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Can we Communicate with Other Species on this Planet?

Pragmatics of Communication between Humanoid and Non-humanoid species

  • Conference paper
Book cover Bioastronomy — The Next Steps

Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Library ((ASSL,volume 144))

Abstract

Preliminary discussions of the possibility of communication with extraterrestrials requires a careful examination of (1) our own species specific or anthropocentric biases regarding the subject, (2) what we actually know about our own forms of human communication, (3) what we know about the communicative and cognitive abilities of other species, and (4) the possibilities and evidence for communication with other species on this planet. Comparative psychologists and cognitive ethologists are discovering surprizing complexity and plasticity in the communication, orientation, and navigation systems of many species. Ethological and interspecies communication research has provided evidence that diverse species either use or can learn to use, to different degrees, symbolic or referential communication for intraspecific or interspecific exchanges. This suggests that there may be a convergence or continuity in the communication and cognitive abilities in animals from different evolutionary paths.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine World Foundation, San Francisco State University, 94589, Vallejo, CA, USA

    D. Reiss

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  1. D. Reiss
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Atomic Physics, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary

    George Marx

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© 1988 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Reiss, D. (1988). Can we Communicate with Other Species on this Planet?. In: Marx, G. (eds) Bioastronomy — The Next Steps. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 144. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2959-3_35

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2959-3_35

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7830-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2959-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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