Koko the Gorilla

January 26, 2007

My interest recently has been in human origins and consciousness.. and I could not help but get ahold of the Criterion re-release of this documentary on a gorilla that learned sign language. But I was underwhelmed with Koko's linguistic ability.. there did seem to be signs used for foods and basic actions.. and she seemed to be able to admit that she had been "bad".. but I had a hard time spotting anything like a grammar or a genuine abstraction. The desire to show Koko communicating through signs made the filmmakers lose sight of her simpler exploratory actions, which were amply intelligent in and of themselves.

The documentary also bordered on the disturbing with its insistence that Koko is a "person" with whom one can communicate. I have no problem with the idea that Koko is an intelligent and feeling creature who should be protected.. but that was not the point.. which was more that Koko should rightly take part in human society. One of the most striking images is of Penny, Koko's keeper, driving around with Koko in the passenger seat of her car. It almost looks natural.

It is fascinating to get a sense of the cognitive possibilities in a gorilla, but ultimately it is more important to understand how gorilla's function within their own cultural and environmental setting. If there is anything to learn about ourselves from gorillas it will be from there conduct in that original setting. In the current website for the Gorilla Foundation, Penny (same person) speaks laudingly of "interspecies communication".. and I have trouble acknowledging that as a legitimate goal in the study of primates.

Koko's sign language is shown in the video below:

Great.. we see Koko signing words. But those words are fit into a broader narrative about Koko being sad about the death of other gorillas and pleading for help in founding a gorilla sanctuary. I have no problem with the idea that Koko could sign that she feels sad.. or that she needs help.. both seem within her range. But I doubt that Koko understands the fact that others of her species are being killed and therefore that she needs to ask an unseen video audience for help. Yet this consciousness is implied in the video. I am uneasy with such overstatement of her cognitive ability.. which indicates to me an irresponsible use of a beautiful creature.