anyways, isn’t it amazing that we’ve somehow divined the economic and social structure that according to the last few centuries of research happens to perfectly embody all of humanity’s innate characteristics and primal instincts and incentive structures and behavior patterns 
This objection always confused me. If you're going to random ass apply wolf sociology to humans on the basis of nothing, then captive ones are probably a better approximation. So it makes sense in that lens.
The real and only flaw of applying that study to humans is that we are not in fact wolves (citation needed).
social media has made it very clear that you in fact have two different wolves inside you, so
Looking for people to help me chase down a wounded bison on foot, no weirdos
If you're going to random ass apply wolf sociology to humans on the basis of nothing, then captive ones are probably a better approximation.
No
Yeah that’s arguably the actually valuable finding from this study, isn’t it? In a natural state, cooperative social mammals, whether they are wolves or human beings, will behave in an egalitarian manner and not tolerate abusive psychopathic “alphas”. But in captivity, whether that is wolves in a zoo or humans forced into wage-slavery under capitalism, this kind of psychopathic behaviour emerges and forms a dominant part of the social structure. We can observe wolves in their natural state and therefore question the immediate conclusions of this study regarding wolves. But the study might actually suggest a useful finding that could be applied to a human society help in a captive state by capitalism and the various enforcement layers of bosses, corporate control, the police, and so on.
hey just because it's fundamentally flawed doesn't mean it's not also universally applicable in a rigidly dogmatic and prescriptive way
Also a perfect example of how the recanting of a study/news story/etc receives a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the attention of the original. I feel bad for the guy who has been forced to watch his mistake take this monsterous form while desperately trying to tell everyone he was wrong in the first place.
I've heard some cases where a "journalist" will basically just disregard everything a scientist says, reference their name and then spout some bullshit.
Tangentially related, but I imagine the absolute frustration that was in the air as people did research on corona virus. Things that were usually okay and confidence intervals that were scholarly standard must have been tossed out the window because if they decided that it was possible for virus to spread outside despite masks then people would start sending them all death threats.
I think that even if the alpha wolf word had never been coined people would've found naturalistic metaphors to justify oppression and being overall assholes to each other, like queen bee or some other thing.
Also, last time I saw some research the queen bee was found to be more of a resource for the Hive than any kind of monarch. Bee behavior is surprisingly complex so I wouldn't feel comfortable saying for sure till I looked it up again.
Would just like to clarify when I say "Gloop night, alphas" in the megathread I mean everyone
Once had to listen to a bazinga try to compare the lifecycle of a salmon with humans. Argument by analogy is peak dumb guy who thinks he's smart behavior.
I take it you're not planning on an arduous upriver migration to spawn and then die this year?
Well y'see, it's because the intention is for all of us to be put into captivity too. 💀
We wouldn't be looking for every fucking scrap of data we can find to demonstrate what a selfish and hierarchical species we are if it was true
it's prison politics/hierarchies
and now these "alpha" guys want the whole world to be prison
Holy shit the emojis here never cease to amaze, can’t think of any other place where “distressed Foucault” is not only the most perfect reaction to a post but also already exists
Right? It is amazing when your hit the impossibly specific pull for a bit.
Inside you are two wolves. You forgot to take your heat blockers
Inside you there are tow wolves, one is fed up with stupid humans thinking they are a bunch of barbarians following a 'might makes right' way of life and using this as an excuse to pass of as natural a social condition imposed on their society by the institution of private property and the incentives this gives the owner of said property, the other doesn't do much, he's just cute and cuddly.
It's deeply damaging as it turns reality on its head. Anthropological evidence staunchly supports the view that humans are incredibly cooperative and this cooperation has been necessary for survival. On top of that, shaming and repressing bullies who seek to dominate and exploit other humans is a crucial aspect of basically all cultures across history. The whole alpha male ideology is a perversion of humanity, an attempt to legitimize the idea that some humans are better than others and thus deserve to subjugate (which is really a reflection of how the bourgeoisie justifies its own existence and rule over the proletariat).
Inside you are two wolves,
You died trying to hike a rough trail and they found your cold bird pecked corpse,
They will sleep tonight well fed and content.
