[ExI] nova on dogs

[efc at swisscows.email]

On Wed, 20 Sep 2023, Darin Sunley via extropy-chat wrote:

> Mammals instinctively feel protective towards other mammals whose eyes are large for their head and whose heads are large for their
> bodies. It inhibits otherwise infanticidal males from killing the newborn young of females they want to mate with.
> The interesting question is why this works in humans despite the huge difference in "fuzziness" between human babies and literally
> other mammal species.

What about lions? Don't the males kill the offspring of their male
predecessors?

> Would human babies be cuter if they had a soft, downy coat that they gradually lost over their first year?

Yes! I do not actually find these wrinkly small human beings cute.
Fascinating yes! But not cute. Don't tell my wife though! ;)

Best regards, 
Daniel


> 
> On Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 4:21 PM spike jones via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> 
>
>       -----Original Message-----
>       From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of efc--- via extropy-chat
>       Sent: Wednesday, 20 September, 2023 3:03 PM
>       To: spike jones via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
>       Cc: efc at swisscows.email
>       Subject: Re: [ExI] nova on dogs
>
>       And what about the reverse? Have we adapted to love small fluffy things? Is it natures way, to protect the children of
>       animals, to make them small and fluffy?
>
>       Best regards,
>       Daniel
> 
> 
>
>       Entirely plausible Daniel.  Human evolution was likely influenced by our domestic beasts.  We came to rely on guard dogs,
>       we used horses for transportation, mules and oxen for pulling plows, cattle for food, sheep for clothing and food.  No
>       doubt all of these influenced the way humanity developed.
>
>       spike
> 
> 
> 
>
>       On Wed, 20 Sep 2023, spike jones via extropy-chat wrote:
>
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>       > Amazing stuff, ja?  That Nova on dogs proposes the theory that dogs
>       > descend from wolves who have the same sequence of genes that cause
>       > Williams-Beuren syndrome in humans.  If they are right, it explains a
>       > lotta lotta.
>       >
>       > 
>       >
>       > For so long I wondered if dogs love us for food, or just love us.  I
>       > have seen my own dog leave his own treat to come for some lovin from
>       > his peoples.  Could he be a wolf with WBS?  I have met a human with
>       > that syndrome, and I do see the similarities with a dog’s personality
>       > traits.
>       >
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>       >
>       > spike
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>       > From: spike at rainier66.com <spike at rainier66.com>
>       > Sent: Wednesday, 20 September, 2023 7:52 AM
>       > To: 'ExI chat list' <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
>       > Cc: spike at rainier66.com
>       > Subject: nova on dogs
>       >
>       > 
>       >
>       > 
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>       > I have been a fan of Nova for most of my life (the TV series.)  I now
>       > get it on internet.
>       >
>       > 
>       >
>       > The episode on dog domestication whacks it outta the park.  It answers
>       > some questions I have wondered about for some time, such as:
>       > do dogs love us because we feed them, or do they love us because
>       > evolutionary psychology somehow created the brain circuitry for them
>       > to love us?
>       >
>       > 
>       >
>       > spike
>       >
>       >
> 
>
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>