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Hi John & All,
Your Prof. clearly had never watched watched a family of Otters
doing a scamper up brook, scamper down brook and slide down bank routine.
In the 50's it was fashionable to prove that animals do not think
but simply respond by reflex to stimuli. And the stimuli were such that
thought was not required and all, with a carefully replicated trial and
a straight face, proved the point beyond doubt.
I got chewed out by an undergrad Biology Prof. when I turned an
exam question around; the question being, explain how Deciduous trees
are superior to Coniferous trees. So I said in effect --the largest
trees are conifers, the oldest trees are conifers and conifers can
survive in sub-arctic and alpine conditions where deciduous can not or
are prostrate shrubs. Therefore Conifers are superior. He was quite
upset and said in effect-- If you ever pull that kind of trick in
Graduate School they will run you through a meat grinder--
DW, Kentville
1/2/2020 5:12 PM, John Kearney wrote:
> Hi Paul,
>
> As an undergraduate student in biology, a professor once gently
> reprimanded me for saying that sometimes animals do things just for
> fun. I was being anthropomorphic, he said, that is, attributing human
> traits to animals. Many years later, I still think that animals do
> things just to have fun; to play, be mischievous, enjoy the weather.
> Science is perhaps beginning to shift away a bit from a strict
> adherence to the survival of the fittest way of thinking. There have
> been some interesting and credible papers published about birds making
> choices for the sake of sheer beauty, decisions that are independent
> of achieving reproductive success. Your musical backgrounds to the
> videos give life to the notion that the nature ballet speaks of an
> intrinsic artistic dimension to the natural world.
>
> John
>
> *From:*naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca *On Behalf Of *Paul Ruggles
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 02, 2020 13:55
> *To:* naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
> *Subject:* [NatureNS] Nature Ballet
>
> Hi all.
>
> Have an amazing video of a squirrel and Barred Owl.
>
> Has anyone ever seen anything like this??
>
> Paul.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN9vPZWRq8auD66f8rfEKeQ
>
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<p>Hi John & All,</p>
<p> Your Prof. clearly had never watched watched a family of
Otters doing a scamper up brook, scamper down brook and slide down
bank routine. <br>
</p>
<p> In the 50's it was fashionable to prove that animals do not
think but simply respond by reflex to stimuli. And the stimuli
were such that thought was not required and all, with a carefully
replicated trial and a straight face, proved the point beyond
doubt.</p>
<p> I got chewed out by an undergrad Biology Prof. when I turned
an exam question around; the question being, explain how Deciduous
trees are superior to Coniferous trees. So I said in effect --the
largest trees are conifers, the oldest trees are conifers and
conifers can survive in sub-arctic and alpine conditions where
deciduous can not or are prostrate shrubs. Therefore Conifers are
superior. He was quite upset and said in effect-- If you ever pull
that kind of trick in Graduate School they will run you through a
meat grinder-- <br>
</p>
<p>DW, Kentville<br>
</p>
<p> 1/2/2020 5:12 PM, John Kearney wrote:</p>
<p> <br>
</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Hi Paul,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">As an
undergraduate student in biology, a professor once gently
reprimanded me for saying that sometimes animals do things
just for fun. I was being anthropomorphic, he said, that is,
attributing human traits to animals. Many years later, I
still think that animals do things just to have fun; to
play, be mischievous, enjoy the weather. Science is perhaps
beginning to shift away a bit from a strict adherence to the
survival of the fittest way of thinking. There have been
some interesting and credible papers published about birds
making choices for the sake of sheer beauty, decisions that
are i