Beer Drinking Networks In Amazon Tribe Help Explain Altruism 157
KentuckyFC writes "The Tsimane tribe are hunter-gatherers living in the forested region between the foothills of the Andes and the wetland-savannas of the Llanos de Moxos in Bolivia. They drink beer made from boiled manioc (a type of sweet potato) which they chew and spit into the mix to trigger fermentation. After a week or so, the resultant brew is about 4 per cent alcohol. Now anthropologists studying this tribe say the way they host beer drinking events for each other offers important clues into their culture. At issue is the question of altruism: why people spend considerable time and effort doing favors for others that don't directly benefit them. The answer from studying these beer drinking events is that the favor is quickly returned by the guests in the form of another beer drinking event. This helps to build good relations with neighbors and family. And when the beer drinking invite is not returned, the researchers speculate that this is probably because there is some other favor involved, such as helping to gather or prepare food, suggesting mates or political co-operation."
Re:Do you wan't to know how you can tell a Queer? (Score:2, Interesting)
Do you know how you can tell a queer?
He drinks Pimms while we drink beer
I don't know if this is a universal rule, but I'd say in British University bars at least there is a pretty strong correlation.
Re:It's not altruism if a favor is expected in ret (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't know if a favour is expected in return, but there's something in us that makes us want to help others who've helped us anyway.
It seems obvious that altruistic behaviour would be a result of the fact that a species that helps each other is more likely to survive. It might also have side effects, like wanting to help any living creature to survive.. but as long as that doesn't damage the original species' reproductive abilities, there's no reason for that behaviour to be selected out.