A recent study criticises the tendency to see human traits in rats. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
Joel Kontinen
Mickey Mouse might influence the interpretations of evolution-believing scientists more than they are willing to admit.
Recently, professor Alex Kacelnik of Oxford University and colleagues took a look at how researchers interpret the behaviour of rats and ants.
If a rat attempts to rescue another rat that has been trapped, this is interpreted as empathy. However, if an ant rescues a fellow-ant, this is seen as instinctive behaviour.
Evolutionists do this because they believe that a rat is more evolved than an ant that is lower on the evolutionary ladder.
Professor Kacelnik criticises this kind of selective interpretation. He says that rats are not capable of empathy.
Kacelnik and his colleagues published their research in the journal Biology Letters.
Source:
Rat and Ant Rescues 'Don't Show Empathy’. Science Daily (12 August 2012).
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