Rice
Webcast
Archive
|
Rice Webcast Archive |
Joan E. Strassmann, Ph.D.
|
| Speakers: | Jim Pomerantz, Joan E. Strassmann |
| Location: | Duncan Hall, McMurtry Auditorium, Rice University |
| Date: | September 28, 2004 |
| Topic: | Conflict and Violence in Animals |
| Format: | Speech |
| Length: | 71 minutes |
| Abstract: |
Evolutionary biologist Joan Strassmann gives the first lecture in the Scientia
2004-05 series examining the origins of violence.
Conflict is intrinsic to natural selection, but how often does it take the form of behavioral violence among individuals? Violence can be common in specific social systems. A female chimp severely wounds a male introduced into the group. A mother egret stands on the edge of her nest ignoring the fatal pummeling her second-hatched chick gives her third-hatched chick. A speckled wood butterfly backs off without fighting when he sees the territory is already occupied. Is violence a breakdown in the social system, or an evolved part of it? Do social conventions increase or decrease the likelihood of violence? What can understanding these conventions and their failure tell us about behavioral violence and our own prospects for avoiding it? |
| Links: |
Rice News article (September 23, 2004)
Joan E. Strassmann web site Scientia Lecture Series |
Rice Webcast Team
(webcast@rice.edu)
Copyright 1998-2004 Rice University