helvetebrann:weekendxalcoholic:macabre-masochist:ixieglispet:psych-facts:In a simple experiment, res
helvetebrann:weekendxalcoholic:macabre-masochist:ixieglispet:psych-facts:In a simple experiment, researchers at the University of Chicago sought to find out whether a rat would release a fellow rat from an unpleasantly restrictive cage if it could. The answer was yes.The free rat, occasionally hearing distress calls from its compatriot, learned to open the cage and did so with greater efficiency over time. It would release the other animal even if there wasn’t the payoff of a reunion with it. Astonishingly, if given access to a small hoard of chocolate chips, the free rat would usually save at least one treat for the captive— which is a lot to expect of a rat.The researchers came to the unavoidable conclusion that what they were seeing was empathy— and apparently selfless behavior driven by that mental state.http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-new-model-of-empathy-the-rat/2011/12/08/gIQAAx0jfO_story.htmlevery time i see this i almost cry a littlethe most important post in the universe is this.Stuff like this really makes me second guess things like meat-eating and so forth. I don’t know what to think anymore! Very important research though, because despite how I feel about it, facts are what’s important.A study similar to this one, a different, older study regarding empathy in rats confirms this same conclusion. Empathy and even cross-species empathy is NOT unique to humanity. -- source link
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