New Study Could Mean Iowans Are Closer To Talking With Pigs
The 2021 Agriculture Statistics booklet from the USDA says that in 2020, Iowa had a total of 24.6 million hogs.
Now imagine being able to understand what all of those pigs were saying…
Well over in Europe, scientists may have cracked the code for humans to understand animals… well at least for pigs.
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The study was published in Scientific Reports and looks into a study done by a team of researchers in Denmark, Switzerland, France, Germany, Norway, and the Chez Republic who translated the grunts pigs make.
Using over 7,000 recorded pig calls from 411 pigs ranging from the animal’s birth to their death, researchers were able to decode “vocal indicators” of emotions which they say could help in the development of an automated emotion monitoring tool.
This piece in the Times today on understanding pig oinks is a thing to behold pic.twitter.com/9dylDYILon
— Prof. Chris Ashford (@lawandsexuality) March 8, 2022
Are we on our way to having conversations with animals?
Now I know this is a big leap from the research on pigs but is it a possibility?
We have an understanding of animals’ feelings based on body language and we have picked up what sounds mean with some animals, but what if there is more we are missing?
A quick Google search on the topic of talking to animals, in general, brought me to an article by Time in 2015.
Was bonding with this beautiful horse while spending time on the ranch. I think animals are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for. It’s all about the communication line you establish with them. This horse was very smart and filled with love. Photo by @jessekove pic.twitter.com/wENDJuae2Q
— Joshua Shultz (@JoshuaShultz) March 13, 2022
According to Time, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker believes our brains were preprogrammed with an instinct for language, as naturally as a cow moo or a dog bark.
There is so much to language that it is interesting to wonder.
We teach animals commands with our language, if we gain the ability to communicate with our animals, will they start to rise up and take some control from us…
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