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While bonobos are renowned for their rich sexual repertoire which includes homosexual acts, much less is known about the homosexual behaviour of other Great Apes.
Associate Professor Cyril Grueter from UWA's School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology was conducting a study on the feeding ecology of mountain gorillas in Rwanda when he observed homosexual behaviour in some of the females leading him to delve deeper.
Of the 22 female gorillas studied, 18 were found to engage in homosexual activity such as frottage.
Associate Professor Cyril Grueter said the observations were intriguing and led him to test three (sociosexual) hypotheses that might explain the behaviour- the gorillas' asserting dominance based on social rank, the reinforcing of social bonds or reconciliation after a fight.
"None of the three hypotheses received any consistent support," he said.
"So a more prosaic explanation was considered - that homosexual behaviour reflects elevated arousal, as there was evidence that homosexual behaviour was more frequent at times when females also engaged in heterosexual copulations."
Birds do it, bees do it...
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Tuesday May 17 2016, @04:27PM
Can you expand on how basic income is a known fallacy?
I think basic income is important because the owners of capital, not the general population, are benefiting the most from automation.
Without basic income, we (western nations) are facing 50% unemployment within a generation. The hope with basic income is that with the ability to turn down "make work" jobs, people can lead more productive lives with shorter work weeks.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Wednesday May 18 2016, @11:22AM
I've commented about it before [soylentnews.org]. But the gist of it is that food and rent costs sill rise to match and exceed any global capital infusion on it's own.
This is introductory macro economics material that is covered when discussing fiscal and monetary policies in regards to the reserve requirements and interest rates. It's usually taught in the context of the Keynesian model so you'd find the material in the first few chapters of the very first macro textbooks.
Mind you, even neoclassical models won't resolve with basic income so it's not even a debated point in academia or a partisan issue.
Disclaimer: I only have a marginally wider reading selection in economics, law, theology and philosophy then the average soylenty being a techie too. It's about the equivalent of a C introductory course so I can keep up a little better when these subjects come up but it's still just limited passing knowledge. I have no doubt an economics, historians or religious schoolers will have courses and essays full of contradictions and expansions on what I have to say. But, when I see a fundamental problem with something someone says (basic income or the op religious stuff), I try pointing it out. If I personally had to make a decision, I'd ask someone in the field on the subject.
compiling...
(Score: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Wednesday May 18 2016, @02:12PM
Thanks for the (slightly off-topic) reply.
I took an elementary Maroeconomics course.
You know all those "reasonable" assumptions they teach you in Microeconomics? Macro economics breaks them by applying them to the whole economy.
The one assumption that comes to mind is that all the participants are rational actors. Another is symmetric access to information.