No more tears.
Bill Burnett (bbur@wpo.nerc.ac.uk)
Thu, 19 Oct 1995 15:49:42
James.
This is my absolute last word until you post some genuine, scientific evidence.
In article <465lbt$kbe@scotsman.ed.ac.uk> jamesb@hgu.mrc.ac.uk writes:
>Whoops! I hope I don't ever have to treat a headache!
I hope you don't ever have to treat *me*. I might be unable to prove I don't
need a lobotomy to cure that headache. (Whether I need one for other reasons
is, naturally, open to question.)
>If beavers don't shed emotional tears then this means that only elephants
>and humans and many marine animals shed emotional tears. So this makes it
>more plausible to suggest marine ancestors for humans and elephants.
Except you still haven't demonstrated this is true. The references you
gave were strictly anecdotal, they prove nothing, and if their content is
factual then you have still proved nothing. Just that those animals cry, not
that others don't. This point alone means I've been wasting my time, stupid
me.
>>In fact, you could even argue that to go from isotonic tears for eye
>>protection to isotonic tears as an emotional display is more parsimonious
>>(and, according to some peoples thinking more probable) than to go from
>>hypertonic excretory tears to isotonic emotional ones.
>To support this argument you would have to give me an example of a purely
>terrestrial animal (Obviously besides humans) that has gone from isotonic
>tears for eye protection to isotonic tears as an emotional display (Prove
>that elephants don't have a marine ancestor and AAT is stuffed). It is a
>testable hypothesis of AAT that there aren't any. I have given references
>that confirm that some animals that have hypertonic excretory tears also
>shed these tears when emotionally upset. My hypothesis (can you think of
>a way to test it?) is that our ancestor's tears were hypertonic.
No, actually, I don't have to anything of the sort. Parsimony is a reasonable
approach respected by many. Personally I think you should demonstrate why
your less parsimonious explanation is better than mine. I'm doing all the
running here, I'm stopping til you do some too.
>To conclude : only marine animals, elephants and humans shed tears when
>emotionally upset. Why?
Unproven. If true I offer homoplasy. Prove I'm wrong.
Bill
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