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The concept of "alpha", "beta" and other greek letter males is based on a flawed study of the social dynamics of wolf packs. Not only is it inaccurate in the co
by nukeop 9y ago
The concept of "alpha", "beta" and other greek letter males is based on a flawed study of the social dynamics of wolf packs. Not only is it inaccurate in the context of human behaviour, it has also been since found out that it doesn't model the behaviour of wolves accurately, and these categories do not exist in reality.
- sova 9y agoYeah, the whole tribe or pack of wolves operates together. True alphas don't actually assert their dominance, and you are correct that our naive interpretations of these letters and their cardinality are quite faulty. Not sure why people voted you down.
- Pokepokalypse 9y agoProblem is; people really really really seem to like to believe in this meme. They want to believe in the myth of the alpha male. They find it comforting. I think it's probably similar to supreme-being myths, and racial-superiority myths. (who doesn't like to be told they're "a member of the master-race" or "naturally inclined to dominate and lead, be entitled to privilege"?) Getting this mythology beat-down is going to be a very difficult steep uphill climb, I'm afraid. Hell, we're literally still trying to convince people the world is round.
- sova 9y agoI think of the Flat Earth "movement" as a nod and prod for people to use critical reasoning, and I don't see it as something nefarious. We don't have to convince everyone to hold the same views but we should urge people to hold beneficial views for themselves and others.
- TheCoelacanth 9y agoThe journalist is using the term "alpha male" colloquially. What was actually studied was a proxy for level of testosterone.