Added: 3 years ago
From: BBCWorldwide
Views: 226,696
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:

All Comments (274)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • @Eragonland Apes follow pointing. The only other animal to do that is the common dog. Apes, however, are capable of following gaze very well.

  • @mkozachek Dolphins follow pointing as well and gazing without failure. Apes also have difficulties with gazes sometimes while dolphin's don't the slightest.

  • dear bbc. thank you. for this and doctor who <3

  • I've been watching this show for ages and I love it, but it should be called Quite Entertaining instead, because many 'facts' Stephen presents are incorrect.

  • Dogs often do look where the finger points. Humans are not the only species that do.

  • @dyingforadestrier actually the dog is the only animal apart from humans that can understand finger pointing, thats why their mans best friend, i think they also understand us in a much deeper level.

  • @dyingforadestrier So is my cat

  • Alan was right about polar bears not having white fur... It's funny how no one believed him.

  • @Alison9487 he was right, but he didnt explain it properly thats why it wasnt believable. it doesnt reflect the snow, but the polar bears skin is white and you are merely looking through their fur.

  • @missionpupa Well, actually that's also not the case. Polar bear's skin (under the fur) is black. So we're not looking "through" their fur.

    Each hair shaft is pigment-free and transparent with a hollow core that scatters and reflects visible light, much like what happens with ice and snow.

    The color white becomes visible to our eyes when an object reflects back all of the visible wavelengths of light, rather than absorbing some of the wavelengths.

  • Yeah my dog is no exception to the rule.

    Dam dog...could've made a fortune.

  • how many went to there dog and pointed some were

  • my dog understands when i point at something, its the only thing she can do

  • i must have heard the outtrun ur friend joke a thousand times.

  • This wouldn't be to your viewable pelasure if it were to SOPA!

  • @Zethuriel

    it's the BBC's channel, how can they claim copyright infringement on their own bloody channel... -.-

  • @Zethuriel Yes, it would.

  • @Zethuriel ACTA was passed in Europarliament without any hassle or media attention as SOPA and PIPA and it has potential to be harmfull as those two laws... So beware you'll get something simillar but more disguised soon

  • if rich hall and i were being chased by a polar bear, i would outrun him.

  • I havent trained my dog but half the time he looks at where im pointing but thats usually cuz he thinks theres food involved...

  • WRONG!! APES LOOK THE DIRECTION YOU POINT!!

  • @Eragonland my kelpie looks where I point, I had to teach her to do it, but she does it, and I dare say we learnt to look where people pointed instead of at their fingers at some early age too.

  • @Eragonland and my dog

    

  • @Eragonland so do dogs ha

  • @Eragonland so does my dog

  • @TRoastable my dog too..probably thinking I'm pointing him towards a cat she can chase haha :)

  • @Eragonland by dog looks at the direction I point in, i swear

  • @Eragonland

    Technically humans are apres though. Apes doesn't have to be humans of course so your point still stands there. I guess he should have worded it "only apes look at where you point".

  • @Eragonland NOT THE WHOLE TRUTH! Dolphins also look the direction you point AANNNDDD are the ONLY animals that WILL LOOK IN THE DIRECTION YOU ARE LOOKING!!

  • @Eragonland One more reason why religion may lose to Darwin

  • Only working dogs look at where you're pointing :)

  • One of them (I dont know any names - I am not from the UK) speaks like (and looks a bit like) a grown up Ben from Outnumbered

  • Dogs have developed this bond with humans over the years and therefore most of them recognize facial expressions, emotions and finger pointing among other things which other animals aren't capable of, these abilities normally don't come through training, it's in the genes.

  • We have a 2 year old Malinois Shepherd dog. We have him as a family dog but he was orignally meant as a working dog. He understands pointing fine, although it helps when you focus your own attention on the object and make clear what you want from him with your command(s) and posture. I used to think what Stephen said was tue, but it seems some dogs do get it :)

  • Fry is probably correct, I don't believe an animal would understand the pointing, but I think some are smart enough, especially dogs, to pick up on our gaze, we look at what we are pointing at.

  • I would undress for Alan Davies. <3

  • i had a mut that was half breed and wherever i used to point he would look at where i was trying to show to him...but i used to have 2 other dogs that were really beautifull but very dumb..they would just try to jump at my finger

  • at :40 Stephen Fry is incorrect, there are some animals who can make the abstract connection between the finger and direction.

  • Dogs can actually be taught the social significance of pointing, probably because of their long history of domestication and close relationship with human society.

  • @skootties Yeah, my dog will always look where I'm pointing.

  • Was I the only one to notice that Alan was sticking up his middle finger whilst explaining a polar bear follicle? Not trying to be childish or anything though...

  • All dogs I've encountered will only look at what you're pointing at, If they suspect that there is something there to look at. Indeed, I've grown up with litter after litter of my own, and others dogs, and they all did that. If they thought or knew there was nothing there, they looked from the finger to the hand to me.

  • @hofffan333 They can learn though. I've had dogs that will first look at my finger, and then follow to where I'm pointing. You have to teach them though.

  • with most intelligent domesticated dogs they will in fact look to what you're pointing at not your finger itself.due to evolving side by side humans for thousands of years. but if you really want to know something cool the right side of the human face actually shows more emotions than the other side, unconsciously we all look at that one side of the face to get a read on peoples emotions and it turns out so do dogs, so they can understand what emotion we're feeling

  • actually dogs will look at what you point at, I AM SMARTER THAN STEPHEN FRY!

  • @matthewmccurry1 No, they don't, no your not.

  • I thought dogs were one of the only creatures domesticated enough to be able to understand the pointed finger and follow the line of sight. My dog can, anyways...

  • See even I knew that about the Polar bear's fur.

  • I am going to slowly torture whoever produced that McDonald's ad.

  • and there is another fun fact about polar bears :) that they are all left handed or rather pawed :)

  • polar bears have grey fur.

  • @Datastreamx

    No, Alan is quite right.

    Polar bears do have clear, colourless hair follicles.

  • OMG 666 likes and 6 dislikes ROFL

  • shoot.it.in.the.face lol

  • ba ha ha ha ha Alan Davis is the funniest randie ever

  • @seitenshow

    He sure is my favourite! :)

  • It certainly was an improvement to remove those bars in front of the picture screens.

  • What Alan said is true about the fur.

  • @MightyJoeBlack95 Not the "reflecting snow" part though.

  • @ReverendSaucy Anything colourless in a predominantly white environment appears to be white. It was on an Inside Nature's Giants and one of the presenters threw a glass of water in the air and it looked white.

    Also, a collection of tiny colourless follicles of fur will appear to have a colour due to the density and so they will appear white. That is just a theory though.

  • Stephan is wrong about non-human animals not following pointing. As is @renzyq19. Several animals, mostly primates, have been shown to follow pointing as well as eye gazing. OMG I found an error! My 7 and a half years of higher education has not been for naught!

  • @Cazsuane Even more important. Dogs are one of the few species that do follow the line of your finger.

  • @sindrehsoereide As do several other species, not just dogs... Not many but then again not many have been tested.

  • stupid British ppl

  • @kylecan210 LOL U MAD!

  • @kylecan210 shut up u fat fuck

  • i would suspect, that if you met someone like tarzan, he would look at your finger as well. we only look at the direction people are pointing, because we've learnt that as a form of communication.

    it's a bit like when i dog raises it's legs. if you're a dog owner/lover you would know that if you don't move, your gonna be in for a wet surprise.

  • when i point and something and excitedly go "whats that!?" my dog always jumps up and runs in the direction i pointed. so he's definitely wrong about that lol

  • @PaddyRoon7 your missing the point. First he means in nature and secondly if you say something it takes away from just pointing which is what he means. Saying whats that excitedly makes the dog act. In nature noone is there saying whats that.

  • I have 5 dogs (all labs). 4 are show dogs, which are cuter but also not as clever. They look at my finger when I point. The 5th is a gun dog, a working dog. They aren't as cute (imho), but they are more intelligent than their show dog cousins. She looks where I point, instead of at my finger. So a lot training and/or correct breeding can teach dogs to do this.

  • @Ostrogothicus The dog is more likely following your eyes if you're looking along your finger. Dogs are smart enough to do this.

  • @Ostrogothicus Well it's been proven that dogs are infact capable of knowing this. There's actually barely any training involved at all. Some cats are known to follow the same pattern of thinking, but experts claim that's usually because as you thrust your arm forward they take it as you're throwing something away and attempt to follow whatever item it is you've thrown.

  • ooh, very good, very good. Cynical but very good

  • nope about the following finger thing dogs have been living alongside humans so long tha they do follow the way the person points its wolves who dont

  • some dogs can actually follow pointing. don't know about other animals though.

  • Ha! I've taught animals to understand pointing, so THERE Stephen!!!

  • @Kojak7snap 'taught', that is all i have to say

  • f5 to skip ad

  • Lol

  • actually dogs do follow the line of a finger pointing

  • @JTGarrysMod

    Actually, even among dogs, very few do. Border collies are one breed that do - most others don't

  • @camrichard1 let me rephrase that then:

    my dog follows the line of my finger

  • @camrichard1 According to an article by Dr. Nicole Dorey published in the scientific journal "Animal Behavior" which tested a variety of breeds (even including a few mutts), dogs can indeed understand pointing. They were even able to determine the minimum age at which a dog can begin to interpret pointing gestures. I've also read peer-reviewed research which suggests that chimps can also interpret pointing gestures. The thing about only humans understanding pointing is just an old wives tale.

  • @camrichard1 Our Border Collie does that indeed :D

  • i learn more from qi then from school..

  • @kar88lina you should pay more attention in school then.

  • @kar88lina evidently you didn't learn English very well

  • @maewe no I know it's supposed to be "than" instead of "then". Sorry for the confusion, but I'm Swedish so sometimes I make spelling mistakes on Youtube.

  • @kar88lina Too bad QI can't teach ya the difference between "then" and "than!" Ooh!

  • @kar88lina Only kidding, though, just some gentle ribbing. Seriously, this show's pretty good.

  • You don't need to distract a polar bear...just shoot it with an elephant gun.

  • on topic: when you freeze as a human being. one of the last things you do is take off your clothes. It's called paradoxical undressing. :)

  • Stephen Fry is wrong! :\ Dogs are actually proven to understand pointing at the same level as a 2 year-old.

  • @norwegianbloke yeah but this is with training.... and besides here they are talking about wild animals.

  • The fur isn't white because of reflectance of the snow, it's white because of the way light behaves, causing all light to be reflected back, causing it to look white.

  • @patchyace you should be on there

  • Polar bear actually do have black skin and transparent fur. The idiocy of the fur being white because of reflectance is just stupid though. Alan, you're stupid.

  • ahahaha Rich Hall is killing me!

  • The polar bears keeps checking your dropped clothes to see if you've left anything you need behind, that why then then come after you, there trying to return your wallet

  • What? Dog's do follow the finger.

  • @stormonster

    They're trained to do so, just like how they're trained to fetch, shake hands, etc.

    Try the same with a wolf or hyena, and I believe that it shall garner very different results.

  • @stormonster - Yep. at last we catch Stephen Fry out !!! Ask anyone who trains dogs, they can follow a pointed finger... mine do, no matter what I point at.

    BUT, he's still the very most clevererest man I know. I love him.

  • 0:31 #LOL allan always gets trumped big time...

  • @sasamuraki - AND... he's loving it !

  • My dog looks where I'm pointing, but I've had to train her to do it, and for some odd reason, only when I point with my feet...

  • @guinivereXbloodgood my dog looks when I point.... usually it is at food though... :/

  • Dogs actually do have the ability to look where a person is pointing. It's one of the interesting differences between dogs and wolves.

  • That's interesting. My cat just looks at my finger but I've seen dogs look where someone is pointing.

  • If you had the choice between being eaten by a polar bear, and having your 'jewels' dance atop your kidneys, which would you choose ?

    For me, Dinner.

  • Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe­he

  • Actually polar bears do have clear hairs and brown skin. They just appear white because their fur is so thick (similar to how snow appears white even though it's made up of clear snowflakes).

  • Can anyone tell me what happened to Stephen Fry's nose? It used to be straight, but then took a sudden and dramatic turn to the left. I've been quite curious about this.

  • @Off111 It's been crooked ever since he broke it as a kid. It's just more noticeable when he's sitting still. I don't think it's gotten any more crooked over the years.

  • @Off111 It's been crooked ever since he broke it as a kid. It's just more noticeable when he's sitting still. I don't think it's gotten any more crooked over the years.

  • my dog looks at what i'm pointing at...

  • yes ... ppl obviously he's right bout the fur

  • he is right about the fur. its transparent so the sunbeams can reach their black skin

  • Actually dogs are a bad example because they are one of the only animals to be scientifically proven to follow pointing.

    Otherwise, they always do interesting topics. =)

  • @kittybell That's fascinating. I've noticed that, several times, I've been in the kitchen getting some food and noticed a spider in the ceiling and looked at it, and said to my dog, what's that? and looked back at the ceiling. She looks at the spider. Most often she looks at me, but sometimes she looks where I'm looking. But she's a German Pointer, so I guess that ability is part of her genetics.

  • typical that the american brings up "just need to outrun your friend", capitalism in a nutshell.

  • @CheStillFighting Haha true, it's funny though.

  • @CheStillFighting actually a sound survival tip .. the Polar bear will eat whomever he catches first .. by capital u mean capitalize on your friends lack of speed yes but a Socialist would do the same or would u simply say " Oh let's all get eaten by the Polar bear"

  • @Thebeertruckdriver well, i feel foolish responding to such a silly comment, but in theory, i suppose the socialists would say "if we work together, we can overcome the actual problem we are being faced with, not avoid it by creating a self-defeating monetary system that literally cannot work as a organizational system, all it can do is further the interest of the elite top 5 percent of the world's population while leaving vastly more people to suffer as they may or die." oops, i went too far

  • Loads of bullshit and I love it xD

  • What a great show!

  • Polar bears have clear fur and black skin but i can't remember what makes them white.

  • is the clear folicals on a polar bear that that guy said true?

  • @kinglynx, Yes it is true, each hair is pigment free and transparent with a hollow core which scatters and reflects visible light.

  • @kinglynx Yes it's true. Polar bears have clear fur and black skin. But I can't remember why they are white. Something to do with the fur reflecting white light I think.

  • @pussy4795 Sunlight is white, and the hairs of the Polar Bear cause light to scatter. It therefore reflects all the wavelengths of light, producing "white".

    Some polar bears age yellow, which suggests that the transparency changes at some point.

  • That's why you should always be with a friend, if you encounter a polar bear because you don't need to outrun the polar bear, you just need to outrun your friend.

  • Haha this was awesome :)

  • As many people of said, he's wrong about the pointing thing. My dog looks where I'm pointing. =]

  • "You just need to outrun your friend" lol

    Rich Hall rules

  • He's wrong about dogs not following a pointed finger. They are in fact the only animal known to do so.

  • and eyes

  • @renzyq19 Besides humans. I dunno, though. I've never gotten any of my dogs to actually follow the line I point, and they're all fairly well trained.

  • @renzyq19 Dogs can be *trained* do be able to do it, but don't do it naturally. Humans do. Sit down with a baby and point at something, and the baby will look at what you're pointing at. Dog's have intellect like a mindless drone and if you do something repeatedly using a simple punish/reward system, you can pretty much teach them to do anything.

  • @klakkaros "Dog's have intellect like a mindless drone"

    You can always spot somebody that has either never had a dog, or has had a dog and gave it a miserable life.

  • @fuzzywzhe ...talking about their intelligence here, not their personality or character. I like dogs, they're very fun to own and be around, but when you break down the way they think, you CAN just repeat something over and over and they'll eventually just do it because they think they'll be rewarded for it.

    My point was that renzyq19 is making out like dogs are really clever because they can do it, but they don't do it naturally, they're just trained that way.

  • @klakkaros Dog's aren't mindless drones. That is what you said they were. I've worked with enough of them when I did dog rescue to know they are certainly not mindless drones.

    To say they are mindless drones displays your incredible ignorance about them. If you have owned a dog, I feel badly for it. You were not a good nor a competent owner. That's all I am saying.

  • @fuzzywzhe Stop misinterpreting me and making it out like I'm saying something different. Look at what you're saying: "Dog's aren't mindless drones. That is what you said they were."

    Look at what I said: "Dog's have intellect like a mindless drone"

    Something tells me you cannot comprehend the difference between those two statements, and if you're unable to then there's no point continuing this debate since no matter what I say, you won't be able to understand it.

    ...

  • @fuzzywzhe ...I understand your opinion, but you're blowing what I said out of proportion and making me look like a bad person because of it, which is rather slanderous.

  • @klakkaros But I never taught my dog to understand pointing with a punish/reward system. it just learnt how to understand pointing. It's not a mindless drone, it's a living creature capable of learning.

  • @renzyq19 Wrong. Dogs do simply look at your finger. Chimpansees and Bonobo's and Gorilla's do understand pointing and actually look at what you're pointing at

  • @07Petri But that's not true, because when I point my finger my dog looks to where I'm pointing, not at my finger. I suspect her being a Border Collie might be how she comprehends what it means when I point. But I suppose it's also possible that she's learned to do this herself after watching me point to things, though I've never taught her.

  • @SavageArms357 It's exactly as you said, they get used to that gesture so they don't look at your finger anymore, they understand the code.

  • @renzyq19 My dog doesn't, you sure about that?

  • @renzyq19 References?

  • @renzyq19 I know you posted this ages ago, but you misunderstood Fry, He said humans are the only animals the look at the pointed fingers direction, animals actually look at the finger and follow its direction.

  • @SweetMintPie555 What's the difference?

  • Polar bears have clear hair that reflects the full spectrum, aka white. They actually have black skin that absorbs the heat of sun quite well.

  • I think Alan is sort of right. Its not that the hairs reflect the snow, its that they scatter the light. Same way clouds are white, while ice or water is transparent. (snow is white for the same reason)

  • Glass fibres are clear, but if you bunch them together they appear white.

  • Dogs have been shown to understand the human body language pretty well

  • 0:31 Actually Stephen's incorrect in this, and particularly so in the case of a dog.

    A later BBC Horizon programme "The Secret Life of the Dog" proved that dogs do have the capacity of following a pointed finger.

  • I was thinking the same thing. I once moved a herd of cattle by pointing out where I wanted them to go.

  • yes mate. i knew that about the polar bear's fur by reading Animorphs ;)

  • My dog looks where I'm pointing. ^^

  • @spongebsqaurep

    your dog looks where your pointing because it thinks your throwing something

  • @alextwinz No, if my dog thought I was throwing something, she'd get up and look around for it. If I'm pointing, she'll just turn her head over there and try to see what I'm showing her. In order to make her think I'm throwing something, I'd have to put a hand in my pocket and pretend to take something out and throw it.

  • Comment removed

  • idiot.

  • Might be cause, the dog can think you are throwing something..

  • Recemt horizon on the secret life of dogs shows that dogs are the only animal that will look where we are pointing.

  • My dog looks at where i'm pointing, because he notices that i'm looking over there as well

  • hahahahahahha