Douglas W. Mock

This book deals primarily with the behavioral ecology of birds and the discernable patterns, causes, and manifestations of conflict within nests. It reads surprisingly well – and is far more interesting than I had anticipated. Principally, the focus is on uncovering the evolutionary justification for widely occurring (but little understood) phenomena like siblicide and parent-offspring conflict.

One interesting, albeit obvious, subject that Mr. Mock touches on is the genetic disposition (as codified by evolution) for infants to use deceit to overstate their true physiological needs. It's easy to see in infantile begging: parents are better served by reacting to certain types of false alarms because the potential cost of not doing so could prove enormous, and the children take advantage of this when competing against their nestmates for resources. Interestingly, the fight for resources – such as it is – is continuous, brutal, and often independent of the whether such resources are scarce or plentiful. As such, the preconditioned propensity toward dishonesty comes to characterize competition itself.

I couldn't help but notice that there are similarities in the way American Robins (as discussed in this book) and American Humans behave in this respect. More importantly, I think it's helpful to recognize that there are thousands of precedents in the natural world for behaviors that we routinely label as "evil" in our own species; particularly with respect to competitive conflicts. When individuals or groups act in seemingly irrational ways in response to competition from other groups, we are quick to find fault in cultural differences, an absence of competent leadership, or a flawed "moral universe." Things might make more sense if we stick with assessing one another as we really are: animals.

[Addendum: There's some wicked data on the black stork and infanticide that is worth the price of the book in itself.]… (meer)