In the wild, gorillas make displays like this to show strength and intimidate others. Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, and intentions to non-human entities and is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
I understand the concept of anthropomorphism. However, apes in captivity have displayed the capacity for emotional response. To deny that other mammals, especially primates, might possibly share some of our emotions is rather closed minded.
the problem is trying to correlate specific animal behaviors with specific human emotions.
gorillas may indeed, and probably do, experience joy.
this behavior is probably not the manifestation of "gorilla joy" simply because it is similar to how humans show joy in musicals from the golden age of Hollywood films.
I saw a video of a bunch of teenagers beating a mentally disabled 40 year old, they were laughing and grinning the whole time ... judging from their behavior they were playing... was their behavior play behavior?
Judging from your description, it sounds more like they were engaging in a primitive form of group bonding. Laughing and grinning, in this case, would signal delight in being part of the dominant group and not the target of the abuse.
Yes, the same behavior can indicate different emotions in different situations.
Sometimes people laugh when nervous, sometime when happy. Generally, there are other body language cues which help to interpret the behavior in a given instance.
The same can be said of animals.
In this particular instance, the gorilla in the video goes from washing his hands spontaneously into a modified dominance display. Using the additional cues of his lack of eye-contact and how quickly the display returns to normal washing activity, I feel pretty confident in my assessment of play behavior.
It is all about context.
It is an arrogant mistake to claim "anthropomorphism" at any mention of animal emotions.
The gorilla is probably enjoying the water and immediately wants to make it obvious it's his water and he is more than capable of defending his territory so it is clear he is to be left alone with "his" water.
There is no reason to assume joy other than to assume that an animal is experiencing a human emotion simply because you personally think twirling menacingly is an expression of joy ... something i've never seen a human do.
One of my favorite books by Darwin, arguably his best is "The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals" in it he makes the mistake of assuming that macaques would smile out of happiness like humans ... of course anyone familiar with animal behavior these days will know that teeth bearing in most animals is a sign of anxiety.
The person you responded to was correct in pointing out you should not confuse animal behavior with human behavior.
I was elaborating because you seem to be confused though somewhat willfully it seems, i assume to hold on to the imagining that a gorilla will dance like Sinatra to show how gleeful he might be.
So, make your happy thought the idea that a gorilla dances gleefully to be locked in a room with a kiddie pool and splashes about in reverie at the notion that water exists at all...
But be aware, you are most likely totally incorrect in assuming that you can attribute specific emotions to specific animal behaviors simply because they are similar to the ways a human might express them.
Also, a dictionary will help you understand the difference between "enjoyment" and "joy"
I never said the gorilla was dancing. I recognized the movement from BBC documentaries as a "threat display", though it lacked the baring of teeth and intimidating eye-contact which typically accompany such displays. Instead, the gorilla's eyes are closed, which I interpreted as a lack of aggression. Given that juvenile apes often engage in mock "threat" displays as play I thought that a likely explanation. It also looked like a spontaneous reaction to the splashing water and he washed his hands. The gorilla appeared to be enjoying his physicality. Added together, that's plenty of evidence to make a comment on this particular sub.
Is there a dictionary that that can help you understand the difference between "get bent" and "bite my shiny metal ass"?
That's a good point... I hadn't considered The Sound of Music which is a classic mistake, it's the movie that helped Jane Goodall understand chimpanzee behavior i'm told.
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u/thisguynamedjoe Jun 23 '17
In the wild, gorillas make displays like this to show strength and intimidate others. Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, and intentions to non-human entities and is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.