There are several arguments for why we are not just monkeys. We have the ability to transform our environment; we have an unprecedented level of cognition that has forced us to ask questions like “Why?” and “How?”; we have become the most dominant species on this planet and have established a unique signature on our world (global warming, anyone?); we are capable of generating and propagating information across space and time beyond the confines of an individual, group, or even temporal identity. The list is practically endless. But perhaps the most charming among them is our unique flaws.

Much like any other species, we are indeed flawed in many respects. Yet our intellect, while compensation for many of our flaws, introduces many more. Specifically, consider our cognitive biases which have propelled us into a seemingly unstoppable downward spiral both as individuals and as a species. Everything from the present economic crisis to the quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan can be tied back to these biases. This is often viewed as the burden of intellect, of intelligence. We are too smart for our own good. A plausible argument is that these flaws are symptomatic of the complexity of our environment. Thanks to our intelligence, we have succeeding in creating an environment (being it the stock market, or security backed mortgages, or the concept of nation states, or frameworks for morality and the accompanying dilemmas, or many more) so complex, that we fail to understand it, we fail to comprehend its complexity, and inevitably stretches the limits of cerebral tractability.

Or does it?

Are our cognitive biases really an artefact of the complexity of our environment? This recent TED talk reveals that it might actually not be so! Experiments with monkeys have revealed that monkeys make surprisingly the same rational and (more importantly) irrational decisions as humans when it comes to certain cognitive tasks that involve economic transactions. So may be we really are just monkeys that figured out how to get down from trees, grow an opposable thumb, and speak. A humbling notion indeed!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUd8XA-5HEk

It was quite a sight to see with aerial prop roots all over the place.

View of the Big Banyan Tree upon entering the premises

It was difficult to tell where the center of the tree was. No matter which part of the tree you saw, you seemed to see the center with similar trunks and branches all over the the place! Here is shot of the tree which look like its the center:

Big Banyan Tree: Is this the trunk?

Here is another one that seems to suggest an old ‘main trunk’ that no longer is:

Big Banyan Tree: The old trunk perhaps?

From the looks of it, the tree is still growing. I saw several aerial prop roots still growing towards the ground. 400 years old and still kicking!

Big Banyan Tree: Prop roots are still growing

Ironically, the most interesting part of the visit was not the tree itself. It was the happenings around the tree that was the most fascinating. The imitation of forms between a man and a monkey had me glued for over 30 minutes! Here’s a glimpse of what I saw.

Sharing the meal time

Whatever it is, it has both of them transfixed.

Here’s more, only this time its between man and his best friend.

Let the sleeping... well, you know the rest

The rest was well… monkey business.

What are you lookin' at?

We are the best of friends

Until one of us has something the other doesn't

Especially food!

I want it! It's mine!

After it's all over, we kiss and make up :)

A great start to my vacation! Can’t wait what the rest of the month will bring about!