March 22nd, 2007
4 Behaviors of Sociality
by Joshua Porter | 
24 Comments | shortlink: http://bokardo.com/p/586
Nicholas Wade, in Scientists find beginnings of Morality in Primate Behavior (NYTimes), produces a definition of sociality.
Sociality is comprised of four behaviors:
- empathy
- the ability to learn and follow social rules
- reciprocity
- peacemaking
So this would answer the question: What does social mean? That’s a core part of what we’re talking about here at Bokardo. If an animal exhibits these four behaviors, then we can say that it is a social animal. This is a good foundational to start with, or at least a quick overview that addresses concrete behavior.
Wade goes on to add to Frans de Waal’s research (which is the basis of the article) that two more behaviors are exhibited by humans that aren’t seen in other primates: “People enforce their society’s moral codes much more rigorously with rewards, punishments and reputation building (than other primates do). They also apply a degree of judgment and reason, for which there are no parallels in animals.”
When talking about sociality in terms of behaviors, we get into interesting questions quickly. What does empathy look like on the Web? Reciprocity? What does Identity have to do with this? (Certainly in the physical world there is much less need to worry about the is-this-person-who-they-claim-to-be? type of Identity) It would seem that online Identity only obfuscates the issue further, and possibly adds more behaviors to the mix as well…and focuses us more on things like trust. But I believe that even though it is more difficult to clarify relationships on the Web they still rely on the same factors as offline, and this list seems like a good place to start.
Another interesting part of this article is the debate between philosophers and biologists on the origin of morality. Philosophers generally think it begins with conscious reasoning while biologists lean toward emotions.
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Comments
1. pauric 9:29am, Thu 22nd, 2007
Very interesting! from the NYT article: “Dr. de Waal argues that all social animals have had to constrain or alter their behavior in various ways for group living to be worthwhile.”
From a human perspective sociality and morality are mutually dependent and based on ability to communicate. The internet is supporting a rapid increase in the level of social interaction/communication (the quality may be in question) so does that mean we can expect the same changes in morality? I think thats already happening. And sociality? email, IM, sms, twitter.
I think this article alludes to some form of equation which predicts we can expect many more forms of intriguing social communication
2. TCrane 10:59am, Thu 22nd, 2007
All four of these elements imply a level of human investment of sorts. Could it be that the anonymity of individuals in an Internet environment makes this investment more difficult?
3. TJ 6:24pm, Thu 22nd, 2007
Hmm…makes me wonder if we should call forums antisocial networking. Seems that forums thrive on fights, where this is not nec the case with social networking overall. Is this a sign of evolution? Just as man has (generally) learned to be more civil over time, so too we have mellowed?
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5. Michael Chui 6:17pm, Fri 23rd, 2007
TJ: Many forums are exercises in peacemaking. That is to say, you need a conflict before you can make peace, don’t you?
6. broc 11:37pm, Fri 23rd, 2007
i think forums can also be a representation of reciprocity as well
7. broc 11:38pm, Fri 23rd, 2007
and especially the blogosphere
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9. George 5:12pm, Tue 3rd, 2007
Sociality is comprised of four behaviors:
1. empathy
2. the ability to learn and follow social rules
3. reciprocity
4. peacemaking
If i understood empathy and peacemaking are 2 vital behaviors of Sociality. What could be going a war?
10. globalwarming awareness2007 3:52pm, Thu 12th, 2007
I want to share my comments:
empathy–i like it
the ability to learn and follow social rules-Good
reciprocity-Average
peacemaking-very good
If we follow up accordingly than it will be better for us !!
11. Nick 11:12am, Wed 2nd, 2007
I would say that there are more behaviours of society than 4 actually.
12. tshirts 12:06pm, Mon 16th, 2007
In my opinion, the whole ‘morality evolution’ or like (ie, morality is due to evolution, social changes requiring a larger morality etc.) is a load of rubbish. Honestly. We saw where this kind of thinking went in WWII. The Nazi’s and the Communists were the results of this kind of thinking. This is because if it is merely just a social construct, then we can change morality to a different social construct. Enters the holocaust. Was the holocaust truly immoral and evil? Under this thinking, it wasn’t. This is because this kind of thinking only leads to relative morality and, to be honest, who am I to say the holocaust was wrong?
Tell the philosophers and biologers to get off their high horses and start thinking for a change. To start looking at how the world REALLY is and get their noses from out their textbooks and little worlds.
13. Angielski 8:29am, Sun 12th, 2007
Im not a biologist but i would come along with emotions as the essencial factor that seems to be the supreme source of morality.
14. TheWalker 10:24am, Wed 29th, 2007
I think reciprocity is more important than the other 3 behaviors.
15. Julian 3:46pm, Tue 4th, 2007
I agree with the previous comment. Reciprocity is what builds a community in the long term.
16. Andy 7:27pm, Thu 29th, 2007
I think it’s kind of hard to find an animal displaying some peacemaking characteristics. Gosh! Come to think about it, it’s even hard with people
17. Mark 5:35am, Thu 7th, 2008
I think, reciprocity is part of empathy.
18. Andy 7:26am, Thu 7th, 2008
Forums are just a good platform for both fighting and peacemaking
19. Motorhomes 9:55am, Tue 11th, 2008
To this point, much of the research in this and related fields has involved the science of group averages, but there is a great opportunity for major advances to be made through the study of individual differences.
20. MMA 3:50am, Tue 29th, 2008
I think reciprocity is more important than the other 3 behaviors.i also agree with u !
21. custom oil painting 1:02am, Fri 9th, 2008
People who claim to be socially responsible must read this. Social workers and those who are into social activities such as charity and all must be aware of this. You see, I noticed that not all people who are into socially responsible activities possess these.