35
POPSWhy kindness has become our forbidden pleasure? "What is to be done? Nothing, many would say. Human beings are innately selfish and that is that. Newspapers bombard us with scientific evidence to back up this pessimism. We read about greedy chimpanzees, selfish genes, ruthless mate-selection strategies, even about meerkats - those famously cooperative creatures - who instead of looking out for their fellows spend most of their time "watching their own backs". Richard Dawkins of "selfish gene" fame lays it on the line: "Human society based simply on the gene's law of universal ruthless selfishness would be a very nasty society in which to live. But unfortunately, however much we deplore something, this does not stop it being true ..." Yet Dawkins does not despair: "If you wish, as I do, to build a society in which individuals cooperate generously and unselfishly towards a common good, you can expect little help from biological nature. Let us try to teach generosity "
26
POPSWhen Human Rights Extend to Nonhumans The 300 apes in Spanish zoos would not be freed, but better conditions would be mandated. Meanwhile, even in democracies, the law accords diminished rights to many humans: children, prisoners, the insane, the senile. Teenagers may not vote, philosophers who slip into dementia may be lashed to their beds, courts can order surgery or force-feeding. Spain’s Catholic bishops attacked the vote as undermining a divine will that placed humans above animals. One said such thinking led to abortion, euthanasia and ethnic cleansing.
24
POPSFish have personalities "The recognition that behavioral syndromes exist in a wide range of animal species is a key development in the understanding of animal behavior,"
24
POPSDoes Pointing hold the Secret of Language? Thank you Clipmarks, for letting me point to this. It should promote a mutual contemplation. Looky there: M. Tomasello: Why Don't Apes Point?" Pollick & De Waal: Ape gestures and language evolution
21
POPS"Perhaps our moral reasoning is not as reasonable as it seems". Presented with this option, said Banaji , most people refuse. In our guts, something seems different about tossing someone in front of the train rather than sending the train at someone -- and neither social psychologists nor neuroscientists nor philosophers know why. Interestingly, if the characters in the dilemma are replaced with chimpanzees, people are unhesitatingly willing to throw the monkey on the track. "When something is different from us, we become utilitarian. But for ourselves, we observe Kantian principles," said Banaji.
21
POPSChimpanzees brought up with love develop faster than babies.. "They were also more advanced intellectually than chimpanzees reared with standard institutionalized care." Giving birth is so 'natural' yet taking care of them, raising them to be mature, independent and intelligent both emotionally and mentally is not obvious. And though almost everyone would agree with what i have just written it stops here, because no-one dares to tackle the 'issue' of what is perceived as a 'natural' right (i.e. everyone can have babies, whenever she wishes, how many he wants).
18
POPSA Way to End All Wars? De Waal acknowledges that “we have a tendency, and all the primates have a tendency, to be hostile to non–group members.” But he and other experts insist that humans and their primate cousins are much less bellicose than the public has come to believe. Studies of monkeys, apes, and Homo sapiens offer ample hope that we can overcome our aggressive tendencies and greatly reduce or maybe even eliminate warfare.
17
POPSCommon Misconceptions This articlecovers a broad field of misconceptions, such as geography, health, even food. Evolution is, to me, the most interesting.
14
POPSSo you think humans are unique? "Take gesture, arguably the starting point for language. Until recently it was considered uniquely human - but not any more. Mike Tomasello of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and others have compiled a list of gestures observed in monkeys, gibbons, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orang-utans, which reveals that gesticulation plays a large role in their communication. Ape gestures can involve touch, vocalising or eye movement, and individuals wait until they have another ape's attention before making visual or auditory gestures. If their gestures go unacknowledged, they will often repeat them or touch the recipient."
12
POPSChimps Agree: A Bird in Hand Is Worth Two in the Bush This tendency held true for both groups, despite different rearing histories, suggesting that their disinclination to barter is innate, says Sarah Brosnan of Georgia State University, the lead researcher in this study. The chimps’ risk-averse behavior, Brosnan speculates, is attributable to a lack of language skills. “If one chimp could say to another, ‘OK, you crack nuts while I hunt meat, and then we’ll trade,’ they’d be able to specialize and have a developed economy,” Brosnan says.
12
POPSShould Chimpanzees Be Given Human Rights? This case promises to be very interesting! If a chimpanzee can be declared a person, then there's nothing in the way of a person becoming an ape--and I'm not just talking about a retroactive status applied to ex-husbands. In fact, I predict a surge in trans-specied people, who will eagerly go over to the side of the chimps. This bit is just BEGGING for me to make a GWB joke...but I won't. .:D
Most Pops
see Most Pops
155
Clips
Latest Pops
Latest Comments
Tags
Print
Save
Turn on live update