Re: River of Tears (long and boring to most)
jamesb@hgu.mrc.ac.uk
19 Oct 1995 12:02:13 GMT
bbur@wpo.nerc.ac.uk (Bill Burnett) wrote:
>
>Back to beavers. I said aspirin. If you have another source I'd be
>fascinated but if you're citing me against me at least cite me correctly. :-)
I apologise profusely for misquoting you. If beavers only cry because of
arsenic and not for emotional reasons this strengthens the AAT case.
>
>>eye why can't crying in response to emotion develop in them just as you claim
>it has in various unrelated marine groups?
>
>Okay... I erect the hypothesis that it did. Prove me wrong.
>Ouch, I cringe from my own childish unscientific stance...
I don't think this stance is unscientific. The point is that it is
implausible to suggest that it happened to humans and to no other purely
terrestrial species. Humans have language so they have less need of such
physical social signals. Chimps have more need of a physical signal like
this (because they don't talk) and they don't weep when they are upset.
>
>>Or you could convince me that elephants don't have a marine ancestor.
>
>Or you could convince me that they did. I'm looking, so far the only ref.
I will get around to posting a reference for this eventually. And I'd
rather do all this over the newsgroup than email so it's there for
everyone to read.
James Borrett.
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