Saturday, March 04, 2006 Proof that Republicans are Not Human SeattlePI: "Study shows babies try to help. Oops, the scientist dropped his clothespin. Not to worry - a wobbly toddler raced to help, eagerly handing it back. The simple experiment shows the capacity for altruism emerges as early as 18 months of age. Toddlers' endearing desire to help out actually signals fairly sophisticated brain development, and is a trait of interest to anthropologists trying to tease out the evolutionary roots of altruism and cooperation. Over and over, whether the researcher dropped clothespins or knocked over his books, each of the 24 toddlers offered help within seconds - but only if he appeared to need it. The researcher never asked for the help and didn't even say "thank you," so as not to taint the research by training youngsters to expect praise if they helped. After all, altruism means helping with no expectation of anything in return. And - this is key - the toddlers didn't bother to offer help when he deliberately pulled a book off the stack or threw a pin to the floor." There it is. Rock solid proof that Republicans are not members of the human race. |