Rats Show Their Kind Side
The rodents appear to display real concern
for trapped peers.
Summary: Rats may have a bad reputation, but according to a report in
the Dec. 9 Science magazine, they have been shown to be capable of
real empathy and self-sacrifice, more than evolution theory would have
predicted.
In 2007 neuroscientist Peggy Mason of the U. of Chicago and Inbal
Ben-Ami Bartal, a PhD student in integrative neuroscience, worked
together on research to test the capacity of these rodents for feelings.
In one study a rat was trapped inside a cage in the middle of a pen
while another rat was allowed to run free around the cage. The
imprisoned rat could be let out only if the free rat applied pressure to a
cage door. Most of the free rats circled the cage, gnawing at it and
sticking their paws, noses and whiskers through any openings. After a
week, 23 of 30 rats learned to open the cage by head-butting the cage
door or applying weight to it. They showed no interest in empty cages or
cages containing toy rats.
In a second test Mason placed rats in a pen with two cages. One cage
contained another rat while the other cage contained milk chocolate
chips, a favorite treat for these particular rodents. The free rats could
easily have eaten all the chocolate by themselves before freeing their
peers. Instead, most of the rats opened both cages and shared the
chocolate chips. Sometimes the free rats even placed the chips near
their recently sprung peers “as if delivering it.”
McGill U. psychologist Jeffrey Mogil, who had previously shown mice
could recognize their peers’ pain, did have questions about the
findings. What was the motivation for the prosocial behavior of the rats
— did the free rats open the cages because of empathy or to silence the
alarm calls of the trapped rats? Why did all six female rats liberate their
peers but only 17 of the 24 male rats — are females generally more
empathic than males? Can mice as well as rats demonstrate this
apparent ability for altruism (concern for others)?
Mason’s study is just one of several recent experiments which are
changing how scientists think of empathy and altruism in the animal
kingdom. Once most people thought altruism was a uniquely human
characteristic, but now it seems that many animals have “evolved”
instincts to help others, even at a cost to themselves, instincts that
humans have “inherited.” "The bottom line is that helping an individual
in distress is part of our biology," Mason says. "It's not something that
develops or doesn't develop because of culture."
To read the entire article, click on SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.
Comment: As we know, secular scientists and creation scientists will
often look at the same data and come to different conclusions based
on their beliefs and assumptions. We can’t be surprised that
evolutionists looking at this experiment are seeing a pattern of empathy
developing in the animal world and being passed on via evolution to
humans. On the other hand, evolutionists shouldn’t be surprised that
Bible believers see a pattern of God instilling knowledge in all his
created beings and not just humans.
Animals don’t always seem altruistic. What about the male lions who
insist on eating first even though it was the females that made the kill?
Cats don’t always get along well with each other and may even act
aggressive toward unrelated newborns. And in many animal groups
leadership is achieved only through physical combat.
Of course, the same can be said for us humans, considering the
murderers, thieves, and “Scrooges” among us. We can‘t read the minds
of the rats to see what they are thinking when they do their acts of
apparent kindness, but the same could be true for some human activity.
A man who makes a generous donation to a charity or a school, but
only if he gets his name in the paper or on a plaque, cannot be
evaluated in the same way as a person who makes an anonymous gift.
For Christians, a God-pleasing gift or act of kindness must be done for
the proper reasons. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,
do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). “In the same way, let
your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and
praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). So, the altruistic things
we do must be done out of faith and love for our God and Savior and
not because we expect to earn anything because of them. “Again Jesus
said, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me?’ He answered, ‘Yes,
Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep’”
(John 21:16) The best way to show love for Jesus and care for His
sheep is to make sure they hear the good news of salvation.
The rodents appear to display real concern
for trapped peers.
Summary: Rats may have a bad reputation, but according to a report in
the Dec. 9 Science magazine, they have been shown to be capable of
real empathy and self-sacrifice, more than evolution theory would have
predicted.
In 2007 neuroscientist Peggy Mason of the U. of Chicago and Inbal
Ben-Ami Bartal, a PhD student in integrative neuroscience, worked
together on research to test the capacity of these rodents for feelings.
In one study a rat was trapped inside a cage in the middle of a pen
while another rat was allowed to run free around the cage. The
imprisoned rat could be let out only if the free rat applied pressure to a
cage door. Most of the free rats circled the cage, gnawing at it and
sticking their paws, noses and whiskers through any openings. After a
week, 23 of 30 rats learned to open the cage by head-butting the cage
door or applying weight to it. They showed no interest in empty cages or
cages containing toy rats.
In a second test Mason placed rats in a pen with two cages. One cage
contained another rat while the other cage contained milk chocolate
chips, a favorite treat for these particular rodents. The free rats could
easily have eaten all the chocolate by themselves before freeing their
peers. Instead, most of the rats opened both cages and shared the
chocolate chips. Sometimes the free rats even placed the chips near
their recently sprung peers “as if delivering it.”
McGill U. psychologist Jeffrey Mogil, who had previously shown mice
could recognize their peers’ pain, did have questions about the
findings. What was the motivation for the prosocial behavior of the rats
— did the free rats open the cages because of empathy or to silence the
alarm calls of the trapped rats? Why did all six female rats liberate their
peers but only 17 of the 24 male rats — are females generally more
empathic than males? Can mice as well as rats demonstrate this
apparent ability for altruism (concern for others)?
Mason’s study is just one of several recent experiments which are
changing how scientists think of empathy and altruism in the animal
kingdom. Once most people thought altruism was a uniquely human
characteristic, but now it seems that many animals have “evolved”
instincts to help others, even at a cost to themselves, instincts that
humans have “inherited.” "The bottom line is that helping an individual
in distress is part of our biology," Mason says. "It's not something that
develops or doesn't develop because of culture."
To read the entire article, click on SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.
Comment: As we know, secular scientists and creation scientists will
often look at the same data and come to different conclusions based
on their beliefs and assumptions. We can’t be surprised that
evolutionists looking at this experiment are seeing a pattern of empathy
developing in the animal world and being passed on via evolution to
humans. On the other hand, evolutionists shouldn’t be surprised that
Bible believers see a pattern of God instilling knowledge in all his
created beings and not just humans.
Animals don’t always seem altruistic. What about the male lions who
insist on eating first even though it was the females that made the kill?
Cats don’t always get along well with each other and may even act
aggressive toward unrelated newborns. And in many animal groups
leadership is achieved only through physical combat.
Of course, the same can be said for us humans, considering the
murderers, thieves, and “Scrooges” among us. We can‘t read the minds
of the rats to see what they are thinking when they do their acts of
apparent kindness, but the same could be true for some human activity.
A man who makes a generous donation to a charity or a school, but
only if he gets his name in the paper or on a plaque, cannot be
evaluated in the same way as a person who makes an anonymous gift.
For Christians, a God-pleasing gift or act of kindness must be done for
the proper reasons. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,
do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). “In the same way, let
your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and
praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). So, the altruistic things
we do must be done out of faith and love for our God and Savior and
not because we expect to earn anything because of them. “Again Jesus
said, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me?’ He answered, ‘Yes,
Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep’”
(John 21:16) The best way to show love for Jesus and care for His
sheep is to make sure they hear the good news of salvation.
LSI Blog - Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011
