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In a separate news report [1] about this study, a cognitive biologist cautioned that altruism is not the only possible explanation: “It could just be that the b
by divbzero 5y ago
In a separate news report [1] about this study, a cognitive biologist cautioned that altruism is not the only possible explanation: “It could just be that the birds themselves - they are attracted of the object. And so they try to go for it. They go after the harness. They pick around, and then they manage to get rid of the harness. And it has nothing to do that they really want to help the other individual.”
[1]: https://www.npr.org/2022/02/28/1083581139/magpies-unexpected-reaction-to-gps-trackers-may-have-revealed-altruism-in-the-bi https://www.npr.org/2022/02/28/1083581139/magpies-unexpected...
- tremon 5y agoThat should be easy to test, by leaving a few of the same harnesses within reach of the birds. If the birds pick up the stray harnesses too, it's likely object attraction. If the birds leave those alone or merely attack them (like picking them up and dropping them from some height), it's empathy. In any case, it's not altruism unless the birds take on a risk themselves by trying to remove it from others -- it's merely social behaviour.