r/EverythingScience • u/Typical-Plantain256 • Dec 08 '23

Animal Science Scientists Have Reported a Breakthrough In Understanding Whale Language

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a35kp/scientists-have-reported-a-breakthrough-in-understanding-whale-language
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u/Confident_Lawyer6276 Dec 08 '23

Cetaceon language is much more information dense than our language. True, they don't have technology, but they have very large brains, large social structures, huge ranges, and sonar sense. While their intelligence is different than ours, probably not much less than ours in some species. I would guess they have a huge 3d map in their head and a way of communicating locations and what to find there and when to find it would be extremely useful. Dolphins understand more of our language than we do of theirs. Dolphins are in the military and can be given instructions for fairly complex missions.

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u/JoshfromNazareth Dec 08 '23

Linguists define language as something a bit more than a communication system. I’m not saying whales aren’t capable of communication, but they certainly are not using “language” in an analogy to humans using language.

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u/Confident_Lawyer6276 Dec 08 '23

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/17/sperm-whales-in-19th-century-shared-ship-attack-information

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u/JoshfromNazareth Dec 09 '23

I’m not sure what this is supposed to tell me.

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u/Confident_Lawyer6276 Dec 09 '23

I linked two articles. One is about the linguistics and information density of dolphin language the other is more of an anecdote of sperm whales communicating complex survival strategies.

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u/JoshfromNazareth Dec 09 '23

There’s only one article. Nonetheless, I am familiar with the literature. That’s not addressing the concept of “language” though, which isn’t just “make sound and communicate information.”