading of In Case There’s a Fox

Genre: Children’s Nonsense Poem, Tale about Animals, Picture Book?

What genre does In Case There’s a Fox belong to? As usual, I find it hard to say. It’s for children, but the words are not always on a very small child’s level of English. It’s a story in which animals are displayed prominently, but it would be misleading to say that it’s a story about animals. In fact, it’s not a story at all. It doesn’t have a plot. The situation at the end of the poem is exactly the same as the situation at the beginning of the poem. Nothing has happened.

Of course, a non-plot like that would not prevent something from being accepted as a short story in The New Yorker, but we hold ourselves to higher standards around here. So it’s not a story.

If really pressed, I would say it was a nonsense poem. But the problem with that is that, at least on some level, it does mean something. It’s saying something. But what?

In Case There’s a Fox — The Paintings

The Fox and the Hedgehog

In a previous exploration of genre, I made perhaps a misguided claim to being a hedgehog rather than a fox. I was referring to Isaiah Berlin’s The Hedgehog and the Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy’s View of History. The title comes from a fragment by the Greek poet Archilochus: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”

My observation about my own writing was that I tend to write about the same issues over and over again in different guises. I have obsessions. I don’t really address a new problem or a completely different set of characters each time I write a new work. Anyway, that’s what I thought at the time, but there were those of my readers who disagreed with me. They suggested that maybe I was a fox, and I did not know it.

In writing the blurb for the back cover of In Case There’s a Fox, I had to mentally agree with those readers. After all, In Case There’s a Fox is nothing like The Few Who Count or Vacuum County.

Resemblance to The Debt Collector

Recently I have been working on revising my play, The Debt Collector, in between editing proofs of In Case There’s a Fox. For a while there I was eating, drinking and breathingThe Debt Collector after months of not looking at it at all. But, every once in a while, a proof of In Case There’s a Fox would arrive, and I’d start looking at the pictures, until one day this odd realization dawned on me: In Case There’s a Fox is just like The Debt Collector!

It’s the same situation. The characters are the same, too. The fox is like Blood.The hares are like the Lark family. The bloodhound is like Constable Peoples. And Sword — not Sword my daughter, but Sword the character– is just like Siren! And the way that the fox is looking at Sword, why it’s that same look that Blood has, when he sees Siren!

Why the hares won’t snitch

So what actually happens in this poem? A little girl and a dog are hunting a fox. They’re a little bit afraid of the fox, but they also want very much to see him, because the fox is beautiful and mysterious and powerful. The girl tries to enlist the aid of the hares who keep bounding by, as they are seemingly victimized by the fox, but they don’t offer her any assistance. She wonders why.

Would it be a better world for the hares, if the fox were caught? What would such a world look like? Would the hares be able to breed without any restraint, now that the chief predator has been eliminated? Would they lead a life of idyllic consumption, or would they end up overpopulating the fields, dying of disease and pestilence, and even being exterminated and domesticated by man?

Isn’t the way of life that the hares enjoy very much dependent on the well being of the fox?

No Bad Guys

Like The Debt Collector, In Case There’s a Fox is a story with no bad guys. The fox is good. The hares are good. The little girl and her hound are also good. All is right with the world, as long as everything remains in balance.

In a perfect world there is much more phlox than there are hares, many more hares than there are foxes, and fewer little girls and dogs than each fox that is somewhere out there. Everyone is beautiful and everyone has a place to fill, and the key to life is not peace at all — it’s balance!

Other Interpretations

So is that what In Case There’s a Fox really means? I don’t know. I didn’t consciously think of it when I was writing the poem. I had forgotten all about The Debt Collector, and that was the last thing on my mind. But is it a valid interpretation? I think it might be. Could there be other valid interpretations? Sure. Lots of them.

Do you want to try your hand? If you write reviews of children’s books, send me a link to a sample review and a mailing address, and I’ll send you a free review copy of In Case There’s a Fox!

In Case There’s a Fox

Audible Version

The Audible Version of In Case There’s a Fox

Posted in Animals and Pets, Books and Authors, Child Rearing | Tagged Aya Katz, bedtime stories, books about foxes, children's books, children's literature, fox, foxes, In Case There's a Fox, picture books, picture books about foxes, rhyming story, story in verse, wildlife | 4 Comments

Bedtime Stories: Of Dust and Strings and Everything

Posted on August 29, 2012 by admin

[Note: This article was first published on Hubpages in 2008. It has been deemed idle and de-indexed, so I am republishing it here.]

Younger children rely on older children: Bow takes Sword’s hand so they can explore together

My daughter received a copy of The Golden Compass for Christmas from old family friends. I would probably not have purchased it myself, because I’d heard that Philip Pullman’s series was a poor imitation of the Narnia books. However, we decided to give it a try, since we had the book, and we needed something to read before bedtime.

At our house, we have dinner at 5:00 p.m. sharp, in the pens with Bow. I insist on family meals, otherwise we might never get any time with all of us together. After dinner, Sword feeds her bird Summer, and then she comes back into the pens with the book we are currently reading.

Because I have to accomodate the joint attention spans of a six year old male chimpanzee and a nine year old female human, I have chosen to read only two pages per night. Anything more than that, and I’d lose my audience. At that rate of speed, it took us a little over seven months to finish the book.

After we read our two pages, I would ask Sword and Bow, each in turn, what had happened in the story. Though we read the book in English, we discussed it in Hebrew. Sword would give meticulously detailed answers about each event. Bow was given to sweeping conclusory generalizations, like: “Mrs. Coulter is bad!”

Sword would roll her eyes and insist: “But it didn’t say that!”

During the period when we were reading the book, the movie version of The Golden Compass came out. Sword wanted to see it, and Bow said I should take her. They fight like brother and sister, but sometimes he can be be generous. He is not allowed to go to the movies himself, but he let me take his sister.

The movie was smooth and well put together, but frankly I didn’t get much out of it. Too much action, not enough slow scenes, which is my complaint about almost all current cinema. I get dizzy if there are too many fight and chase scenes and not enough dialogue.

Even though we had only just begun reading the book when we saw the movie, I noticed what seemed like some important discrepancies in plot points. In the book, it was the Master of Jordan College who tried to poison Lord Asriel. In the movie, it was the representative of the Magisterium. This seemed rather important, since the Master was the kindly gentleman who gave Lyra the Alethiometer that allowed her to tell truth from lies.

The ending of the book, when we finally got to it, was rather a shocker. It was nothing like the movie. Sword does not want to read the next installment. Bow is convinced the book is true to life.

We have mostly stopped talking about the book and put it behind us, but Bow sometimes brings it up. He uses it as a sort of analogy to other things that we encounter.

Recently, I joined StumbleUpon, and when I mentioned I was interested in Science, I was referred to the NOVA program “The Elegant Universe”. (See the link to the below.) Bow and I watched the first episode, and he was particularly interested when they showed someone trying to explain String Theory to a black labrador retriever. The dog looked puzzled, and the narrator explained that the mind of a dog is not designed to understand string theory. Humans, on the other hand, can. Bow let me know that he wanted to say something. “What?” I asked. “Chimps can understand,” he spelled out.

I laughed. “Really? Do you understand string theory?”

“Yes.”

Bow is not always truthful. I did not give much credence to his claim. I don’t understand string theory myself. “Okay, you know what string theory is?”

“Yes,” he insisted.

“What is it?” I asked.

He spelled out: “Dust.”

I had to pause for a second, while I got my bearings. “You mean Dust, like in The Golden Compass?”

“Yes.”

From the mouthes of apes! Bow may not understand string theory, but he certainly does have a good handle on The Golden Compass.

Related Links

Nova’s The Elegant Universe

NOVA | The Elegant Universe | Watch the Program (full-screen) | PBS
Following the broadcast of the NOVA mini-series The Elegant Universe, watch all three episodes here, divided into chapters, available in the QuickTime or RealPlayer plug-ins.

Philip Pullman
The official site of Philip Pullman, author of the award winning ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy, including Northern Lights, Charles Latrom, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. The site contains exclusive content and information about Philip Pullm

The Golden Compass Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes
The Golden Compass movie reviews, trailers – Check out Rotten Tomatoes The Golden Compass clips, pictures, critic and user reviews, forums and the Tomatometer!

Posted in Apes and Language, Books and Authors, Opinion Pieces and Editorials | Tagged apes and books, book review, can a chimp understand string theory, can a dog understand string theory, dust, reading the Golden Compass to your child, string theory, The Golden Compass, the golden compass and string theory, what is dust, what is dust in The Golden Compass | 5 Comments

What is Work?

Tom Sawyer

Excerpt from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Paying for the Privilege of Working

Work in Physics

The Internal Psychological Experience of Work

The Physical, Economic and Psychological Definitions of Work

Blacksmith at Work

What’s the best way to motivate employees?

The Reasons to Employ and Be Employed

Variable Degrees of Internal versus External Motivation

A Spoonful of Sugar

Comments

The Romance of Poldark by Winston Graham

The Darkness of Poldark

The Poldark Series

Robin Ellis and Angharad Rees as Ross Poldark and his other sweetheart Demelza

The Moral of the Poldark Series

Copyright Protected 2010 by Medora Trevilian

Bow’s Development: Age Three Through Five

Methods of Pointing and Methods of Transcribing

[Below are reprinted the original comments on this article.]

Comments

( 31 comments)

The Spinster and the Beggar

Two Beggars: Would one of these suit you?

The Spinster and the Beggar:The Errors of Our Assumptions

The Spinster and the Beggar: Conclusion

Copyright 2011 Medora Trevilian

Bow’s Development

First Meeting With Bow

Sword and Bow on Bow’s First Day Home

Bow asleep in his bassinet

Bow crawling

Lexigrams

Internship Program; Floortime

Bow in the Summer of 2007

Bow’s English Lexigram Vocabulary in Summer of 2007

Bow’s Hebrew Lexigram Vocabulary in Summer 2007

Buy Rubies for a Virtuous Woman

ruby rings

Ruby Ring: The Engagement Ring

Ruby Ring: The Price of A Ruby

Ruby Ring: What she wants is what matters

Ruby Rings; Conclusion

Bilingual Reading of In Case There’s a Fox

Genre: Children’s Nonsense Poem, Tale about Animals, Picture Book?

In Case There’s a Fox — The Paintings

The Fox and the Hedgehog

Resemblance to The Debt Collector

Why the hares won’t snitch

No Bad Guys

Other Interpretations

Nova’s The Elegant Universe

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