I don't think in biology it's very controversial at all. Whether certain behavior is culture or is not culture is argued. I think virtually all biologists would agree that some animal behavior is culture. Bird song is a good example.
Studying the behavior of large whales has been likened to astronomy. The observer glimpses his subjects, often at long range; he cannot do experiment… - Hal Whitehead
Studying the behavior of large whales has been likened to astronomy. The observer glimpses his subjects, often at long range; he cannot do experiment…
- Hal Whitehead
It's kind of ironic that when you look at the evidence of intelligence and so on, a lot of it is anecdotal. A lot of it is, "Well, we saw this dolphi… - Hal Whitehead
It's kind of ironic that when you look at the evidence of intelligence and so on, a lot of it is anecdotal. A lot of it is, "Well, we saw this dolphi…
Psychologists would say that the only two important forms of social learning are imitation and teaching, and they will spend time trying to figure ou… - Hal Whitehead
Psychologists would say that the only two important forms of social learning are imitation and teaching, and they will spend time trying to figure ou…
Whales are cultural animals, and we're cultural animals, so although we shouldn't expect whales to do what we do, it doesn't seem unreasonable to hyp… - Hal Whitehead
Whales are cultural animals, and we're cultural animals, so although we shouldn't expect whales to do what we do, it doesn't seem unreasonable to hyp…
Quite a lot of what we normally think of as human culture doesn't fit some definition. What are the values behind cuisine, which is a form of human c… - Hal Whitehead
Quite a lot of what we normally think of as human culture doesn't fit some definition. What are the values behind cuisine, which is a form of human c…
What I mean is, if you look at the behavior of an animal and ask, "Well, why did it do that?" and then consider the alternatives, those alternatives … - Hal Whitehead
What I mean is, if you look at the behavior of an animal and ask, "Well, why did it do that?" and then consider the alternatives, those alternatives …
Conversation with animals could happen, but I think it would be easier for it to happen with creatures we share a bit more with - those that have bee… - Hal Whitehead
Conversation with animals could happen, but I think it would be easier for it to happen with creatures we share a bit more with - those that have bee…
When I'm out in the ocean and I watch a seabird, I think, "Oh, I probably I know what that seabird is doing" - and I don't study seabirds. And the sa… - Hal Whitehead
When I'm out in the ocean and I watch a seabird, I think, "Oh, I probably I know what that seabird is doing" - and I don't study seabirds. And the sa…
We believe we're seeing, in other animals, a process, or an attribute, that isn't fundamentally different from what we see in humans, so it seems to … - Hal Whitehead
We believe we're seeing, in other animals, a process, or an attribute, that isn't fundamentally different from what we see in humans, so it seems to …
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