Video: Monkey angrily rejects unequal pay

(CBS News) We don't expect animals to understand human "inventions" like economics. Pay scale, income inequality, surely these are concepts too advanced for lower species to process. Or are they?

The above video, part of a TED talk given by Emory University's Dr. Frans de Waal, showcases the emotional reaction of one Capuchin monkey when confronted with unequal pay for equal work. The work, in this case, is giving a rock to a researcher in exchange for a treat. The monkey is perfectly happy trading a rock for a piece of cucumber, until a neighboring monkey gets a delicious grape for performing the same action.

The monkey's reaction speaks for itself.

Dr. de Waal has made a name for himself by investigating the social intelligence of primates. His work has compared the morality and social skills of primates to humans, often with surprising results. "This is basically the Wall Street protest that you see right here," Dr. de Waal jokes at the end of the video.

[kcomanns]

seriously?? we need encased monkeys to prove human conditions?? TED talks look more like 1900's 'freak' shows of 'intellectual' elite people mocking on things they don't really understand.

[MontfordGreenwood]

Seems like the average feminists is not more intelligent than a little monkey.

[hypnotoad72]

Are you the product of unionized public school teachers?

/ironyfortheunaware

[audemus]

Which proves conclusively that your average simian is more intelligent than your typical Teabag Republican....

[bobemak]

That is very nasty. If you are politically educated, you would not have said that. Freedom of choice.

[hypnotoad72]

bobemak -

Since when is politics all sugar and spice and everything nice?

I've seen vitriol flung from both sides, and I myself have been enraged by the ignorant as well.

"Politically educated"? I'm sure George Orwell would applaud you... oh, wait, he was decrying the dangers of people getting such education so they all think and act the same way... irony is cool, wouldn't you agree? =D

And "Freedom of choice" - what's the relevance of that line in your response, noting that most thinking people in this country know we're not as free as we're all claimed to be...

[newobxguy]

Ridiculous. This is the same as giving one of your 2 children ice cream and giving the other broccoli for desert. To be valid they would have to give each monkey a piece of cucumber with one piece being a little larger than the other. This is just another case of farce testing being used to guarantee predetermined results. The only insight would be if we knew who was promoting this kind of BS as scientific research. It kind of reminds me of the exposed fake science used in trying to prove the theory of Anthropological Global Warming.

[ScorpioJax66]

The article clearly states who did the research and even provides a link to a TED article about his work. The fact that you are appear unable to read, makes your assessment non-credible from the get-go. Size of a reward is meaningless in measuring intelligence. A child knows a dime is worth more than a penny or a nickel even though it is smaller than both of them. They know that gold is is better than silver even when the same shape and size. To a monkey and other animals, taste is a more relevant value than size. If the cucumber was the same shape and size as a grape, the monkey would pick the grape every time if it knew how they both tasted and preferred the taste of the grape. To apply value to something based on criteria other than size or quantity is the basis behind economic theory and thus a sign of higher intelligence. Since the monkey's understand this and you do not, they are probably smarter than you.

[Madravenspeak]

I guess you are not a climate scientist since the consensus has been in and the accelerating losses manifested for decades. Only the Koch Brothers and the Repugnants have their spin machines going to support "Clean" coal and despoiling our oceans, blasting off mountain tops and destroying our climate for their profits. Must be a "richie" or one of the duped.

[sensible_USA]

This is exactly why companies keep compensations and salaries secret and some go as far as making its discussion a firing offense.

[hypnotoad72]

Except for public institutions, natch...

[La_Guadia]

Fairness has simply no limit:-)

[ISEDIT]

Even if the monkey was weighing the value of both monkeys' "work", it is not evidenced simply by the reaction to seeing the other receive a grape while he got something else. The reacting monkey obviously preferred a grape to a cucumber slice (no surprise), and was angry at being "deceived" by the rewarder who in the eyes of the monkey was "misrepresenting" the available foodstuffs. Deception is a known cause for provocation among animals. The simple fact that grapes were preferred to cucumbers by the monkeys does NOT translate to greater vs. lesser pay (future usefulness comparison), and even if it did, there is no direct scientific deducible from the monkey's reaction to actually mean that he was protesting unfairness rather than expressing unpleasant surprise after anticipating a sweet fruit and getting a vegetable instead. (cue two-tone foghorn).

[akimbami]

Very apt comment. If the monkey is doing the task by itself, but there is a pile of grapes next door they will get equally upset with getting a cucumber slice for doing the task. This isn't about fairness but about preferring being paid a better wage for the same work. If all they see it cucumbers they willing work for them, but show them the cadillac next door and their subaru doesn't seem so hot.

[MonkeyMan37]

Well, akimbami, it seems to me that it is about inequity rather than just wanting a cadillac over a subaru. The first monkey happily eats the first cucumber slice, even though the grapes are sitting there in front of him. It is only after he sees that the other monkey is getting the grapes for the same task (inequity) that he throws the cucumber slice back at the experimenter.

So initially he can see that there is a cadillac sitting next to a subaru, but he is happy with getting the subaru, until he sees that the other monkey gets a cadillac for the same task.

Hence, the monkey seems happy to work for cucumber until she sees that the ther monkey is getting grapes for performing the task.

ISEDIT, Wasn't the monkey only anticipating a grape on the basis of seeing the other monkey get a grape? It is not about wanting a grape over cucumber. It is about inequity. The monkey eats the first cucumber offered and only throws cucumber back after he sees the other monkey get a grape.

[pastorofplur]

Lesson learned! IF you're going to give unfair/unequal pay, do it in private/secret!

[hypnotoad72]

Amusing use of sarcasm, especially if the unfair (lower) pay is put unto you in secret.

[matt6052]

The monkey looks trained to demand a grape. Why does it pat its hand on the table top?

There is no evidence that the monkey recognized the other monkey's task was equal. It just wanted a grape instead of a cucumber slice for completion of its own task. If the other monkey had to hand over two rocks for a grape, would the first monkey then be satisfied with a cucumber slice in exchange for only one rock? If yes, then the monkey recognizes that unequal pay for unequal work is okay.

There's also a problem because the monkeys live in a group and know each other prior to the experiment, which means the effect of their pre-existing relationship to one another cannot be controlled for in the experimental design.

Humanizing animals is a fun way to propagandize weak science. Laughter helps sell the idea that monkeys are people too, which is their right to sell. It's just not science.

[Ericwvb]

The researchers explained that if both monkeys got a cucumber slice, they would not get upset at all. So that means they didn't just want grapes, although they *prefer* grapes.

[Atia2]

I agree with the first part of your last statement - but if ridiculing monkeys sells the idea that they are people, too - why aren't we locking up people for such experiments from which some results might actually be extrapolated for some useful purposes, for a change?

[bckrd1]

If only we could act like the monkey does without getting fired.