Humans have cooperative edge on other animals

Justine
Posting #2
Science
Title: Planet of the Apes? No, Humans Have the Cooperative Edge
Author: Sindya N. Bhanoo
Publication: The New York Times
Date: 3-1-12
Length: 300 words

Biologist Kevin Laland, of University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and his team recently performed an experiment comparing children's problem solving skills to that of monkeys. A set of children or monkeys were put together and given a puzzle to solve. After the group solved the puzzle, they were given a reward. The puzzle was in multiple stages and the puzzlers got a better reward at each stage. What Laland found was surprising. Although both groups solved the puzzles, the children taught each other how to solve the puzzle and even gave the other kids their own rewards when they did it right. The monkeys on the other hand did no sharing and when adults were put in with younger monkeys they even saw the older ones stealing from the young ones; there was absolutely no teaching happening there. Laland says this shows one of our main distinctions from the rest of the animal kingdom; we know how to teach and share. This makes us work as a bigger unit and allows us to put all our heads together and cooperate. Laland says that this explains why we have such complicated machinery and advanced technology, and that no one person could ever have come up with all this amazing stuff by themselves.

Conclusion:

This new found information, that one of the main reasons why humans have taken over the planet is because of our ability to cooperate, is very exciting. Kevin Laland has helped us gain an insight into our own biological advancement as well as how our society is shaped. This discovery could helps us understand other animals' ways as well as understand ourselves better. Hopefully this shows that cooperation is the way we are suppose to function and help us deal with manners in a more civilized and cooperative way.