Do you agree or disagree observing animals activity will help us to study human nature?

Question

Do you agree or disagree observing animals activity will help us to study human nature?

Answer 1

I agree.  I live with two  dogs and a cat and most times I feel ashamed to be human.

Answer 2

Animal behavior gives very good insights into human behavior.  This is particularly true with non-human primates.  They make choices based on opportunies and environment much as we do.  

Many primates are hierarchal as humans are.  Some are monogamous as humans are.  A previous poster mentioned Goodall's observation of war and murder.  this aggression is an expression of territorial sm - sound human?  The basis of football is land acquisition and territory defense.  

We share many behavior with animals because we were at some point exposed to the same environmental pressures and developed the same type of responses over time.  That is still true today .    An example is our notion of the importance of family.  Many animals practice 'kinship selection'.  They do for animals related to them before others.

I hope this helps.

PS-to the poster who quoted Rosseau:  That line is from Thomas Hobbes , "Leviathan...." published in 1651.

Answer 3

No. Humans do things based on choice, want, and need. Animals do things based upon nature.

Answer 4

I've learned more about human nature by studying what God says about it in the bible.

Answer 5

Yes, since we are animals also---it never hurts to watch others to get clues of our own behavior.

Answer 6

Anthropology is not the study of animal behavior...but human behavior....and yes, anthropology does help us understand human nature...

why ask this question in an anthro forum?

Answer 7

Human nature is nothing like animal nature - except in it's most primitive forms... survival and reproduction.

I prefer animals to humans. They are for the most part much more honest than people.  The never do anything halfway, it's all or nothing.

They accept each other as they are and communicate what they have to say and then they're done with it.  They don't hold grudges or scheem to destroy others.

They are better parents than most humans....and most importantly they understand what it means to love unconditionally.

Humans could learn alot from the animals if they could stop thinking they are above them -- I think it's the other way around.

Answer 8

Humans, being animals, have many characteristics of animals with a less evolved brain.  Social & cooperative structures of other pack animals are valuable study tools.

Answer 9

The only two answers that said no got thumbs down, so it seems risky to disagree here. Still.

The fact is, "animal activity" (as you call it) has always been used to explain human behavior, even before ethology became a science. So the question is how much has it helped.

Undoubtedly the study of non human primates has led to important hypothesis that have helped explain human behavior. But some posters argue that any animal will do under any circumstance. That is not correct.

Ethological data must be considered with care, since you might be "observing" them with your own cultural prejudice. That is how the egg producing element in a bee hive transformed into a "queen". Also the conditions of observation can be flawed. That is how the praying mantis became a "male eater", something that latter studies showed did not happen except under captivity.

Then again you said "human nature" not human behavior. So you might be thinking of something that can be explained as a hole, as in "human nature can be explained through animal nature because nature is nature". that is too much to ask.

Answer 10

I agree.  Anything we learn about nonhuman animals helps us understand ourselves.  But, in particular, nonhuman animals have simpler brains, simpler emotions, and usually don't interact with the observer, therefore not affecting the results.  And lastly, nonhuman animals can be experimented upon, with fewer ethical issues.

In response to some other posters, many nonhuman animal species have very unsavory traits we have chosen not to emulate - eating their young comes to mind.  Most nonhuman animals are like us: territorial, with a need to mate. But most people get by without killing their rivals.  Jane Goodall has even observed murder and war (and mental illness) among the chimpanzees she has studied.  Rousseau was right about one thing: primitive life is nasty, brutish, and short.