[UA] Crosswords and Blue Teets

[James McGraw]

>>> Andrew at Ducker.org.uk 06/07/01 02:36pm >>>
Thursday, June 07, 2001, 2:32:39 PM, Greg wrote:
>
>>>    Thoughts that have been thought are produced more
>>>and more easily as more and more people think them.
>>>Evidence of this has been found in other species as
>>>well: the famous Blue Teets of england, a
>>>non-migratory bird species that learned how to open
>>>cream bottles between WWI and WWII.
>
>GS> That is a bit of a puzzler,
>
>Actually, if I remember correctly, I read a piece in a Susan Blackmore
>book (possibly The Meme Machine) which covered this.  Blue tits sit on
>available surfaces and automatically peck at any soft area (it's a
>natural action for them).  This happens to make them encounter milk
>under certain circumstances, but it's not a learned action, merely the
>consequences of an instinctive reaction in unusual circumstances.

Also, if it was a genetic trait, it could have spread throughout the bluetit population in the amount of time between the two World Wars. For example, since the end of World War II, the amelioration of the climate due to global warming combined with the general increase in the feeding of birds has led to a large number of Central European blackcaps migrating to Britain instead of the Mediterranean. This has been proven to have a genetic basis, and hence is the result of evolutionary change.

>Andy D

james the cat

"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a
really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they actually
change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again.  They
really do it.  It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists
are human and change is sometimes painful.  But it happens every day.  I
cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or
religion." 
                -- Carl Sagan, 1987 CSICOP keynote address



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