Why We Cooperate

PLoS Biology reviews Why We Cooperate:

What makes us human, what sets us apart from other animal species, and which traits do we share with our closest living relatives? Ever since Darwin introduced the notion of continuity in his theory of evolution, humans have been obsessed with the question of how to distinguish themselves from all other species. In the postwar period, our species became known as "Man the Toolmaker," until in the 1960s Jane Goodall watched chimpanzees using sticks to fish for termites, and that was that. We then distinguished ourselves using the term "Man the Hunter," but the discovery that chimpanzees and other social carnivores engage in coordinated hunts refuted this type of collective action as the one decisive feature. More recently, the issue of culture has entered center stage. Trying to distinguish the cultural "haves" from the "have-nots" tends to generate more heat than light, and it seems much more productive to think about the cognitive prerequisites for social learning, attribution of mental states, and symbolic communication.

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Just checking in on a few of the new PLoS titles.... As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Mendeley, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg…
There was a time--in the 1960s and 1970s--when the phrase "Man the Hunter" enjoyed a lot of popularity. Some researchers claimed that the evolution of hunting played a key role in the origin of our lineage. That's what we made tools for, and that's how we got all the extra energy to fuel our big…
By now you've probably heard the news: chimpanzees have been reported manufacturing, and using, spears (Gibbons 2007, Pruetz & Bertolani 2007). I'll say that again. Chimps Pan troglodytes make and use spears.... Specifically, the chimps concerned are of the subspecies P. t. verus, a taxon that…
How genes for altruism can benefit strangers as well as kin The generosity of adoption has long been considered a unique human hallmark. Image: Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors For decades it was conventional dogma that humans were the only species that used tools. "Man the Toolmaker" was our…

I realize that religion has a lot of negative connotations, however, it's about the only activity that I cannot say I've heard of in any other species. It would be interesting to find that behavior, though, if it does happen. For all I know whales do it.

By mylasticus (not verified) on 02 Feb 2010 #permalink