In a message dated 7/17/01 12:29:24 PM, rhanson@gmu.edu writes:
>>Am I missing something? Primatologists often view grooming,
>>sex, and food sharing as cooperation signals within groups.
>Oops - typo. I meant that while people look for signals
>within groups, they don't look for signals between groups.
I agree about the direction. However, I have a coffeetable book on
bonobos that discusses intergroup relations; they start out
fractious but often become nicer as the bonobos deploy their
standard cooperation repetoire (including signals). In a lot
of primates, you have intergroup movement; in that case
"intragroup" signals get deployed between individuals not of
the same group. Granted, one is typically trying to join the
other's group but it's an obvious pathway to intergroup signalling,
especially for a memetically based signal like religion.
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