>Martz wrote:
>>Don't forget to bear the family circumstance in mind before you decide
>>how to group the behaviour. A bird with three young may let the weakest
>>die of starvation if food is short in order to improve the chances of
>>survival for the others. Is this negligent parentage?<
>No.
>> In times of plenty the same bird would feed *all* her chicks. Same
>bird, different
>>circumstance. It's more difficult to make these comparisons in humans as
>>our nurturing periods are so much longer but can you say that the
>>examples of negligence that you have in mind are not normal reactions to
>>the situation that parent finds themselves in?<
>Sort of a "Sophie's Choice" forced on people in their daily lives?
> Please consider the post I sent to Tony. I would suspect that the best
>examples of parental neglect I can devise are not a result of extreme
>circumstances, but of individual deviant behavior. Were parental neglect
>a normal occurrence, the race itself would be in danger of dying out
>through low birthrate.
> The existence of parental neglect is not proof that "care for your
>young" is not hard-wired; but since human sexuality is a learned
>behavior, as is language and most other human social behavior, I would
>contend that "care for your young" is also a learned behavior. We border
>on a discussion of "instinct versus learned behavior", which I lean
>heavily on the "most behavior is learned in humans" side of.
>What do you think?
>james
pardon my interjection, but it seems fairly reasonable to assume that much
human behavior is "learned." however, the whole "nature vs. nurture" issue
appears to oversimplify things. i think it is may be more productive to
look at animal behavior (including human) as an interaction between genetic
hard-wiring, genetic "soft-wiring" (i.e., the genes allow for certain
events to occur within preset limits, but don't rigidly prescribe these
activities), and environmental inputs (i.e., "learning"). following this
view (or a modification, thereof), it is still possible to conceptualize
individual deviant behavior as a result of circumstances, extreme or
otherwise. this is obviously a deterministic position, which may not be
acceptable to some people, but i think that it can have some utility.
thanks for your time.
sean
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***sean.laraway@wmich.edu***
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"in order to climb into the depths one does not need to travel very far;
no, for that you do not need to abandon your immediate and accustomed
environment."
--ludwig wittgenstein
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