Unfortunately, we cannot take the title too literally. What this article is about is whether animals and non-human primates in particular can ask us questions. Can we teach, say, language skills to chimpanzees? This may not sound too incredulous if we consider that for over 50 years some chimps have been taught how to use sign language.
Several chimps have been taught to use over 100 signs to communicate. Although not proven, two of these subjects were able to manipulate the signs in a way that indicated a genuine linguistic ability. But, none of these findings showed that they ever posed a question of any sort.
Those who doubted these results speculated that the chimps were merely using conditioned responses to the stimuli. On the plus side, they have been shown to solve certain problems and show empathy. So, even if they do not ask questions, there is no doubt they are intelligent primates.
“Act dumb, some humans are watching us!”
This whole question (yes, the pun is intended), is important because it may indicate that the ability to ask questions is a key to separating us from other primates. In the 1970s, two researchers put forward a suggestion of how they might get a chimp to ask a question. They speculated that if a subject received their food at the same time every day so that they got used to it and then to not deliver that food, would the chimp make some sign to ask where is my food? This does not sound very nice for the chimp and I believe no such experiments were carried out.
Young children by contrast, rarely cease to ask questions about everything. Joseph Jordania from the University of Melbourne has suggested that being able to ask questions indicates that a critical level of cognition has been reached. He summed this up with the Latin maxim, “Interrogo ergo Cognito” which translates to “I ask questions, therefore I think.” A new take on the classic, “I think, therefore I am.”
On an anatomical level, we can find some evidence which might support this theory. Much of our higher reasoning including that of asking questions, curiosity and interrogating our environment comes from the pre-frontal cortex of our brains. The pre-frontal cortex of chimps and apes in general is smaller than that in humans.
Finally, there are two other less serious reasons why chimpanzees do not ask questions. They may think we are too stupid to know the answer or that they already know as much as they want to know!
John Pullen 