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I don’t even understand the dichotomy the author is trying to paint, because territorialism in animals is also a social construction. It’s a way more complex se

I don’t even understand the dichotomy the author is trying to paint, because territorialism in animals is also a social construction. It’s a way more complex set of behaviors and norms than just seeing an individual with food and deciding if you can safely steal the food on a case-by-case basis.

dredmorbius 3y ago
Territorialism in animals is a behavioural construct. An animal can defend its territory solely via its own volition and actions, rather than through some herd or tribal agreement. A spider's web or ant lion's trap are both example which suggest territoriality without sociality. (There are of course social insects: bees, ants, and termite most well known.) A social construct would be one which operates through common understanding and agreement amongst multiple animals, typically of a single species, and generally amongst a single tribe or herd. I don't think of examples off the top of my head, though I suspect they exist. I'd also probably want to distinguish instinctual behaviours (e.g., bees, ants, termites) from cultural behaviours, learned, taught, and passed down within a specific group. A cleavage between the two concepts would be that instinctual behaviours re-emerge even when individuals are not raised or taught by older generations, whilst cultural behaviours are lost where the social transmission via teaching is broken. (And yes, the thought comes to mind that several phenomena widely labled as "social constructs" amongst humans would likely be re-labled as instinctual based on the distinction I've drawn here.) Merriam-Webster: "an idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society". <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20construct https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20construc...> ThoughtCo has a brief introduction to the concept of social construct: <https://www.thoughtco.com/social-constructionism-4586374 https://www.thoughtco.com/social-constructionism-4586374>

dredmorbius 3y ago

Territorialism in animals is a behavioural construct. An animal can defend its territory solely via its own volition and actions, rather than through some herd or tribal agreement. A spider's web or ant lion's trap are both example which suggest territoriality without sociality. (There are of course social insects: bees, ants, and termite most well known.) A social construct would be one which operates through common understanding and agreement amongst multiple animals, typically of a single species, and generally amongst a single tribe or herd. I don't think of examples off the top of my head, though I suspect they exist. I'd also probably want to distinguish instinctual behaviours (e.g., bees, ants, termites) from cultural behaviours, learned, taught, and passed down within a specific group. A cleavage between the two concepts would be that instinctual behaviours re-emerge even when individuals are not raised or taught by older generations, whilst cultural behaviours are lost where the social transmission via teaching is broken. (And yes, the thought comes to mind that several phenomena widely labled as "social constructs" amongst humans would likely be re-labled as instinctual based on the distinction I've drawn here.) Merriam-Webster: "an idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society". <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20construct https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20construc...> ThoughtCo has a brief introduction to the concept of social construct: <https://www.thoughtco.com/social-constructionism-4586374 https://www.thoughtco.com/social-constructionism-4586374>