From: rhinoceros (rhinoceros@freemail.gr)
Date: Sat Sep 20 2003 - 13:40:08 MDT
[Jonathan Davis]
"Monkeys have a sense of justice. They will protest if they see another monkey get paid more for the same task."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3116678.stm
[rhinoceros]
Intersting indeed. Lucifer had already posted a related article in the BBS, where I made some first comments.
http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=29275
Among other things, in that experiment, we recognize an all too familiar human trait. We don't simply ask for more; we ask for more when our neighbours have more. There was also anger and "dropping out of the game" even if that meant that the apes had to waive the small "unfair" reward.
Fairness is a pretty complex cognitive concept, especially when we have to figure out what is fair in a group of individuals with different abilities and in societies with different values. Maybe it is too much to attribute the apes' behavior to a sense of fairness, but probably we can find explanations based on simpler traits.
Leaving evolutionary narratives aside, how could we rationalize rhis behavior by breaking it down to basic traits?
Is it that we are not content with having less than our neighbours? Is it that looking at our neighbours defines what is possible for us to have?
Then, there is also the "dropping out of the game" bit. What does it mean? Does it mean that there is another more important game outside the "rewards game", such as the "status seeking game"?
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