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Culture as learned behavior
Janette Wilson (G1824303@NMSUVM1.BITNET)
Sun, 30 Jan 1994 18:40:03 EST
No, that's just too incomplete a definition. My dog learned how to heel, sit,
lick his chops on command. He learned to expect to see me downstairs in our
family basement if he heard the sound of a clarinet (badly) played. (I assume
expect for the latter on basis of something that happened: after I had been
absent for two years, and my aging dog Pepper had not attempted the stairs in
over a year, he came running down when my mother blew on my clarinet one day
while downstairs doing stuff. She says his whole body seemed to droop when he
discovered I was not there. So okay, this is anthropomorphic -- I think a lot
of animals are a lot more intelligent than many of us give them credit for.
And, I think I still have guilt pangs about leaving Pepper at home, though I
didn't think that at age 11, he'd handle a move well. But, though I think he
was one heck of a smart dog -- I don't think I'd equate learned behavior as
culture.
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