Alex Wanted a Cracker, but Did He WANT One?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/weekinreview/16john.html?em&ex=1190088000&en=f80cef9b8cc5723e&ei=5070

Alex the African gray parrot is extremely fascinating. I think that every child wants to believe that their pet really knows what they are saying and has feelings just like everyone else, but it amazing that Dr. Pepperberg was so close to proving that Alex had inner life. The fact that this bird had inner life instead of just following comands is significant. It is absolutely amazing that this bird could follow and understand commands and even answer questions about the objects in front of him. The article tells about a time where Dr. Pepperberg tries to teach the parrot phonemes using colored tokens marked with the letter combinations like sh and ch. When asked "What sound does green make?" the parrot answered correctly by making the sound written on the green token. This not only shows that the parrot can repeat sounds and words but it can learn these sounds, colors, and words. The parrot was doing more than simply memorizing all of these things, it wass learning to think on its own when asked a question.

Buying Into the Green Movement

In the article Alex Williams presents the ongoing argument about Global Warming. Alex Green brings up the fact that while some say they have gone "green" and they are living an eco-friendly life; they are actually only making it worse. I feel that the athour is trying to persuade me to go green. However, he makes is clear that just buying one biodegradable or earth friendly product will actually not help at all. If someone is going to live a lifestyle and really commit to doing something about glabal warming, then they have to go green in all aspects of their life not just portions of it.