tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post282832382269164385..comments2024-02-29T03:57:00.088-05:00Comments on The Mermaid's Tale: The sexy scent of a mate.....in flies!Anne Buchananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-54163868013532496432013-10-02T12:03:50.916-04:002013-10-02T12:03:50.916-04:00Nice example of sexual imprinting (or in these mal...Nice example of sexual imprinting (or in these male flies a case of reverse imprinting) by first encounter of the good kind. Robert Kopechttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05873765000196899526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-47173042426603147972013-10-02T10:11:54.387-04:002013-10-02T10:11:54.387-04:00What??! You're not a human exceptionalist? P...What??! You're not a human exceptionalist? Putin would say 'shame, shame!'.<br /><br />I agree with you. My interest is more on what it must be like to be a fly, a real, complex, sentient organism. As you know, my next-in-line installment in Evolutionary Anthropology deals with issues like that.<br /><br />Amazingly, to someone senior like me (and even to someone junior like you?), Penn State student newspaper has a weekly he-said/she-said feature on hooking up. The degree of NON-discrimination in intimate encounters is amazing, but whether one should be envious or not is unclear.<br />A behavioral psych person might say this only happens because of contraception, because otherwise everything is heavily programmed by Darwinian considerations. But even to argue that the knowledge of contraception can lead people to do what our students are doing daily is to acknowledge that we are not so heavily programmed as is often argued.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-13487160542251387072013-10-02T10:04:41.567-04:002013-10-02T10:04:41.567-04:00if animals weren't discerning in their mating ...if animals weren't discerning in their mating (if molecules were all signalling exactly the same, triggering exactly the same processes), we'd have quite a different evolutionary history. <br /><br />Yeah, complexity's amazing. <br /><br />I tend to see these sorts of insights the complete opposite of the way you presented yours in the post. I don't see it as flies are incredibly smart decision-makers... instead I see our claims for ourselves to be incredibly tenuous as a result. And that's not to diminish the wonder that abounds, it's just my flipped perspective. Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-26279848407219894782013-10-02T10:00:55.710-04:002013-10-02T10:00:55.710-04:00How biased are they, actually? Could they, behind...How biased are they, actually? Could they, behind the proverbial woodshed (or dumpster), do as shepherds are reputed to do?<br /><br />Actually, one could say that bees or dragonflies, besides being intimidatingly too big (size, here, does matter!) fail to respond because their sensors don't pick up flyish signals. <br /><br />That's a bit different, at least, from asking how they respond among legitimately flyish signals.<br /><br />In any case, these questions involve the degree of integration of information, control of complex behavior....and, interesting to me to think about, any qualia that may result.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-25330341596506453682013-10-02T09:59:37.744-04:002013-10-02T09:59:37.744-04:00I guess you're right. I am not inside the head...I guess you're right. I am not inside the head of a fly so I do not know if it is narrating its life to itself and potentially influencing its decisions accordingly.Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-11263399124371469812013-10-02T09:58:09.125-04:002013-10-02T09:58:09.125-04:00It should be expected that flies show bias in mati...It should be expected that flies show bias in mating behavior among flies since they are biased against non-flies, presumably, as well. Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-68533916132370474952013-10-02T09:58:05.916-04:002013-10-02T09:58:05.916-04:00What do you mean they do not?What do you mean they do not?Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-50506101111103663932013-10-02T09:56:30.084-04:002013-10-02T09:56:30.084-04:00Here's the (or a) rub.. "how do they per...Here's the (or a) rub.. "how do they perceive the incoming information and integrate it into "Oooh, yes!" or "Thanks, but no thanks"?" ...because they do not! Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.com