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March 20, 2009
Follow the Leader
At least that seems to go for some.
Do you see a process for the continuance of rituals among Homo sapiens in this little experiment? I do. Please notice that I didn't ask about the origin of rituals. That's another question. I do think this experiment also puts question of the value of ritual on the table: value for the learning and enculturation of young, considerable; value for adult activity, little or none. Yes, yes, I am over interpreting the experiment. Yes, it did not involve adult Homo sapiens who, I think, would likely have acted more like the chimps than did the young Homo sapiens. But the experiment does raise as many questions as it answers. I'm trying to figure out if my questions are among them
Via Afarensis who collected several amazing Chimp videos for us to ponder.
Posted by Duane Smith at March 20, 2009 3:48 PM | Read more on Religion |
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Comments
Yes, I see a very good process for the continuance of ritual and tradition.
Posted by: afarensis at March 20, 2009 5:31 PM
Yes! I believe that this is essentially at the heart of how rituals persist, not only in individuals, but through the generations. I wrote about Dr. Horner's experiment a couple of years ago, but this is the first time that I've seen what the box actually looks like. This still impresses me!
Posted by: The Science Pundit at March 20, 2009 7:01 PM
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