Saying Primates have "human like qualities" is precisely the inverse of what's going on. Human's do "primate things" not the other way around. [Behaviour]

2 days ago by TheStaffmaster to c/showerthoughts

Alcoholicorn 34 points 2 days ago

I have no thoughts on the matter, but here's a couple monkeys I saw this morning.

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RecursiveParadox 7 points 2 days ago

They saw what you did and are very disappointed in you.

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Alcoholicorn 9 points 2 days ago

When I stopped my bike to look at the monkeys, the front wheel slipped on some wet leaves and caught the bike while accidentally revving the engine and hitting my balls on the fuel tank. The monkeys saw it all.

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mech 34 points 2 days ago

Humans ARE primates.

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Bluescluestoothpaste 6 points 2 days ago

Yes but OP is right, primates pre-date us so anything we do similarly, they did it first and we copied them.

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RememberTheApollo_ 21 points 2 days ago

We didn’t copy, we are an extended branch of their abilities.

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Photonic 2 points a day ago

upgrade

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ripcord 4 points 2 days ago

Which primates? Chimpanzees? They evolved from earlier primates too.

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egrets 3 points a day ago

That's the exact point OP is making. Humans do primate things because they're primates.

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whaleross 13 points 2 days ago

The human monkey is easy to spot from its belief that it is not a monkey nor even an animal.

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0xKesh 13 points 2 days ago

Ahh.. but humans are primates?

So wouldn't that make both true? Other primates would display human like qualities, while the inverse of 'humans do primate things' also holds true?

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fizzle 10 points 2 days ago

I can see what OP is getting at but it's really an argument around semantics, and sentence structure.

For example, we don't say "Some fruits are similar to Apples", because it sounds daft and it's redundant.

On the other hand saying "Pears are similar to Apples" is of course fine, and helpful to someone who's never seen a Pear.

Like most shower thoughts, they're pointing out something obvious, but in an emotive way. "Primates aren't like us, we are like them!"

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apfelwoiSchoppen 3 points 2 days ago

In terms of biology, specifically botany, we do say some fruits are similar to apples. This comparison seems like a biological one too.

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Bluescluestoothpaste 1 point 2 days ago

It's important to combat anthropocentric bias. Primates came first we're actually the newest ones, so if we share behaviors, they did it first and we copied them.

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TheStaffmaster 5 points 2 days ago

Humans are in the set of primates, but not all primates are human.

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mech 5 points 2 days ago

Still, your showerthought says "a subset of primates are doing primate things".

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ElderReflections 1 point 2 days ago

Exactly — 'Like' is a comparison and doesn't imply belonging to a set. Someone can be 'like a piece of shit' without belonging to a greater class of shits

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Bluescluestoothpaste 1 point 2 days ago

Well humans are the newest primates so anything we do similar to other primates, they did it first and it's us who copied them.

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ripcord 4 points 2 days ago

No we're not.

Heck, chimpanzees and bobobos only branched from each other like a million years ago.

Modern day non-humaj primates evolved from common ancestors, just like us.

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Mantzy81 5 points 2 days ago

All primates doing primate things is exactly what you'd expect primates to do

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RebekahWSD 5 points a day ago

As I was running my fingers through my hair, I was struck with I'm just a monkey with delusions of not monkiness.

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egrets 2 points a day ago path: 0 24369438 24370357, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 1
RebekahWSD 1 point a day ago

I also like our use of electricity and air conditioning!

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TheStaffmaster 1 point a day ago

^this

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FiniteBanjo 5 points 2 days ago

Feels like a weird unnecessary distinction between Humans and other Great Apes like them.

But there certainly are activities unique to humans such as filing taxes.

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Admetus 3 points 2 days ago

In Prometheus Rising it is described that instead of dabbing poop at the edges of our territories, we just dab ink on borders.

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mech 1 point 2 days ago

No, we absolutely still do dab poop at the edges of our territories.
On a small scale (private property) quite literally, in regions that don't have internal plumbing.
And metaphorically, with countries preferably building landfills and polluting industry in border regions.

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Astronut 2 points 2 days ago

Never monkey around with another monkeys monkey. I learned that!

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showerthoughts
showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. No politics
    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
    • A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
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If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.

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