Particles of Thought: The Animal Translator
Can animals talk? Neuroscientist Erich Jarvis reveals why some species might be closer than we think.
Talking, singing, even dancing — they all trace back to a rare superpower: vocal learning. But humans aren’t the only animals that have it. Neuroscientist Erich Jarvis has spent his career decoding the mysterious ability to imitate sounds, a key ingredient in spoken language. In this episode, he joins Hakeem to explore why only a handful of species — like parrots, dolphins, and bats — can do it, how it evolved, and what it reveals about the brain, consciousness, and culture. Plus, Erich shares how AI is helping decode animal communication and why engineering our pets to talk might actually be possible… but could fundamentally change the way they think.
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