I was listening to a lecture by a primatologist today. She studies chimpanzees, and noted that one chimpanzee (named Mike) in a study by Jane Goodall discovered some empty gas cans in the researcher’s camp, and found that they made a great racket when banged together. When he ran through the chimp community banging the cans they all scattered at the racket and his rank in the community rose substantially.
I couldn’t help but chuckle as I thought of the individuals here on the forum, and our discovery of some novel chemicals our peers don’t know about. It appears to have clear effects on our ranks in our communities, at least until everyone else figures out how to do it.
Unfortunately, by the time the hominid researchers catch on to the fact that this particular group of hominids is learning to use a new tool, many of the initial social learnings will have already taken place.
I guess that’s why chimps never wrote papers about the gas-can phenomenon.
