Correlation ≠ Elbow Grease In Addition To Effect
Friday, September 19, 2003
At dusk on September 7, 1997, a cougar crept upwards on Ginny Hannum equally she was working at the dorsum of her cabin at the caput of Boulder Canyon inwards Colorado. The cougar crouched depression amid the rocks, facing her from well-nigh 20 feet, as well as it was laid upwards to pounce.
Although Mrs. Hannum was unaware of the cougar's presence, she had locomote past times away "somewhat annoyed" past times a raven "putting on a fuss similar crazy. The noisy raven kept coming closer, having started its commotion 20 minutes before from well-nigh iii hundred yards away. Was this raven trying to tell something? She started to hear to a greater extent than closely.
The cougar was laid upwards to brand its kill, only the raven was close, as well as it made locomote past times over the woman, calling raucously, thence flight upwards higher upwards her to closed to rocks, where she lastly saw the crouching cougar. As the cougar glared downwards amongst yellowish eyes locked onto hers, Hannum speedily backed off as well as called her three-hundred-pound husband. The surprise laid on had been averted. She had been saved. "That raven saved my life." The trial was declared a miracle inwards the news.
A miracle is whatever trial the natural motion of which nosotros create non understand. Why did the raven call? To the religious Hannums, it seemed a miracle that a raven would locomote past times away out of its agency to deliberately relieve a human life. To me, raven behaviour is even thence a miracle, although I convey organized faith that this raven's behaviour was inside the realm of what ravens commonly do. They are alarm to predators that could potentially render them amongst food. Perhaps the raven had been luring the ion to brand a kill, alerting it to a suitable target. If the king of beasts had feasted, thence would the raven. That is, both would convey benefited, equally expected inwards communication.
After presenting closed to to a greater extent than evidence, the writer concludes:
Everything I know well-nigh ravens, equally good equally folklore, is congruent amongst the persuasion that ravens communicate non alone amongst each other, only besides amongst hunters, to larn inwards on their spoils.
Whatever else these to incidents illustrate, they demonstrate the difficulty of interpreting communication as well as how much communication tin strength out depend on the mind-set of the receiver. To brand feel of communication, the start relevant questions to inquire are: What are the costs as well as the wages to the givers as well as potential receivers of the signals given.
All inwards all, this is an fantabulous example that shows the dangers of making quick assumptions from a few observations without applying rigorous thinking to possible underlying causal factors.
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Many cheers to Dr. Rod Phillips.