Lucy the Chimp

               In class, we listened to a recording of an experiment with a chimpanzee named Lucy. Lucy was an experiment, to see how much a chimpanzee could adapt and evolve to the environment of a human. Instead of living in a jungle with all kinds of wild animals and species, she was raised by human beings. Eventually, after Lucy finally adapted to the habitat of a modern human, she was put back with other chimpanzees in a forest to see how she would act. Lucy learned to be very friendly to everyone she saw because of how she was specifically raised. One day, a women working with Lucy and the experiment went to where Lucy was located, and found her dead. Although the ending was rather disappointing, the experiment was very enticing and educational.
               The most important thing I learned through listening to the experiment of Lucy, was that all animals are oddly like in very many ways. An average chimp is a lot smarter than I would have thought, Lucy adapted to the area around her and learned to be just like a human. If an animal like her is influenced in such ways, they could very well be more like a human than we anticipate.
               The human is a very complex species to fully understand and fully adapt to, we are so much different in complicated ways from every other type of species and animal. Every animal is unique in it's own way, especially humans and apes.
               The experiment was very different in my opinion. I would have never thought that an average chimp could adapt to its surroundings so well, it was exciting to hear about. Although, I wonder if the confusion and deep emotion Lucy went through was actually worth the experiment, it was cruel in many ways and didn't seem morally correct, but it was very interesting.
               It was depressing to hear about the ending of the experiment and how Lucy died. It was very shocking and unpredictable, just imagining how nice and sweet Lucy must have been, I can't believe someone would have killed her.