Japanese Elephants Pass Math Test
An elephant at the Ueno Zoo has proven to be efficient in math. Figure this one out: When presented with two buckets where the elephan t couldn't see inside, drop two apples in each bucket, then add one apple to one bucket and two to the other bucket, then three to one and one to the other, add five apples to the other and two to the one and then pick which bucket has the most apples. The elephant, Ashya, was able to figure it out. I'm still trying to figure it out myself. In fact, Ashya was able to do it four out of five tries, missing only the one where broccolli was used, which is understandable.
But Ashya is not the only Janpanese elephant that can rise to the feat. Mito, a thirety-eight year old elephant from Kyoto was able to pcik the correct bucket four out of five times, again, missing the trial using broccolli. And their are other accounts where other Japanese elephants are proving to be masters of counting.
In the US, keepers claim elephants have not matched the prowessness of their asian counterparts. They prefer to wait for their regular handouts of peanuts rather than count how many stems of broccolli are being put in the bucket.
Startled by this sudden intelligence gap, congress convened in an emergency session during this critical election season to try and avert this potential intelligence crisis. They immediately passed the No Elephant Left Behind act requiring all elephants in American zoos to be taught how to count. The president, bowing to political pressure has already agreed to sign the bill. California, on the other hand has chosen to take additional steps. The California Department of Education ordered all elephants in California zoos be taught algebra before entering the seventh grade.
1 comment:
What a relief, we were concerned. I mean why waste tax dollars teaching algebra to all California 8th graders, most of whom will never use it, and leave the elephants, who will, it the dark. Leave it to California to lead the way!
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