Chapter 3- Victor Gets A Mate
It is unfortunate but most scientists are reluctant to admit that parrots can talk in any form of conversational language. The old reference to “bird brain” was an insult to parrots as far as I was concerned. Most of the well known biologists and animal behavioral scientists at this time seemed to think that at most, some parrots could use a limited amount of context. Some believed that parrots were not able understand what was happening in past and have cognizance enough to even understand the present. The idea that they might even be able to think about the future was totally out of the question.
As the days passed, both Victor and I had improved considerably. I improved in my ability to understand him and he improved in letting me know what he was thinking. The progress even allowed me to pick up more of what he was saying in real time. Instead of hearing him talk in context maybe once or twice during a week, I began to hear him say things up to 10 times a day that made sense. Each day he showed me more how he understood what was happening around him.
By now you have definitely noticed that Victor was learning at an amazing pace. During the first recordings, there was only one or two phrases of conversational language in a sixty second recording. Within weeks it increased to ten phrases of context within one minute. Within a few more weeks he was speaking so well I could understand almost everything he was saying. This ability to learn so quickly was quite amazing to me. Other people also found it amazing. So amazing that they had a hard time believing it could be possible. At first he would change the topic often in his conversations. Then one day I sat down with him and explained the concept of communication and how we should try and stick on one topic for a while before moving on to another. The next time I recorded him I could see a major change. It was one of the breakthroughs that lead to full blown conversational language later on.
It was very difficult to get Victor to respond to what I was saying as well. Victor had to change his way of thinking to do it. Budgies are able to communicate amongst themselves simultaneously and they have a very complex form of communication. Humans are very primitive in the way we communicate to them. We say what is on our mind and do not usually connect to our soul when we talk. However, everything Victor said came from his subconscious or from his soul. In other words, he was communicating his deepest feelings and emotions most of the time. He establish the connection and then release the thought. It is almost as if he was downloading it into the universe. Thoughts become words, words become actions and all was part of his spirituality. If he change the flow of energy from a something that was negative and turn it into a positive he accomplished accomplished his goal and felt in sync with mother nature. So to get him to respond to his physical surroundings verbally was very difficult. For communication to be happening he had to interact with the soul of that individual. The soul that he was interacting with was me, and my human soul may not have been moving in the same direction as he.
Since the beginning of time many humans have believed in spirituality. There are many forms of religion that base their concept of it on the mind, body and spirit. Most humans believe we have a soul and that soul differentiates us from animals. Some think it is a separate entity that moves on when we die to another plane of existence. Many also say that our body is just a vessel for our soul which is everlasting. This everlasting soul has no boundaries when it comes to time a space and lives in the metaphysical. However, like our unconscious mind, we have no real knowledge or proof of its existence. Perhaps many thousands of years ago we did have some connection and knowledge of our spirit, but humans had somewhat lost it over the years. I was beginning to think that Victor and perhaps many animals have not lost this connection as it it was evident to me he understood what his soul was telling him all the time. He often even talked as if his soul or someone else was telling him some of his thoughts and spoke as himself in the second person.
If Victor's spirit was moving in sync with Mother Nature, there had to be a reason he finally decided to go against the norm and break the communication gap in the way he did. There also had to be a reason why he responded to me when he did as well. In other words, everything that Victor said and did was leading to something that had never been done before and he believed he was doing the right thing.
To Victor, answering questions every time someone asked him one, was not the direction that he wanted to take. He did however feel it was important to show that he could do it. In at least twenty of his recordings, he demonstrated how he was capable of answering very quickly when someone asked him a question. There were also a number of other times he responded to what was being said to him or his physical surrounding. However, he did not want to become a side show for humans where he would be just looked on as a parrot who was programmed to answer questions. He knew what he had to teach the world was far more important and he understood exactly what he had to do to achieve his purpose in life. In short, almost everything Victor said, dealt with knowledge, learning and making this world a better place. He knew that everything he said was going to have an impact on the future. This impact was not only going to influence the thinking humans but have an effect on budgies for years to come as well. Most of his recordings were designed by him to at least produce some kind of spiritual reaction delivered in the form of a lesson, parable, metaphor or humourous remark.
In this next recording I remember that “ Do you want to be a millionaire?” was becoming quite popular on TV. It is example of how he responds to what I am saying while at the same time show how even in a short response such as this, he demonstrates how he valued knowledge and humor.
In this one he asks "Where is Anthony?" I say, “he is at school.”
Then he says "Oh, good answer”
Whenever one of Regis’ guests would make a correct answer, Regis would replay. “That’s a good answer.”
