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I have heard it frequently mentioned by interesting scientists (most recently, by Neil DeGrasse Tyson) that this ability to live against natural biological tend

I have heard it frequently mentioned by interesting scientists (most recently, by Neil DeGrasse Tyson) that this ability to live against natural biological tendencies is unique for humans among the rest of the animal kingdom. So while it may be fundamental to humans, it is not apparently fundamental to the general biology of the world, and humans appear to be an interesting exception.

lovich 8y ago
Dogs do it, albeit with human help. Considering that humans that grew up alone, ie. feral, seem to have no self control either I would think that dogs get to count too
- hellofunk 8y ago
  Can you give an example of dog behavior that does this? I'm curious.
  - dfee 8y ago
    Here’s that behavior on display: https://www.reddit.com/r/rarepuppers/comments/9ime34/heckin_gud_girle_resists_temptashun/ https://www.reddit.com/r/rarepuppers/comments/9ime34/heckin_...
    - lovich 8y ago
      Not sure why you are being downvoted. This link is one of the recent examples I was thinking of. The dog has been taught to not eat the food even when a human isn't around protecting the food. That requires ignoring one part of its biology for other benefits.
toasterlovin 8y ago
Color me skeptical of the idea that humans can really go against the grain of their evolved instincts. What seems much more likely is: 1) A large subset of people possess instincts that were successful for reproduction in the ancestral environment, but are no longer so. See also plummeting birth rates despite being at the historical peak in terms of access to resources for the average person (in the developed world, at least). 2) Some people's evolved instincts are to play a long game based on building reputation and then leveraging that reputation over the long term, rather than pursuing immediate wants and desires. Such an instinct will produce a lot of behavior that seems out of line with a naive interpretation of how we "should" be evolved to behave.

lovich 8y ago

Dogs do it, albeit with human help. Considering that humans that grew up alone, ie. feral, seem to have no self control either I would think that dogs get to count too

hellofunk 8y ago
Can you give an example of dog behavior that does this? I'm curious.
- dfee 8y ago
  Here’s that behavior on display: https://www.reddit.com/r/rarepuppers/comments/9ime34/heckin_gud_girle_resists_temptashun/ https://www.reddit.com/r/rarepuppers/comments/9ime34/heckin_...
  - lovich 8y ago
    Not sure why you are being downvoted. This link is one of the recent examples I was thinking of. The dog has been taught to not eat the food even when a human isn't around protecting the food. That requires ignoring one part of its biology for other benefits.

toasterlovin 8y ago

Color me skeptical of the idea that humans can really go against the grain of their evolved instincts. What seems much more likely is: 1) A large subset of people possess instincts that were successful for reproduction in the ancestral environment, but are no longer so. See also plummeting birth rates despite being at the historical peak in terms of access to resources for the average person (in the developed world, at least). 2) Some people's evolved instincts are to play a long game based on building reputation and then leveraging that reputation over the long term, rather than pursuing immediate wants and desires. Such an instinct will produce a lot of behavior that seems out of line with a naive interpretation of how we "should" be evolved to behave.