Friday, May 29, 2020
Behavioral metadata
Via Eurekalert, an interesting study on researcher behavior.
The researchers are looking at dog behavior, but the study is interesting for what it says about researcher behavior.
Traditionally researchers have refused to credit what owners know about dogs and what dogs know about owners. Instead, the researchers follow Pavlov in treating both dogs and owners as passive inanimate mechanisms.
These scientists are refreshingly different. They started by assuming LIFE, assuming that dogs want to rescue their owners from bad situations. This is generally true, with exceptions for stupid dogs or bad owners.
Only one problem: The study required the dogs to rescue the owners by opening a door. Most dogs, whether smart or dumb, don't understand doors. They won't even go through an 'official' enclosure when it has no physical barrier. A few dogs have been trained to deal with doors, but it's emphatically not a dog talent.
A better study would see if the dogs tried to lead the researchers to the owner. Dogs normally try to tell another human, reasoning that other humans will know how to handle mysterious human problems.
Later: The bio page of main author Clive Wynne is especially refreshing. You rarely see a top academic who loves and appreciates LIFE. He studies dogs because he loves dogs, and wants to publicize the unique virtues of dogs.
Labels: Grand Blueprint, infinite GOOD
¶ 8:29 AM
