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>Humans, unique among all animals, have an instinct to resist aggression even when it's directed toward other members of the group (even non-kin). I'm not conv

>Humans, unique among all animals, have an instinct to resist aggression even when it's directed toward other members of the group (even non-kin). I'm not convinced that this is a unique to humans.

abstractbeliefs 10y ago
Can you provide some counterexamples?
- throwanem 10y ago
  I've heard tell of ravens attacking humans who had previously attacked other ravens, sometimes quite a while before; at the moment I'm unable to go hunting a cite, but that might be a place to start.
  - Symmetry 10y ago
    I think it's clear from context that the author meant intra-group aggression. A dispute between a human and a group of ravens isn't really a matter of politics in the way a dispute within a group of humans (or chimps for that matter) is.
- gus_massa 10y ago
  After 5 minutes of googling: * "Buffalo's brutal revenge: Animal gores lion and tosses it into the air after pride attacks its herd and slaughters one of its companions" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3518658/Buffalo-s-brutal-revenge-Animal-gores-lion-tosses-air-pride-attacks-herd-slaughters-one-companions.html#ixzz4buQqjhZZ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3518658/Buffalo-s-br... * "Rhinos save Buffalo from Hyena Attack" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-cbxLyRN0o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-cbxLyRN0o I guess that wolves and crows will also be good examples, but I don't have a link just now. Also, I live in Argentina and here it's common to have "dogs walkers" that pick a small number of unrelated dogs 5-10 from different owners. I guess that if someone is stupid enough to attack one of the dogs, the other dogs will react.
Symmetry 10y ago
The author is simplifying or possibly over-simplifying. About a third of The Secret of Our Success was devoted to how human social norms are different from those of our primate relatives and really the whole book is worth reading if you found the article interesting.

>Humans, unique among all animals, have an instinct to resist aggression even when it's directed toward other members of the group (even non-kin). I'm not convinced that this is a unique to humans.

abstractbeliefs 10y ago

Can you provide some counterexamples?

throwanem 10y ago
I've heard tell of ravens attacking humans who had previously attacked other ravens, sometimes quite a while before; at the moment I'm unable to go hunting a cite, but that might be a place to start.
- Symmetry 10y ago
  I think it's clear from context that the author meant intra-group aggression. A dispute between a human and a group of ravens isn't really a matter of politics in the way a dispute within a group of humans (or chimps for that matter) is.
gus_massa 10y ago
After 5 minutes of googling: * "Buffalo's brutal revenge: Animal gores lion and tosses it into the air after pride attacks its herd and slaughters one of its companions" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3518658/Buffalo-s-brutal-revenge-Animal-gores-lion-tosses-air-pride-attacks-herd-slaughters-one-companions.html#ixzz4buQqjhZZ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3518658/Buffalo-s-br... * "Rhinos save Buffalo from Hyena Attack" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-cbxLyRN0o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-cbxLyRN0o I guess that wolves and crows will also be good examples, but I don't have a link just now. Also, I live in Argentina and here it's common to have "dogs walkers" that pick a small number of unrelated dogs 5-10 from different owners. I guess that if someone is stupid enough to attack one of the dogs, the other dogs will react.

Symmetry 10y ago

The author is simplifying or possibly over-simplifying. About a third of The Secret of Our Success was devoted to how human social norms are different from those of our primate relatives and really the whole book is worth reading if you found the article interesting.