Have you been gaslit all your life into thinking zebras' stripes are somehow camouflage even though that obviously makes no sense whatsoever? Me too! Join me while I explore my lifelong obsession with this problem, some very psychedelic fractals, and a gorgeous blanket.
I don't know enough to have a valid opinion, but I don't subscribe to the Dawkins theory of viewing all life as driven by a personification of genes. I think life is more complicated, even at scale. Plenty of creatures thrive with adaptations that seem to reduce their survival. And our view seems hacked to fit our belief that nature is red in tooth and claw, that nothing cooperates, and that's why we must endure capitalism. Except that many trees and mycorrhizal fungi need each other to survive, as I'm reading in Suzanne Simard's Finding the Mother Tree. That doesn't jibe with the ruling class's religion of every person for themself. Except many animals act as "uncles" and "aunts" even when they don't share genetic material with the children they are helping. Except...
Obviously I believe in evolutionary theory, I just think many latched onto the "social Darwinism" angle, which is the religion of capitalism, and one side continually justifies the other, even when the evidence is contrary. I can't wait to read Bitch: On the Female of the Species, because the mental acrobatics that male scientists have used to justify many of their theories is quite similar.
Oh wow, this gets into such important stuff that I really want to cover at much more length than this thread. But I completely agree with you, I think the whole Dawkins movement had an outsize & unfortunate effect on everything from gender relations to capitalism to pure biology. Ooof, I'm gonna be thinking/writing about for a while, thanks for the post. And let me know what you think about Bitch -- as you know, I really liked it.
If I have time, I'll read it before this Sunday and perhaps we can discuss it a little over bourbon punch. I'd love to interview some more knowledgeable people than myself about it... did you ever read David Graeber? He died a few years ago, too young. It's something he might have tackled. I guess I'll have to read up, and try to myself.
Oh that sounds great. (But if you don’t have time, don’t worry -- we can still talk/bullshit/theorize about it, particularly as the punch takes effect. :) ) I did start Debt but for some reason didn’t finish it but not because I wasn’t into it -- I think it was just a busy time and I put it down & forgot to pick it up again. I should do that ... but I think I remember enough that I can probably bullshit about that too if needed. :)
Thanks for reminding me that I have the ebook of Debt somewhere. I just picked up The Dawn of Everything, which is a real book, so I may read that first. Debt was good, but rather exhaustive/ing.
I have also always wondered about the zebras' stripes! I used to read one of Ruth Heller's "How Do You Hide" books to my students every year that shows a zebra "camouflaged" behind a tree, and I would think- uh, we can all see the zebra standing there very clearly. I'm now looking forward to reading An Immense World. Thank you!
Good point, Cal. They are micropredators, harming the host's fitness by a small amount: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitism#Micropredator. I just had never seen that explanation put forth as a reason for the zebra's stripes before.
This explanation does not rule out the possibility that many stripes in a fast-moving herd also make it difficult for a predator to single out an individual. Features or behavior in herds, flocks, and schools could have evolved to make it difficult for predators to see and catch prey.
That is a possibility, although it turns out that, (at least according to “An Immense World”), the big cats not only have bad color vision, they also have not-great day vision in general. (I thought about putting this into the main post but then wondered whether people really wanted to go this far down the rabbit hole with me!) Zebras would look mostly like donkeys to them unless they were so close that they would already likely smell/hear them. Which isn’t to say that the zebras’ stripes don’t help some as they scatter but at the very least, it seems like a more complex series of factors than just, “zebras have stripes for camouflage.”
Most insightful, even while admitting ignorance, is this WanderFinder and WonderFul exploration of human attempts to understand nature. Great Zebra pics!
I don't know enough to have a valid opinion, but I don't subscribe to the Dawkins theory of viewing all life as driven by a personification of genes. I think life is more complicated, even at scale. Plenty of creatures thrive with adaptations that seem to reduce their survival. And our view seems hacked to fit our belief that nature is red in tooth and claw, that nothing cooperates, and that's why we must endure capitalism. Except that many trees and mycorrhizal fungi need each other to survive, as I'm reading in Suzanne Simard's Finding the Mother Tree. That doesn't jibe with the ruling class's religion of every person for themself. Except many animals act as "uncles" and "aunts" even when they don't share genetic material with the children they are helping. Except...
Obviously I believe in evolutionary theory, I just think many latched onto the "social Darwinism" angle, which is the religion of capitalism, and one side continually justifies the other, even when the evidence is contrary. I can't wait to read Bitch: On the Female of the Species, because the mental acrobatics that male scientists have used to justify many of their theories is quite similar.
Oh wow, this gets into such important stuff that I really want to cover at much more length than this thread. But I completely agree with you, I think the whole Dawkins movement had an outsize & unfortunate effect on everything from gender relations to capitalism to pure biology. Ooof, I'm gonna be thinking/writing about for a while, thanks for the post. And let me know what you think about Bitch -- as you know, I really liked it.
If I have time, I'll read it before this Sunday and perhaps we can discuss it a little over bourbon punch. I'd love to interview some more knowledgeable people than myself about it... did you ever read David Graeber? He died a few years ago, too young. It's something he might have tackled. I guess I'll have to read up, and try to myself.
Oh that sounds great. (But if you don’t have time, don’t worry -- we can still talk/bullshit/theorize about it, particularly as the punch takes effect. :) ) I did start Debt but for some reason didn’t finish it but not because I wasn’t into it -- I think it was just a busy time and I put it down & forgot to pick it up again. I should do that ... but I think I remember enough that I can probably bullshit about that too if needed. :)
Thanks for reminding me that I have the ebook of Debt somewhere. I just picked up The Dawn of Everything, which is a real book, so I may read that first. Debt was good, but rather exhaustive/ing.
I have also always wondered about the zebras' stripes! I used to read one of Ruth Heller's "How Do You Hide" books to my students every year that shows a zebra "camouflaged" behind a tree, and I would think- uh, we can all see the zebra standing there very clearly. I'm now looking forward to reading An Immense World. Thank you!
I feel like we should create some Emperor's New Clothes society of people who were like -- but hold up, the zebra's not hidden at all. :)
I hope you enjoy An Immense World. I loved it!
the flies, in this case, are predators
Good point, Cal. They are micropredators, harming the host's fitness by a small amount: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitism#Micropredator. I just had never seen that explanation put forth as a reason for the zebra's stripes before.
This explanation does not rule out the possibility that many stripes in a fast-moving herd also make it difficult for a predator to single out an individual. Features or behavior in herds, flocks, and schools could have evolved to make it difficult for predators to see and catch prey.
That is a possibility, although it turns out that, (at least according to “An Immense World”), the big cats not only have bad color vision, they also have not-great day vision in general. (I thought about putting this into the main post but then wondered whether people really wanted to go this far down the rabbit hole with me!) Zebras would look mostly like donkeys to them unless they were so close that they would already likely smell/hear them. Which isn’t to say that the zebras’ stripes don’t help some as they scatter but at the very least, it seems like a more complex series of factors than just, “zebras have stripes for camouflage.”
Most insightful, even while admitting ignorance, is this WanderFinder and WonderFul exploration of human attempts to understand nature. Great Zebra pics!
Thanks so much! It's hard to take a bad zebra pic, tbh -- they're so gorgeous. :)