Mental world of a chimpanzee (Chimp Clint) on the basis of a picture, by Linda Evans
I sense the personality and the mental state of an animal or a person in a picture as it was on the moment the picture was taken.
Chimp Clint
A good nature, kind-hearted.
Lonely.
Mostly he’s alone in a small space (a cage), in a room where there’s usually no one. (It feels like the cage is standing on something, like a table, makes me think of a room with some tables). Then he’s bored, he has nothing to do. Then he sleeps for a while. There tend to be long periods of time in which there is no movement in the room the cage is in. (It feels like a few days to 3 to 4 days). He answers nature’s call in the cage. Often there is no food, no water. In one of the corners of the cage there is some straw. Now and then he hears sounds coming from outside, voices and the noise of a car, and he hears some movement in the room his cage is in or he hears a door opening. Thus he knows he’s not alone in the building. He sleeps for a while and just sits there waiting Until some food is brought in again.
From time to time suddenly someone is in front of his cage, and he is released, and then they go outside through the corridors together (it feels like something is being attached around his neck, a leach), sometimes he takes the person’s hand, or at times he doesn’t, and then he comes into the open, and then they walk a while (there is a strip of asphalt with a lawn on the edge). And next they go inside again, to his cage. This is a moment he is fond of, he is eager to go back to his cage, because he knows there will be food and water. Every time he returns from having been somewhere, the cage is tidied and there is food and water.
And once in a while all of a sudden there is someone at his cage again, this person is taller and broader than the one who comes and gets him for a walk. Then he is released from his cage, and he walks along with this person to the door of the room. (It feels as if the person has got something red on his back, but I’m not able to place it) And then they come into corridors and empty rooms and subsequently they enter a big white room with some things in it. Sometimes there’s a person in this room, sometimes there are several. And then they do odd things to him. He doesn’t understand why this happens. He has to sit down on a chair, and then they put something on his head. He feels something is being pressed on his head. And next he feels something in his head, he feels small shocks in his head. Sometimes he feels these tiny shocks in his body as well. And then it’s over, and he can leave again. And next they go through the rooms and the corridors again, and they return to his cage. And then the cage is cleaned somewhat and there is fresh straw and there is water and food.
Sometimes when he’s in the room with the people, he has to lie down on a narrow oblong table with a white ground and subsequently he is tied up to the table. They put a band across his chest and his arms. At these moments there are two to three people present around the table. And next he feels pricks. Sometimes he is released afterwards and at other times they leave him lying for some more time. Sometimes he is far away for a while (anaesthetized) and then he comes to again. Sometimes he is immediately taken back to his cage afterwards and sometimes they again put something on his head and he feels the tiny shocks again. In fact he prefers being allowed to return straight away and no longer being put something on his head. Because he is eager to return to his cage, because he knows there will be food and water in his cage as well as fresh straw and his cage will be cleaned. Then he’s happy there’s food and he indulges in the food and those are brief moments of happiness. And next he’s alone again. There’s food for a couple of days and then it runs out. And subsequently he is without any food for a few days and they come for him again.
Sometimes when he’s in that room with the people, he has to do peculiar things. Sometimes he has to walk on the spot in a small space, and he has been attached something to his chest and back by means of threads. Sometimes he has to stand with his back against a wall and again something is attached on his chest and back again.
Sometimes he sits on a chair next to a person sitting on a chair too. (It makes me think of the person whom he goes for a walk with).
And next this person shows him things and he has to indicate things. (It has something to do with colours and symbols I guess, he has to indicate the same colours or symbols). And subsequently the person sits in front of him on a chair, and next is holding small coloured balls, and then he has to point out things once again. Or then this person is holding up some cards (about the size of a tarot card), with symbols or colours on it, and then he has to point to things once more. And afterwards he gets something to eat, and sometimes he doesn’t.
For the rest he usually sits lonely in his cage, and sometimes he’s sad. And he waits for something to happen again. And he sleeps for a little while and he sits and waits, and he eats a little and drinks a little. And then the food runs out, and then it takes some time before someone comes, and then someone comes once again. (He might be without food or drink for a few days)
There is no bond with the people surrounding him, they are strangers to him. He is neutral towards them. They give him food, that’s all/it. (There is no understanding of being deprived of his freedom by them). Sometimes he’s angry with them, and he doesn’t want to cooperate, and he doesn’t want to do as they ask. He’s hungry, he first wants to get food. Sometimes he hasn’t eaten for a few days. He always has to do all kinds of things whilst he doesn’t feel well. At times he doesn’t want to cooperate at all. And then they bring him back. And then his cage is not sufficiently cleaned and there is still no fresh food and water. And then he feels so miserable and sad. And then he’s so angry. And then the following day they come and fetch him again, and he receives some food and water, but not enough to satisfy his hunger, and then he cooperates willingly. Since he knows if he cooperates he can return to his cage afterwards and his cage will be cleaned and there will be food. And this prospect encourages him to cooperate.
He doesn’t understand why he has to do all these things, but yet he does it as he consequently gets food.
Has probably lived in captivity for his entire life. Anyhow I can’t sense memories of a life in freedom in the picture. I can only perceive vague memories of a life in captivity, of a life in a room inside and of a room in the open as well, together with some other chimpanzees.
Is more intelligent than the other two chimps I have described and that can be read about on this site, and also than other chimpanzees in other pictures I sensed briefly to check their intelligence. In pictures of chimpanzees I frequently sense they don’t reason, don’t think. That they merely observe and are able to learn by watching examples they can remember and imitate. In the picture of Chimp Clint though I sense he is able to reason. Chimp Clint can reflect on something, reason, see logical connections, draw conclusions, understand.
I made the effort to sense some more pictures of chimps as to their intellectual capabilities. And then I was surprised to sense several pictures of chimps able to reflect on something, to reason and understand.
The chimpanzee in the picture on the right is also a chimp that reasons.
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