ThirdFloorNorth

My grandmother (b. 1919) used to make me butter sandwiches as a kid :( They used to be my favorite thing in the world. Now I'm all nostalgic. Thank you for calling up that memory.

I was going to type out a long-winded philosophical treatise, but the ELI5 of it is:

If they can communicate with us, on a human level, using human language, what separates them from humans? At what point do basic human rights apply?

Could an ape sue someone in court? Is killing an ape, or at least this ape that can communicate with us, murder?

Do they have their own morality? Religion? What do they think of death?

Etc.

It opens a veritable Pandora's box of philosophical and ethical issues. I'm all for it, but I also believe basic rights should be granted to great apes, elephants, dolphins, whales... So I'm also a bit biased.

EDIT- since this seems to be gaining upvote-traction, let me link both the Wiki page for great ape personhood, as well as the three most remarkable "speaking" apes:

• Kanzi

• Chantek

• Koko

The Russian one gave me chills the first time when Lenin showed up. I got my history degree with a concentration on the Cold War.

It was just so unexpectedly perfect, it gave me a frisson.

/r/Transhuman and /r/transhumanism welcome you.

Hey Tricia, thank you for doing this!

I was wondering if you could weigh in on a personal favorite fan theory that Moore openly came out against.

What do you think about the dead Cylon model, Daniel, being Starbuck's father?

They were both artistic, it would explain how she inherently knew the song, and would explain a lot of the weirdness surrounding the character.