We listened to a podcast about Lucy. Lucy was a chimpanzee that was raised as human to see how human chimps could be. Lucy learned sign language and was smart enough to describe things she didn't know the word for using other words in her vocabulary. She became attracted to human men, not male chimps. At around age 11 Lucy got to the mature age where chimps go a little crazy in captivity and she was kept in a cage. When the family couldn't take it any longer they decided to try and rehabilitate her into the wild. The lady who worked on it ended up moving to a deserted island with Lucy and lots of other chimps raised in captivity. The chimps just wanted her food and human things so she had to build a giant cage for herself to live in. It took years before Lucy would finally eat the food in the wild. The lady returned to the island to check on the chimps about a year after she left, and they all came to greet her. Lucy gave her a hug before following the other chimps away. When she returned to the island the next time she found Lucy's skeleton near where her cage had been, and the best guess as to what had happened was that Lucy had shot by poachers.
What did Lucy teach us about chimpanzees?
She taught us that so much of who we are comes from how we've been socialized. Nurture vs. Nature. Even though she was a chimpanzee, she acted human because that's how she was raised.
What did Lucy teach us about being human?
She taught us that being human isn't just a "human thing." Lucy acted like a human and did human things even though she wasn't human.
Do you have a different perspective of chimps after the story?
Before hearing this story I didn't know how strong chimpanzees are. For not a whole lot of difference in intelligence, there's a huge difference in strength. I also didn't know they become difficult at around 10 years of age.
Was the experiment worthwhile?
I don't think it was worthwhile because Lucy never understood what was being asked of her when she was released, or that she was an experiment.
How does Lucy's end make you feel?
I thought it was really sad. It was unfair to ask Lucy to go from being a "human" to being a wild chimp with no explanation and expect her to understand. She spent her whole life around humans, it was a culture shock to be released into the wild.
