Hello Norgepr, examples of failed experiments that produced valuable information
can be the mage via BoingBoing
There have been ample stories of human children being raised by other
species and eventually becoming more like that animal than an actual
human. If the process could go one way, Winthrop Kellogg was sure that
it could also go the other, particularly if the animal involved was one
of our closest genetic cousins. In 1931, Kellogg received a grant for
his experiment and the timing couldn’t be better –his wife just had a
baby boy, David. This would give them the unique opportunity to raise a
baby chimp, named Gua, right along side a human baby. It didn’t take
long for the babes to bond and become best friends. Kellogg and his
wife took impeccable notes on their two “children” noting their physical
changes, emotions and how they scored on small intelligence tests. The
chimp scored notably higher on the intelligence tests due the fact that
the species matures faster than human babies. Gua picked up quite a few
human behaviors, such as walking upright and eating with a spoon, but
she failed to learn how to speak and learn simple repetition games, like
patty cake. Her emotions were also much less predictable and inclined
to change at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately, the experiment really
started to go wrong when little David started to become more chimplike
than Gua became humanlike. He only learned a few simple words and often
took to making chimp howls when he wanted something. After only nine
months, the Kelloggs gave up on Gua, concerned that David would fail to
grow up like a normal human child. In the years since this project,
plenty of people have adopted chimps as babies, proving beyond a doubt
that the animals can never act completely human –even if they are
adorable in overalls.
