Mimicry vs Language - with Sir David Attenborough

Some animals have the physical equipment to mimic human speech, but that doesn’t mean they have the brain to understand human language. In this clip from ‘The language of animals’ (1973) Sir David Attenborough chats with a greater Indian hill myna.
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This video is from our 2017 advent calendar. Watch the full series here: • Transmissions through ...
Or watch the full lecture here: bit.ly/2AlXnR6
The Royal Institution 2017 advent calendar ‘Transmissions through time’ looks through the lens of CHRISTMAS LECTURES past to share the best demonstrations around the science of communication. From Attenborough and Sagan to Woollard and Fong, we revisit old favourites and find new gems to bring you a little gift of science every day in the lead up to Christmas. bit.ly/RiAdvent17
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[@HailSagan1]

Would love to see more "classic" talks like this, also if they could be a bit longer that would be great.

[@TheRoyalInstitution]

Oh golly, are you in for a treat! We will be release one of these past CHRISTMAS LECTURES clips every day between now and Christmas as part of our 2017 advent calendar: www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/2017-the-language-of-life/transmissions-through-time We are also in the process of making all of the past lectures available to view in full here: www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/watch It's a work in progress so bear with us if your favourite one is not up there yet!

[@HailSagan1]

Thanks!

[@bugsandbrushes]

Thank you for that utterly lovely upload. Also: Love the gentleman peaking in :D

[@poisontoad8007]

Classic Attenborough in the wild! Love it :)

[@quinkin1000]

Thank you for this blast from the past. Please give us more like this.

[@alexandrugheorghe5610]

Wonderful!

[@ErgoCogita]

Attenborough will forever have my undying admiration.

[@rillloudmother]

By far my favorite documentary host, a great voice and a wonderfully curious mind.

[@omarshuaibi9936]

Thank you for the uploading 🤓

[@guyh3403]

My hero!

[@pragyanmajumdar676]

I would love to see the entire lecture.

[@Skapete]

Love me some Attenborough!

[@JuhiMittal]

why not upload full lectures!

[@TheRoyalInstitution]

We would if we could but unfortunately the Christmas Lectures are covered by a wide and complex web of copyright agreements so we are not allowed to publish them on KZbin in full. However, we really do want to make all of our back catalogue available for everyone to watch so we've been putting them up here as fast as we can get them cleared: www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/watch

[@CookingWithCows]

Süßer Beo! ("cute beo", these birds are called Beo in germany and that's what they said in the zoo where I grew up)

[@munkman3520]

I would watch hours of this

[@TheRoyalInstitution]

Well, we hope you had nothing planned for today: www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/watch/1973/the-languages-of-animals

[@munkman3520]

The Royal Institution thank you

[@prajnadattameher6210]

The birds are very common in india.I have grown up seeing those around our.I hope & think they are still there.

[@importantname]

science is fun

[@doubledoggo5668]

Where can I find the full lecture

[@all5gory]

The link is in the description

[@baganscissors7224]

now you tell me?

[@JustOneAsbesto]

I see you there, man peeking out from back stage. Thought you could get away with it, didn't you? But you've been caught now, and it only took 44 years. Sneaky little bugger.

[@vokatius]

Its just like highschool math: U have everything you need to successfully solve the problem, but ur just too stupid to do so xD

[@userwl2850]

What will we do when sir David is gone? Maybe Alice Roberts.

[@LateNightHacks]

Cry, we will cry... some things are irreplaceable like that...

[@MilitantPeaceist]

He will only be gone if we forget him.

[@AntiMessiah2023]

So birds can speak but choose not to for all we know!

[@n0tourist]

i wish i could watch the rest of the presentation ... feelsbadman

[@all5gory]

You can, the link is in the description :)

[@particlejones]

yet they r still trying to communicate to another species , as we try to mimic birds. At least i try and make bird sounds to illicit a response. smart creatures, recognize beauty beforeu

[@jaxnean2663]

Attenborough is irreplaceable

[@mkeh01]

I don't really enjoy this video that much, just because it doesn't make an effort to point out that while these birds are mimicking, many other birds can actually use language.

[@forknowledge6959]

wow, I can't tell if David Attenborough has two birds in there or two modern day republicans. Creepy

[@jaxnean2663]

Attenborough is irreplaceable