If Bob says he has a message for you from Alice, and the message he delivers is exactly in line with Bob&#x27;s incentives, are you skeptical of Bob? Even if you knew in advance Alice was sending you a message via Bob, does the fact that the message and Bob&#x27;s incentives are in alignment not cause you any skepticism?<p>I addressed Koko specifically because her case was brought up and is especially famous. I believe that a press release about the death of a celebrity who visited the gorilla once, 13 years before[1] is either a) cynical, exploitative fund-raising or b) misguided interpretation, relying on the interpreter&#x27;s own emotions to decide those of the animal being interpreted. These declarations are made by the caretaker who has a long, intimate relationship with the animal.<p>My skepticism is aimed not at the idea that non-human animals are intelligent, empathetic, or emotional, but rather that single human interpreters, working for decades with a single animal subject, are reliable scientific indicators of any possible conclusion. A decent Slate article here[2] goes beyond Koko. I am arguing that the evidence most commonly presented is weak, not the hypothesis.<p>I found this article about parrots and PTSD[3] fascinating as some of the examples are almost certainly Clever Hans effect and others are in fact best explained via a close pair-bonding humans recognize as love.<p>1: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.koko.org&#x2F;koko-tribute-robin-williams" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.koko.org&#x2F;koko-tribute-robin-williams</a><p>2: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.slate.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;health_and_science&#x2F;science&#x2F;2014&#x2F;08&#x2F;koko_kanzi_and_ape_language_research_criticism_of_working_conditions_and.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.slate.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;health_and_science&#x2F;science&#x2F;201...</a><p>3: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2016&#x2F;01&#x2F;31&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;what-does-a-parrot-know-about-ptsd.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2016&#x2F;01&#x2F;31&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;what-does-a-parro...</a>