Many of you have probably already heard about Jane Goodall, the British anthropologist who has studied chimpanzees for decades. In an interview with 60 minutes airing on Sunday October 24th, Goodall elaborates on her experiences in studying the endangered species.
Research has shown that humans share many of the same emotions as non-human primates and as Lara Logan reports, humans and chimpanzees share 98% of the same DNA.
A 2009 article in Newsweek Magazine also reported on how new research shows how non-human primates could also read facial expressions of emotion in humans. It was also reported in the same article that “both human babies and newborn chimps make a pouting face to get mom’s attention and bare their teeth in something like a smile in order to make nice—or ‘achieve social bonding,’ as primatologists put it.”
You can tune in to watch Jane Goodall on 60 Minutes at 7pm ET/PT on CBS on October 24, 2010.
I think many higher level mammal experience emotions. I’ve definitely seen it in my three dogs. I think even birds/fish/reptiles, to a lesser extent, experience pleasure/pain/suffering/happiness. That is part of what consciousness is.