Animal Intelligence and Evolution/Creation

Pink, this is exactly the kind of 'research' I was complaining about in the other thread; the kind of shameless anthropomorphisizing that gives other animal behaviorists a bad name.Here are a few gems from the first paragraph: And the conclusions drawn from these behaviors?

quote:

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The complex of interactive behaviors and emotional expression constitutes a 'behavioral practice' that is similar between chimpanzees and humans, and a practice implicitly spiritual.

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And you wonder why I roll my eyes when I see this stuff? It is sheer, unadulterated anthropomorphizing. Smiling? Gasping? Midwives?Good lord, has anyone ever witnessed the birth of puppies? The parents exhibit similar behaviors which could easily be, and frequently are, interpreted as 'expressing elation and joy' and demonstrating a practice that is 'implicitly spiritual.'And what, exactly, am I supposed to get out of the report that some chimpanzees wipe themselves with leaves after defecating? Why would anyone read ANYTHING into this practice? Why include it in a paper about spirituality except as further attempts to anthropomorphize chimpanzees?'If wiping behaviors is a legitimate indicator of spirituality, then my dogs must be approaching Nirvana as their enlightenment is only a few more blades of grass away.In my opinion, this type of paper embodies everything that is WRONG about animal behavior research: it's wrapped in emotional language, makes conclusions based on wishful thinking, and anthropomorphizes shamelessly which makes any serious consideration of what legitimate information it may contain very difficult.This message has been edited by custard, 03-03-2005 12:24 AM

Yes, this is exactly what I was questioning considering the tone of the paper: how the reactions/emotions were described. As you said, the link between 'expressions' and emotional state has been established in a number of species. It was the, seemingly, intentional anthropomorphizing (OK I'm really tired of typing that word) of these reactions I was having difficulty with. Excellent question. I just alluded to something similar in the Mike's Ego Trip thread. That's where I think anthropomorphizing can do this type of research a disservice: if the chimps are in some sort of emotional state similar to humans then what IS the difference? Simply a lack of theology?I wonder if one made a side by side comparison say the type and level of brain activity and type and amount of endorphins and other chemicals released by the brain just after child birth in both humans and chimps what would one find?If the resulting measurements were similar, would that indicate that chimps are 'spiritual?' Or would it indicate that 'spirituality' in humans is merely typical primate behavior?Now that is some data I would be interested in.This message has been edited by custard, 03-03-2005 14:38 AM