The Democratic Convention

[nailer]

Originally Posted by Boreas

As, by definition, is every empire.

Land grabbing has been a popular human activity since time immemorial.

[bobabode]

Anyone catch Bill's speech last night? The ol' horndawg still has it.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics...ention-speech/

ps MSNBC and Rachel Maddow have turned into a comic strip. I'm watching the shindig on C-Span.

[donquixote99]

Originally Posted by nailer

Land grabbing has been a popular human activity since time immemorial.

According to E.O. Wilson, latching onto a home is a crucial trait for people:

Very few species, however, have made the leap from merely social to eusocial, “eu-” meaning true. To qualify as eusocial, in Wilson’s definition, animals must live in multigenerational communities, practice division of labor and behave altruistically, ready to sacrifice “at least some of their personal interests to that of the group.” It’s tough to be a euso@ialist. Wouldn’t you rather just grab, gulp and go? Yet the payoffs of sustained cooperation can be huge. Eusociality, Wilson writes, “was one of the major innovations in the history of life,” comparable to the conquest of land by aquatic animals, or the invention of wings or flowers. Eusociality, he argues, “created superorganisms, the next level of biological complexity above that of organisms.” The spur to that exalted state, he says, was always a patch of prized real estate, a focal point luring group members back each day and pulling them closer together until finally they called it home.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/scienc...?page=1&no-ist
(emphasis added)

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

"Very few species, however, have made the leap from merely social to eusocial, “eu-” meaning true. To qualify as eusocial, in Wilson’s definition, animals must live in multigenerational communities, practice division of labor and behave altruistically, ready to sacrifice 'at least some of their personal interests to that of the group.' It’s tough to be a euso@ialist. Wouldn’t you rather just grab, gulp and go? Yet the payoffs of sustained cooperation can be huge. Eusociality, Wilson writes, 'was one of the major innovations in the history of life,' comparable to the conquest of land by aquatic animals, or the invention of wings or flowers. Eusociality, he argues, 'created superorganisms, the next level of biological complexity above that of organisms.' The spur to that exalted state, he says, was always a patch of prized real estate, a focal point luring group members back each day and pulling them closer together until finally they called it home."

My feeling is that Wilson is trying to construct a model that only fits humans and his friends, the ants, but his definition of eusociality fits many primate "cultures" very closely. The one exception to Wilson's rules would be in the area of the division of labor. But since the labor in question is mostly food-gathering, the division of labor would have no social utility. Altruism exists in these cultures to a rather profound degree. One example is that practiced by baboons where one or two males will frequently act as rear guards to cover the retreat of the troop from threats of predation from lions, leopards or hyenas. This often results in the deaths of these guards.

To Wilson's list I'd also add a well defined social heirarchy.

[donquixote99]

Originally Posted by Boreas

My feeling is that Wilson is trying to construct a model that only fits humans and his friends, the ants, but his definition of eusociality fits many primate "cultures" very closely. The one exception to Wilson's rules would be in the area of the division of labor. But since the labor in question is mostly food-gathering, the division of labor would have no social utility. Altruism exists in these cultures to a rather profound degree. One example is that practiced by baboons where one or two males will frequently act as rear guards to cover the retreat of the troop from threats of predation from lions, leopards or hyenas. This often results in the deaths of these guards.

To Wilson's list I'd also add a well defined social heirarchy.

Males pulling rearguard duty is an example of division of labor, as well as an example of altruism. If the guards tend to be young males, the analog to who we recruit into the ranks at most hazard in our armed forces would be stark.

Baboons are quite on the road to being people, and if we were to go while they survived, they would take over, by and by.

[bobabode]

I'm digging on the complexion of the attendees to this convention.
Black, Latino, Asian and white all together with a message of hope and progress. It's going to be women and minorities who win this election for us all come November.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

Males pulling rearguard duty is an example of division of labor, as well as an example of altruism. If the guards tend to be young males, the analog to who we recruit into the ranks at most hazard in our armed forces would be stark.

Baboons are quite on the road to being people, and if we were to go while they survived, they would take over, by and by.

And they do. We are monkeys.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Boreas

To Wilson's list I'd also add a well defined social heirarchy.

But one which features the ability to improve one's status. This is true for primates and some other animals but not for Wilson's ants where social hierarchy and division of labor are biologically determined.

[bobabode]

Jumpin' Joe Biden is killing it in Philadelphia.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Jumpin' Joe Biden is killing it in Philadelphia.

It's already dead.