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Or we haven't bothered to investigate why they are doing it? Poets used to think birds sang because they were happy (we now know they are mostly saying "Back of

Or we haven't bothered to investigate why they are doing it? Poets used to think birds sang because they were happy (we now know they are mostly saying "Back off; this territory is mine" and "I'm looking for a mate; would you do it with me?")

bayindirh 2y ago
Well, that’s the result of the research. It’s a whole paper. And, it’s not written by poets. Plus, birds doesn’t always chirp to tell you to back off or to mate. There’s a myriad of reasons.
- jhbadger 2y ago
  The paper doesn't investigate why the bees are "playing" with the balls, but just documents that they do. They just assert that it has no function.
  - bayindirh 2y ago
    Why humans play? Why animals play? Why someone plays with their fidgeting toy while doing nothing? Why we doom-scroll without any apparent aim? Why cats run without any purpose? Why woodpeckers peck satellite dishes for no apparent reason, or cuckatoos "shout" into containers to see how their voice change? For no apparent function. Does the fact that we, animals and insects play change the fact we're playing, even if there's no apparent reason/function? I think not.
    - jhbadger 2y ago
      >Why humans play? Why animals play? Why someone plays with their fidgeting toy while doing nothing? Why we doom-scroll without any apparent aim? Why cats run without any purpose? Why woodpeckers peck satellite dishes for no apparent reason, or cuckatoos "shout" into containers to see how their voice change? We have some idea of why certain play activities evolved -- many young animals are obviously practicing hunting when they "play". We don't know why other behaviors, forms of play included, evolved, but it is obvious that they had to evolve, even if, like woodpeckers pecking on sources unlikely to yield food, the evolved behavior isn't being useful in the current situation. But the interesting thing in these cases is to figure why the behavior was selected for originally.

bayindirh 2y ago

Well, that’s the result of the research. It’s a whole paper. And, it’s not written by poets. Plus, birds doesn’t always chirp to tell you to back off or to mate. There’s a myriad of reasons.

jhbadger 2y ago
The paper doesn't investigate why the bees are "playing" with the balls, but just documents that they do. They just assert that it has no function.
- bayindirh 2y ago
  Why humans play? Why animals play? Why someone plays with their fidgeting toy while doing nothing? Why we doom-scroll without any apparent aim? Why cats run without any purpose? Why woodpeckers peck satellite dishes for no apparent reason, or cuckatoos "shout" into containers to see how their voice change? For no apparent function. Does the fact that we, animals and insects play change the fact we're playing, even if there's no apparent reason/function? I think not.
  - jhbadger 2y ago
    >Why humans play? Why animals play? Why someone plays with their fidgeting toy while doing nothing? Why we doom-scroll without any apparent aim? Why cats run without any purpose? Why woodpeckers peck satellite dishes for no apparent reason, or cuckatoos "shout" into containers to see how their voice change? We have some idea of why certain play activities evolved -- many young animals are obviously practicing hunting when they "play". We don't know why other behaviors, forms of play included, evolved, but it is obvious that they had to evolve, even if, like woodpeckers pecking on sources unlikely to yield food, the evolved behavior isn't being useful in the current situation. But the interesting thing in these cases is to figure why the behavior was selected for originally.