Re: Digest 3743 Posted by: "Dan Dugan" dandugan_1999 =
Tue Nov 27, 2007 10:06 am (PST) Michael Dalton wrote:
> The bird's site has been posted here before, the present
>NOT-up-to-date site is www.ParrotSpeech. com There are currently
>seven speech clips that show that people are not very good at
>discerning their own language when spoken by another creature (other
>than cliches).
Or how tempting it is to make up what you think she's saying!
Skeptically, Dan Dugan.
=85=85=85=85=85=85=85=85=85=85=85=85=85=85.
I sent a rebuttal to Dan Dugan=92s snipe at my work yesterday, but it app=
ears to have been deleted because of the length. I should hope that he has =
thoroughly listened to the samples of my birds speech on her web site. Assu=
ming that he listened, I am a little confused why he would not have contact=
ed me directly to discuss the matter. I had high hopes that this group had =
above average listening skills to permit an appreciation for the bird=92s a=
chievement.
Beyond that, it is really discouraging to have my work attacked when none=
of you have ever heard the samples that support my book. I know none have =
read my case, because the book will first be available in about three weeks=
. (30Nov)
(From the e-mail of 29 Nov) I welcome discussion about this topic and res=
pectfully submit the following in response to Dan=92s skepticism:
It is true that people are not very good at discerning their own language=
spoken by a bird. It is a problem between the ears, but not a hearing prob=
lem. Otherwise, listeners would not hear, =93Polly wants a cracker,=94 whic=
h is spoken by most birds in a distorted voice.
A bird=92s voice does not =93compute=94 for many people because they do n=
ot have the same type of vocal apparatus as humans. Yet, some listeners cle=
arly recognize my macaw=92s speech.
An analogous problem that most adults experience is distorted speech by t=
oddlers. One set of parents does not understand the speech recognized by a =
second toddler=92s parents. Does that imply that the second parents are =93=
making up=94 what the child communicates? Familiarity makes a great differe=
nce.
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