Thread

1. imjonse · 1789896655 · focus · HN ↗

   Unsurprisingly, mammals (not just humans) also fear death and are very distressed when being lead to slaughter and seeing their peers go down before them.

   1. isodev · 1789897099 · focus · HN ↗

      Applies to every living thing with a limbic system. So yes, that steak or chicken nuggets...

      1. TeMPOraL · 1789901714 · focus · HN ↗

         How? Did limbic system evolve as "fear of death" or "peer recognition and perception of shared fate" system?

         (Not doubting the chicken nuggets, just wondering about the lower/simpler end of the scale.)

         1. mettamage · 1789904037 · focus · HN ↗

            I mean, it wouldn’t surprise me if it is a strong selector for evolutionary fitness, which it probably is.

            Certain species go the other way probably and become more like a super organism but mammals seem quite individualized compared to ants for example.

         2. pixl97 · 1789941379 · focus · HN ↗

            >"peer recognition and perception of shared fate"

            While plants may not fear in the manner that we do, they can chemically signal when one becomes damaged or stressed and cause physiological changes in plants that are not sharing the same conditions.

   2. Kuyawa · 1789921090 · focus · HN ↗

      Ants don't walk in line over the stove. It may not be fear, but there is something hardwired that tells them not too, or they would be extinct long ago

      Applies to all living organisms

      1. TrainedMonkey · 1789928805 · focus · HN ↗

         Speaking of ants having a survival instinct, ant death spirals are a thing. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;simple.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Ant_mill" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;simple.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Ant_mill

         1. moomoo11 · 1789947772 · focus · HN ↗

            [dead]

         2. genxy · 1789969158 · focus · HN ↗

            I think it is not unlike a crush involving lots of humans in a confined space.
      2. pixl97 · 1789940688 · focus · HN ↗

         We see roundworms with decentralized nervous systems show chemical traces of fear, so it is actually hardwired deep in organisms and has been there a very, very long time. Fear is just too useful as a survival mechanism.

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