[Animals] Some animals also take care of those most in need, even if they are not relatives

[Draeno]

 

There are certain ideas that take root in society. No matter how many times science disproves them, they continue to permeate for decades. I remember when I went to school and the teacher explained to us that human beings are rational and animals act on instinct. Of this, 20 years ago and since then, numerous evidences of animals that learn from the environment and act flexibly have been provided.

But today, dualistic discourses that drink from this simplistic idea continue to be given, even within the academic world. They reduce animals to mere biological machines, whose behavior is determined solely by genes. According to this vision, cooperation occurs only between related animals and, if an individual falls ill, it is abandoned by the rest of the group, because that is how natural selection works. In contrast, human beings are rational beings, aware of our actions. We share values that make us care for injured individuals, even if we have no relationship with them.

These types of messages, easy to understand, make us feel special and spread like a virus. Complex answers are less po[CENSORED]r but often more accurate. With the term "animal" we are referring to more than a million different species. Many of them, like sea sponges or mussels, are probably just biological machines. And it is true that large numbers of species lack the cognitive complexity and empathy to perform certain altruistic actions. But it has been shown that humans are not the only ones on the planet who help and care for those most in need. Especially chimpanzees, elephants and cetaceans stand out for this behavior.

 

https://elpais.com/ciencia/2023-06-05/algunos-animales-tambien-cuidan-de-los-mas-necesitados-aunque-no-sean-parientes.html