April 14, 2004

The jerky new guys are obviously learning, 'We don't do things like that around here.' "In a study appearing today in the journal PLoS Biology, researchers describe the extensive temperamental and tonal shift that occurred in a troop of 62 baboons when its most beliigerent members vanished from the scene." Commentary in PLoS: "Yet, the main two points of this discovery are loud and clear: social behavior observed in nature may be a product of culture, and even the fiercest primates do not forever need to stay this way."
posted by livii 20 years ago
  • Monkeyfilter: Hey jerky new guys--we don't do things like that around here.
  • Monkeyfilter: a meta level of Monkey culture
  • I don't know if that's referring to Metafilter, but I swear I didn't steal this link from there. I stole it from the newspaper, I read about it as I ate my dinner, and then came straight over here to post it. Of course, looking at MeFi before bed I see that they beat me to it by an hour or so. Sigh. This study is fascinating, particularly if one takes the commentary as a good indicator of what the study found. I personally found the author a bit of a lump; he made some rather sexist remarks that do make me wonder about the sociological soundness of the set-up or results. Still, monkey research = good.
  • I don't think that everyone should feel that they should check MeFi before they post here. While there is an overlap, the user base is not *exactly* the same and it is not some supernatural entity that we have to appease.
  • Nope, I wasn't referring to metafilter at all (except for the admittedly tired & dorky motto meme). Don't think BlueHorse was either. Interesting article, thanks for the post.
  • And actually, one of the first comments in the MeFi thread was "BaboonFilter" and I was going to correct them and say "No, MonkeyFilter" and link here, but decided to have some ice cream instead.
  • I personally found the author a bit of a lump That's just a cheap ad hominid!
  • Oh whoops, just noticed that the header to that thread was "points for not saying MonkeyFilter." Hummpf.
  • livii--Daniel had that right Wasn't a slam or nuttin, just a tired & dorky motto meme (which, BTW, Daniel, I, as I tired old jerk, happen to love) What flavor ice cream?
  • Agree with dj about not needing to check elsewhere before posting here. Who has time for that? I don't, anyway.
  • Blue: banana, natch.
  • Cool. Mainly I was worried because I like to be original, y'know? And while I like bananas, I think banana ice cream is of the devil. Odd, really.
  • Banana ice cream sounds awful. I was having coffee, but my favorite is pistachio. The kind with maraschino cherries.