Chimps

Wednesday December 14, 2005 - 2:12AM EDT

I read this interesting article here. And it gets me thinking. There were a couple of sections that I thought need more thought but it was a decent starting point. The article was about difference between human and chimpanzee behavior. Specifically imitation in relation to solving puzzles. It made me think about a whole bunch of things. Especially since I've been studying brain function recently. One thing I thought of immediately especially considering the initial intepretation of immitation in the article was what is imitation exactly? Why would human kids imitate like they did in these studies talked about in the article. Does that imitation behavior have consequences higher up in more abstract thought that makes humans prone to suggestion. Does the imitation behavior vary among humans or even certain population groups. As I think about it now. I would imitate exactly probably because of paranoia. Well not exactly but I would imitate because maybe I thought there was something else that I was missing and the complex actions required to complete an action shown to me for a reason. However, I personally am very quick to imitate initially but then very quickly look for other methods to accomplish the goal once I was sure I had all the information about the situation. Some people however will always imitate regardless and not look for more direct methods for a variety of reasons.

This article really made me think because of personal experience with seeing something done then most of the time wanting to do it a more direct, faster way. I always look for unecessary steps and seek to eliminate them. But I find that some people will continue those extra steps without any logical reason whatsoever. When asked about these steps the answers I get never seem to make sense and it is frustrating. Could my frustration with someone's non-recognition of effeciency be somekind of physiological difference in how we think about things. How many times have I asked someone why they do something and am given the reason is that it is the way it is always done? Does this imitation thing have something to do with the practice of upholding tradition? Our strong urges to hold on to things of the past when they have become illogical and obsolete? It is a large leap of reasoning for a simple study but it makes me think about it. If humans are such strong imitators and their behavior reflects it throughout life, what advantages does it bring? What disadvantages does it bring? Fuck I am going to be thinking about this all night now. Can I extrapolate this new perspective and somehow use it to deal with humans better.

As we learn more about how we work we seem more and more like simple organic machines than these magical beings with "free will". It is good though. This is why that crappy give-up kind of religious and philosophical thought is so damaging. When you attribute things to mystical reasoning your just giving up. Why do people love to give up so much?