The Difference of Man and the Difference it Makes (Humans)

by David Turell , Monday, July 27, 2009, 01:32 (5597 days ago) @ xeno6696

The thrust of the argument that lead me to read this book was the supposition that the primitive apes do not have the rudiments to allow us to make generalizations from them to us. You stated a dislike for comparing those societies to ours based on the distinction that we differ in kind. - I don't think I conferred the meaning you have given in the above paragraph. We can make some generalizations from them to us. What I was pointing out is the mental gap is huge. And as for studying their societal mechanisms, of course we should. Evolutionary psychology is in some disrepute in certain quarters nows, for too many just-so stories lacking any semblance of sound research, but we can learn from them some of the earlier societal mechanisms hominids might have used. 
 
 
> My argument was that humans under extreme stress don't act like humans. They act the beast. And it is in this context that I feel studying ape societies can give us some insights on that behavior. - I agree. - > In fact, in most cases we are limited to studying animals because of ethics boards. - In medicine we have to try drugs on lower animals and have later trials on humans also, but the drug trials are never as good as release of the drug, for then, unfortunately, is when the weird side-effects show up. Like Murphy's Law. - By the way, another study on human brain plasticity: - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720202549.htm