“ ‘Humans are vastly more cooperative than most other species.’ Our cultural institutions can reinforce inequality, she said, but they can also fight against it.”
Dr. Siobhán Mattison, evolutionary anthropologist at the University of New Mexico
I always tend to resent the scientific research conducted on animals, not just the cruel, invasive kind which needs to end, but even basic cognitive research, because the benefit of the results usually accrues to humans. I want the benefits to flow the other way sometimes—how can we help other creatures and their habitats with what we learn from studying them? Clearly I care about us humans, though, because that’s what Crime and Punishment is about—understanding the reasons for the horrendous inequality in our society and helping to balance the forces that create it—with an end goal that we all have a better shot at thriving.
That’s why this recent New York Times article titled “Checking Privilege in the Animal Kingdom” is fascinating. It turns the tables on the typical research balance of power, and surprisingly, it focuses on my favorite topics: intergenerational wealth and inequality, but in the other animal kingdom.
Here are some of their findings:
Young red grouse are more likely to succeed in establishing their own territories when their fathers and other kin are nearby. Hyena daughters born to high-ranking mothers inherit their status, and get dibs on fresh meat. Some chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys crack nuts using stone tools that their parents used before them.
In other words, even other animals are likely to survive longer, have better health and maybe get a leg up on the competition if they have some assistance from their parents, other relatives or friends, an issue I discussed in a previous post regarding human generational wealth.
These scientists also apply concepts and words to their research that are normally applied to human behavior, like “intergenerational wealth” and “inequality”, just as Suzanne Simard and Peter Wohlleben use the words “communication”, “sharing” of resources and the “Mother Tree” when researching and discussing the power of trees and old-growth forests. This helps close the gap among humans, other animals and our natural habitats and helps us search for answers that benefit the collective whole.
— If you want to go deep into animal cognition, here once again is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
“Comparative cognition is the scientific study of animal cognitive capacities that recognizes humans as animals and acknowledges that all animals are evolved biological organisms.”
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cognition-animal/
— Another and earlier article on this subject in Slate Magazine titled: “These Animals Stick Up for Social Justice” discusses research that shows we mammals don’t like to be bossed around and will form “coalitions” to overthrow any renegade leaders…sound familiar?
“But sometimes the top dog gets toppled, inequality diminishes, and equality prevails. Looking at species other than our own shows that inequality (the subject of a special issue in Science this week) may not be inevitable. These animals provide glimpses of how humans got the way we are and what our potential may be for equality.”
And finally for this evening, a fun piece from Psychology Today that shows just how dogs and monkeys, for example, react to unequal treatment or rewards. There certainly are comparisons to these outcomes in today’s job market, for example. Don’t like the rate of pay or benefits? Refuse to do the work and quit!
“Cooperative animals act differently when they are being treated unfairly.”
Yeah, don’t we all?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ulterior-motives/201812/how-animals-react-inequality
Let me know what you make of these studies of animal cognition and behavior and the study of “generational wealth” and inequality in the animal kingdom. Please comment below!
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