Bethany, this bonobo food sharing business is astonishing. What it means is that sharing can happen without socialization, without force, without violence. The whole tradition of social contractualism, which properly begins with Hobbes, has been based on the idea that humans are naturally anti-social, rigid individualist, instinctual robbers. (The other day, I saw eight seagulls fighting over a piece of bread at the park next to the King County Courthouse. One bird grabbed the piece of bread from another bird’s beak and took to the sky, the other birds madly, loudly pursued it—this is life in a Hobbesian state of nature.)
From a film review I wrote not too long ago:
The argument essentially is this: Humans need an enforced contract to bind them, because otherwise there would be no peace, just a state of nature, which is a war of “all against all.” This kind of thinking imagines social bonds to be unnatural and self-interest to be the true or ultimate condition of the individual. Humans, therefore, cannot cooperate without coercion (potestas)… This cold view of things sees in all human bonds the factor of use, of utility. Remove that utilitarian factor, and society becomes a jungle. But this view is wholly wrong; humans are by nature social (this has been proved by mirror neurons). What’s unnatural is the enforcement of these natural instincts and feelings.
And now it looks like there’s more evidence than mirror neurons; we also have these kind bonobos.
According to this Wikipedia entry on reciprocal food sharing, vampire bats must not be excluded from thoughts on this matter:
Vampire bats, which primarily feed on livestock or other vertebrates, must obtain a meal every 48-72 hours or face starvation. On a given night, there are individuals that do not successfully feed. Fortunately for them, a successful individual may regurgitate their meal for the unsuccessful individual. In order for this trait to have persisted through evolutionary time, a level of recognition is necessary among individuals. An altruistic bat may refuse to regurgitate blood for another bat that has not given blood to others in the past. The mechanism for this reaction is not known
Barf can sometimes be a beautiful thing.
i only made it to “without socialization.” you’re a moron.
I notice that birds will do a variety of things, most notably vocalizations, to let others know there is food available. They might tussle over meager amounts but generally work in groups to get each his own.
Altruism has an obvious evolutionary advantage in so many situations. I don’t understand why people always assume that evolution means “the survival of the biggest douchebag.”
Seriously, Mudede, before you keep embarassing yourself, head over to the U and take a course in Animal Behavior. You’ll rethink philosophy.
I still don’t believe in altruism. To pull from the article: “The authors point out that it is possible that the bonobos in their study chose to share in order to obtain favors in the future”
@1 – You were only able to ‘make it’ a few words into a post, dismissed the rest of it, and you think it’s the author who is the moron?
@3 has it right: look at the evolution of alarm calling in squirrels (and other vertebrates). It (probably) ain’t just kin selection.
@5- Altruism/web of obligation… Po-tay-to/po-tah-to. There has to be an instinct to go for the mutual gain (we have food now, we have food later) rather than the individual gain (I have all food now, you have all the food later.)
One of my coworkers just gave me a cookie. I sometimes bring in cookies and leave them in the break room. Who cares if it calculated or just a warm fuzzy, we have cookies.
This post reminds me of a research study done long ago on the process of animal behavior research… the results showed that study animals lived longer healthier lives if the researchers gave them names rather than numbers. A follow up study years later showed that the researchers that named animals also lived longer healthier lives than researchers that gave their animals numbers. The moral of this story is that sheer utility is bad for your health… There is more to life than utility.
A favorite quote of mine from a fellow named Osho: “Life is not a business to be managed, it is a mystery to be lived” is a more lovely way of saying this.
I would say that altruism is basically self-interest in the widest possible sense. What kind of world do you want to live in? If you don’t do unto others you are contributing to making it a shitty one.
Interesting though what this suggests: Those that would say deny health care to others because they got theirs apparently do not have quite the mental capacity of vampire bats.
@5, no i only had to make it a few words in to know charles is a moron. for stating that bonobos have no socialization.