• Fedizen@lemmy.world
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    11 分钟前

    Jesus tending to his flock: “This is not what I meant when I said be like sheep”

    • Iunnrais@lemmy.world
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      3 小时前

      This is actually a more interesting statement than one might think at first.

      When we describe the habits of various species of animals, it’s my understanding that once a description is obtained, you can look at more or less any particular member of that species and see pretty much the same behavior. Monogamy trends included.

      Not so with humans. You can find an average, describe trends, but pick any specific individual human and they’re almost certainly not going to behave as that description.

      Some humans pair bond for life and beyond, never seeking other companionship after one partner dies. Others sleep around constantly with dozens of partners in a lifetime. And everything in between.

      • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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        3 小时前

        I don’t think this is true. There is certainly a large degree of individual variation in animal behavior too, it’s just not that well studied.

        I had a professor who studied owls, which are usually highly monogamous. But there was one male who always tried to have two nests with two different females. It was hard for him because he had to hunt twice as much food, but for whatever reason that was what he felt like doing.

      • Deceptichum@quokk.au
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        3 小时前

        Also we have cultural layers on top.

        You don’t see a sheep saving itself for marriage lest it fear eternal torture.

        Likewise you don’t see a sheep putting its keys into a bowl at a party.

        We are more than our nature.

  • optissima@lemmy.ml
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    3 小时前

    Learning moment for me: does conflict of interest section not include known baises? why wouldn’t the researcher being monogamous be listed there?

  • bryndos@fedia.io
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    5 小时前

    Surely there can’t be that many sheep on Soay to come up with such an estimate.

    I suspect the scientist got a bit lonely out there doing the fieldwork, tried something that he’d normally get away with on a domestic ewe, got rebuffed, and wrote this paper to slander the whole species as revenge.