Animal Communication: An Example
The bee dance (decoded by Karl von Frisch) is to communicate the location of a food source to
The dance is performed as a figure eight; during the straight section connecting the two circles, the bee waggles its abdomen.
The dance communicates two pieces of information:
The straight portion of the dance is aimed directly at the food source.
The longer the straight portion of the dance, the greater the distance from the hive
Is this similar to human language?
The connection in human language between linguistic unit and topic is arbitrary; there is no connection between the word ëdogí and the thing.
The bee dance is not arbitrary, it is a miniaturized replication of the actual flight path. Creativity:
Human language allows for infinite variation.
The bee dance is very restricted in the messages it can transmit and in the detail it can give.