
 |
|
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
January 11, 2008
/ 4 Shevat 5768
This research is monkey business
By
Lori Borgman
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Capuchin monkeys have been playing a "no-fair" game at Emory University.
Researchers trained the monkeys to take a small rock and hand it to a human in
exchange for a reward. If all the monkeys received the same reward, a slice of
cucumber, everything was cool. If some received cucumbers and some received grapes,
the monkeys screamed, "No-fair!" (although it sounded a lot more like "Eeeee-eeeee!
Eeee!") and bedlam broke loose.
You have to wonder if the researchers got the idea for this study from their own kids.
My personal experience has been that the "no-fair" game is not something to
cultivate, but something to eradicate.
"No, your sister is not the favorite because she gets to sit in the front seat and
you have to sit in the back seat with a cooler, an emergency car kit and Grandma on
your lap. Your sister is just faster, that's all."
"No, I don't think the lady gave you a smaller ice cream cone because she doesn't
like boys. I think she saw you smash your face and hands and tongue against the
window and make a hideous face before we came in the store."
"No, it's not fair that there aren't as many baby pictures of you in the photo album
because you were the last one born and Dad and I ran out of energy. Get the camera
and I can take some now. You're 22? When did that happen?"
Researchers, who frequently swing from a different tree, see whining and complaining
over "no-fair" as a mark of advanced development.
Frankly, I find it impressive that researchers can study such ugly behavior and make
it all sound so sophisticated. So progressive. So insightful.
"Jones, look at that. No. 3 is furious over getting a cucumber instead of a grape.
He is leaping over to No. 5, baring his teeth, and sinking them into No. 5's flesh.
Fascinating! What remarkable thought processes! "
Let similar behavior take place in a grocery store and a parent's thought is never,
"What remarkable thought processes!" but rather, "How can I stop these chimps from
killing one another without creating a scene and being followed by store security?"
What I'm waiting for is the day when monkeys do research on humans. "Look at that,
Cheeta, they're fighting over some piece of paper called a paycheck. Dude 2 says
Dude 3 got a bigger one. Wow! Dude 2 is turning red and his eyes are bulging! Look
at Dude 3 scream. What apes!"
And then the researcher monkeys laugh their little heads off, throw cucumber slices
at the humans and eat more grapes.
Perhaps it is useful to know that bickering over who got the bigger and better may
actually be a sign of advanced intellect.
Now, when you pass out birthday cake and one slice is slightly larger than the rest
and a kid protests, you can simply comment on how brilliant the child is and then
tell said child to cut out the monkey business and eat the cake.
I always considered hissy fits over "no-fair" something that fell into the category
of unattractive behavior. I am stunned to learn that researchers believe such
shenanigans are a sign of evolutionary progress.
I'll be a monkey's uncle.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Lori Borgman is the author of , most recently, "Pass the Faith, Please" (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.) and I Was a Better Mother Before I Had Kids To comment, please click here. To visit her website click here.
ARCHIVES
© 2008, Lori Borgman
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|