Posted on 12/12/2010 7:50:16 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The sight of meat, such as a juicy roasted turkey on the Thanksgiving table, may promote caveman behavioral traits, according to new research recently presented at a McGill University undergraduate science symposium.
The study adds to the growing body of research on priming and aggression, which holds that looking at an object possibly learned to be associated with aggression, such as a gun, can make someone more likely to behave a certain way.
"I theorized that meat would elicit an aggressive response because it would be beneficial to our ancestor's adaptation in that it would place our ancestors in a state optimal for hunting and co-opting meat resources, where aggression would be necessary," project leader Frank Kachanoff told Discovery News.
"Fruits and vegetables would probably not require as much aggressive force to be acquired," added Kachanoff, a McGill Department of Psychology researcher...
The researchers predicted that when pictures of meat were sorted, as opposed to geometric shapes, participants would inflict more discomfort on the reader. Just the opposite happened, however. The meat images actually resulted in less punishment.
"It would make sense that our ancestors would be calm, as they would be surrounded by friends and family at meal time," Kachanoff said.
"It would have been favorable to our ancestors' fitness, if they would become less aggressive after hunting was completed, when he or she was around relatives sharing food," he further explained. "This would decrease the chance of one harming a relative with whom much of their DNA is shared."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...
The Journal Of Irreproducible Results would take that study, I think.
I’ll need only $128,000 to conduct your study- I have a new grad student to fund.
First we read the title then we read the article and it says the opposite of the title...there’s no agenda here is there?
Excellent. Now all we need to do is identify a federal grant to secure the funding. I’m sure there is a university office or government agency somewhere that will assist us. You might even be able to hire more than one grad student! :)
So they best not use me in their study. Every Thanksgiving I have the almost uncontrollable urge to whack the wife with a drumstick and drag her back to the...cave...
“A more equitable society is just around the corner, yes indeedy.”
Dems: Just follow us on the road to utopia. LOL.
“These studies are so bogus.”
Pseudo-science pretending to be science.
It’s rampant today.
Lemme guess...
Often rotten, diseased meat with nasty parasites. Bruises, broken bones even death from the animal that you just killed.
Borderline starvation all of the time. Life expectancy just long enough to procreate.
Not me. Give my my juicy turkey. I prefer dark meat and extra stuffing. Oh, and gravy, yams, homemade rolls.
“Tumak like!!”
Further studies (more public grant money) are obviously required. They need to cross check the results. Turkey with or without stuffing? Was cranberry sauce present? What kind; jelly or whole berry? Then we’ve got the pies to consider. Pumpkin, apple, pecan, mincemeat. Plain or ala mode. Two crust or one crust. Crumb topping? This research could take decades!
Sure, act like that’s just a joke. ;’)
[grunting noise]
“What things under meat? Me say you no do that!”
Welllll, looks like over the years they’ve added a few more each game the team loses. ;’) This thread is worthless w/o more pics like that.
Unnngh!
I am one of seven children born into a strict Irish-Catholic family. Every night at dinner time we kids had to wash up, sit down and behave. God forbid if you got loud or pushy or didn’t mind you manners. My old man would knock you senseless and my mother would send you to bed with no supper. My parents didn’t tolerate bad manners— ever.
Well, “caveman behaviour” is a loaded term, but it is ill defined. When most people read that, yes, they will think of aggressive brutes, but it makes sense that humans packed into a cave and dependent on each other for food and defense would be mellow guys when not spearing mammoths.
Sort of like six friends in a shack hunting mulies- they tend to chill, even though they are within sight of centerfire rifles.
We should try for an “education” type grant with a hefty fee going to the school. Then the regents won’t look too hard at the “research” we are doing in Bonaire and Aruba and Cancun.
We’ll pick up “assistants” there rather than hire another grad student (assistants don’t submit theses to be reviewed).
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