Tag Archives: Mysteries of Human Behavior

10 Mysteries of Human Behavior…

…that science cannot explain:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/5981311/The-10-mysteries-of-human-behaviour-that-science-cant-explain.html

Interesting, albeit a few years old article that lists things that we, as human beings, do without any clear scientifically recognized reason.

Most bizarre was item #6, picking your nose.  In that example, the article states: “ingesting ‘nasal detritus’ offers almost no nutritional benefit, so why do a quarter of teenagers do it, on average four times a day?

Ugh.  Four times a day?!

I think back to my adolescence and can’t recall ever doing that.  And most certainly not that many times a day!

One of the more fascinating is #8, Altruism.  I tend to agree with the article when it says that giving away things is odd when considered in “evolutionary terms”, and it most certainly makes you consider how different humans are to many animals, although I suppose one can argue that there are examples of altruism in the animal kingdom as well.

Birds, for example, find/hunt for food which they then give to their young offspring.  Perhaps that could be considered a form of “altruism” that is framed in evolutionary terms.  The adult bird, after all, could take the food they track down and keep it for themselves.  However, if the bird doesn’t feed its offspring, the offspring die and, as a result, the bird’s species will die as well.

Anyway, fascinating stuff, if you’re interested.