Now we have officially
moved into winter we are watching the weather forecasts to see how the snowfall
is doing in the mountains. Our skis, snowboards and snowshoes are ready so that
we can play in the powder.
Many of us are timid and
stick to well-worn trails and bunny slopes, but there is a percentage that
craves more excitement and a passion for the adrenaline rush of taking risky
choices. Those of us who are eminently sensible are happy to pay hard earned
cash to watch the antics.
The question that pops up
in the minds of enquiring evolutionary anthropologists is what is the benefit
(evolutionwise – cashwise it’s clear from the size of the audience) and do
other great ape species indulge in the same game. That was the question asked
by Haun, Nawroth and Call (1). They took chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans and
gorillas and got them to play a choice game in which they could win bits of
banana. A far cry from steep ski slopes but easier to organize.
There was a safe option of
always getting a small piece, but they could make another choice that gave them
a one in four chance of a big piece. The candidates had a tendency to go for
the risky option unless the size of the safe option became a worthwhile size.
Well, nobody likes to get shortchanged and I wouldn’t want to say “tough luck”
to an irritated gorilla.
In summary, our great ape
friends were more likely to take the risky option than us humans. All good
casino candidates, I guess. The biggest gamblers were the Orangutans and
Chimpanzees. Gorillas were more conservative, but our Bonobo friends were the
most risk averse.
It is interesting that
Bonobos tend to be rather better behaved in general and maybe they are just
being more polite and leaving the bigger portion for someone else.
Please note that this
blog is migrating to
in 10 days.
