Irrational Humans / Rational Animals
by Miki Saxon
Way back when I was in elementary school I remember a teacher saying that the difference between humans and other animals was that humans were rational.
Being an overly-observant kid I was a bit skeptical of that comment.
That skepticism grew as I got older and over the last 15+ years has grown at warp speed.
Paralleling the growth of my skepticism has been research into the intelligence and rational actions of a multitude of animals.
Only two months into 2020 and it seems the world’s gone nuts.
Not just the problems/panic/hype/cons being driven by Covid-19, but all kinds of crazy happenings around the world, including the US, with a crazy election year that seems even crazier than usual.
Very little ‘rational’ anywhere in the mix.
Animals, from insects to primates, are far more rational.
Any animal living in a group needs to make decisions as a group, too. Even when they don’t agree with their companions, animals rely on one another for protection or help finding food. So they have to find ways to reach consensus about what the group should do next, or where it should live. While they may not conduct continent-spanning electoral contests like this coming Super Tuesday, species ranging from primates all the way to insects have methods for finding agreement that are surprisingly democratic.
Yet more proof that my long-ago teacher got it wrong.
Image credit: Marco Verch/trendingtopics
