Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Bird Behavior

How well do bird studies apply to humans? It's interesting. Whenever biologists note a certain species' tendency, that evolutionary trait is immediately transferred to humans when there may or may not be applicability or the animal studies themselves may be incomplete:

It is an arms race—and a matter of adapting and counter-adapting, explains Dr Welbergen. The better the cuckoo disguises its eggs and itself, the more host birds improve their ability to spot the impostor. Although such an evolutionary dynamic may seem like something that exists only in the wild, it is possible for it to happen in human society as well—between cuckolds and their cheating partners, constantly driving men to be better at detecting adultery and women to be better at getting away with it.
As one commenter says,
"The most rudimentary behaviours come about by growth of neural networks in our most basic brain structure. In times of stress, overload, or intensely quick decision making we revert back to them because that is the lowest energy discharge for the result of making a decision. I don't think its turpitude, really.

To your point however, Man never evolved from these game species, so the link is definitely inaccurate. "
And yet, from a global perspective, don't you see animals exhibit traits that can be applied to humans? I don't think you have to be an evolutionary biologist to see shared traits.