h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Umm, I think the slits are threatening.


Xanatic- that's what people forget- we're all just animals with ideas obove our stations really...

- I love that smiley.

Hmmm... good point. I didn't really consider why *we* look into each other's eyes, I just assumed it's because we have higher thinking capabilities and we reason that the other person is looking out through *their* eyes... and, thinking about it now, it's generally considered bad manners *not* to look into someone's eyes when speaking to them. Animals just do it without thinking about it.

"All the s I've ever had have looked away after about five seconds..."

I've tried it twice. I'm glad there was a fence between us

But looking into somebody´s eyes can also be threathening. With most predators it´s a bad idea because they might see it as a sign of agression. And looking into somebody´s eyes is probably also in a way showing that you consider them as an equal. Muslim women are supposed to lower their gaze when men are around, because since they are not equals they shouldn´t look them in the eyes.

I think the difference is I've tried it with *my* dogs- they already know I'm boss...

So it looks like a challenge, but it's coming from the boss, therefore, it's realy just an affirmation of who's in charge.

Eyes are threatening - which is why alot of insects have large round markings that look like eyes to scare the birds that want to eat them. But as my b/f pointed out when I mentioned this...how do the insects know? What weird evolution occurred to make that link?

I think it´s more because large eyes makes the animal seem bigger.

What about bright colours and being poisonous. How was that link made?

It's called "Batesian mimicry". They don't actually know they're doing it, a few individual just chanced upon a pattern that made them less likely to be preyed upon. Therefore they, along with the pattern, flourished. It's the same thing that gives an advantage to non-poisonous snakes that look like poisonous ones (black and yellow stripes, etc.). If it gives an advantage it will be inherited, in the case of these insects the advantage is huge, if you make a predator think twice about eating you, you're quids in.



Ste

If you are a young lizard and you eat a poisonous snake that is very brightly and distictly coloured - and poisonous - if you don't die you're going to get very, very sick. When the lizard is a little older, and wiser, when faced with another snake with a similar appearance he ain't going to touch it with a bargepole. It's a useful survival strategy for the snake that didn't get eaten, therefore the genes (through the snake) propogate.



Ste

(hopes they weren't rhetorical questions or anything)

What I meant was just, those color patterns on the poisonus snakes evolved by chance. Why couldn´t non poisonus snakes also start to have bright colours, and then not get eaten because others thought they were poisonous? I would have thought it would sort of cancel each other out.

They didn't really evolve by chance alone...

"Why couldn´t non poisonus snakes also start to have bright colours, and then not get eaten because others thought they were poisonous?"

But, um, that's exactly what happens. If you mean that eventually the predators would wise up to the fact that all of these colourful snakes were not, if fact, poisonous. It's not really worth the risk to the predators life to find out though.

Ste

Tried staring at the guinea pig. She looked guilty.

*Is afraid. Is very afraid*

OK, I have to ask,

What does a guilty guinnea pig look like?

This is so weird, as in my experience humans avoid eye contact unless they are lovers or a parent and baby...

well, she looks sideways at you with her nose down and doesn't twitch. Realms of expression!

I'll remember that next i'm wonder who ate all the grass

Humans avoiding eye contact - well that's the non-aggression, surely?

Another interesting observation (thanks to Desmond Morris I seem to remember)is that during a conversation between two people, the one talking tends to look away, the one listening watches the speaker. The speaker looks at the listener to signal they've finished & swap over.