3 ms·
There is a myth of the myth of the alpha wolf. Onсe in several years a media outlet deсides to tell people about "the myth of the alpha wolf" that people suppos
by LudwigNagasena 4y ago
There is a myth of the myth of the alpha wolf. Onсe in several years a media outlet deсides to tell people about "the myth of the alpha wolf" that people supposedly believe in. And it never makes sense beсause few to no people believe in or care about "alpha wolves". A cursory search on Google and Reddit reveals that most people who talk about alpha wolves either talk about a metalcore band or present a yet another article that "dispels" the "myth" of the alpha wolf. Sometimes an article proclaims to speak about "the myth of the alpha male", but it always turns out to be a bait-and-switch for an article that talks about "the myth of the alpha wolf".
- vlovich123 4y agoThe terminology morphed to p people (alpha males) despite absolutely no indication that it applies to wolves or humans (except prisons). That’s the myth.
- LudwigNagasena 4y agoPresumably, scientists (David Mech in case of wolves and Frans de Waal in case of humans) aren't dumb or mischievous, so they wouldn't make up something there was no indication of. There probably was an indication that they based their opinions on. Maybe there is a myth of "alpha males", but the article doesn't expose it, it doesn't even talk about it beyond a single sentence.
- Blackthorn 4y ago> And it never makes sense beсause few to no people believe in or care about "alpha wolves". The last fifty or so years of western literature beg to differ.
- LudwigNagasena 4y agoWhat literature do you refer to?
- Blackthorn 4y agoOn a literal level: pretty much any supernatural story involving a werewolf. On a metaphorical level: pick your favorite male-focused self help pop psychologist. There's a reason the phrase "sigma male grindset" was coined to make fun of these people.
- LudwigNagasena 4y agoWhat does it have to do with caring about alpha wolves?
- Blackthorn 4y agoIf there was an overall cultural ambivalence about the concept of alpha wolves, they would not appear with such frequency in western literature.
- LudwigNagasena 4y agoWhy wouldn't they? What does any of that have to do with alpha wolves?
- Blackthorn 4y agoAre you seriously going to claim that "few to no people believe in or care about "alpha wolves"" given the enormous representation of the concept in the last fifty years of western literature?
- LudwigNagasena 4y agoI honestly have never seen "the enormous representation of the concept ["alpha wolf"] in the last fifty years of western literature", yes. In fact, I don't see much representation of wolves in the western literature, let alone particular types of wolves. Even such exciting creatures as werewolves seem to be far less popular than vampires.
- karaterobot 4y agoI thought the "alpha male" idea, as applied to humans, was an analogy to the concept of alpha wolves (as opposed to dominance hierarchies in non-human primates). You always hear about the pack leader, or the lone wolf, never the alpha macaque, right? So, dispelling that myth in wolves may be an attempt to shake off the pseudoscientific idea that this concept can be used to describe human social structures. Of course, not being based in science in the first place, a scientific appeal has no chance of changing anything. Which is why it gets rewritten every few years.
- LudwigNagasena 4y agoThat's not a scientific appeal, that's just a weird argument based on a sort of an etymological fallacy.
- deepzn 4y agoLike "The Wolf of Wall Street"
- LudwigNagasena 4y agoIt wasn't even called "The Alpha Wolf of Wall Street"!? "Wolf" just means a fierce and predatory person because wolves were for a long time the main threat to livestock and people, cf. "a wolf in sheep's clothing", a phrase which origin goes back to Bible.