Little by little the NDT thesis is trickling into common understanding. Stanley Coren recently took note of the Mammoth Megasite interpretation by Pat Shipman and wrote a very good article in summation. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201406/dogs-and-mammoths-new-glimpse-early-canine-history However this understanding of the canine mind I discovered simply by studying the behavior of dogs without reading human thoughts into their […]

Without a model for the animal mind, Dogdom must always return to the notion of dominance in order to explain social structure. Learning theory hasn’t been able to fill the bill and neuroscience merely reduces behavior to its biological nuts and bolts. Furthermore the notion of dominance seems consistent with evolutionary theory, given the assumption […]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/science/03firewalker.html?_r=1 The above is an excellent story which in my view details how through emotional projection (the stronger the bond the more the individual “lets go” and releases into the vicarious experience of watching what another, with whom they’re bonded, is experiencing.) Then, the hearts become synchronized so as to establish a common beat. Emotion […]

Thank you for your great answers and I feel each response is a variant of the same underlying phenomenon. In other words, there’s no “reason” why children love seesaws and swings, rather their bodies and minds (just as it is for all living beings) evolved to feel good when (1) riding on a wave and […]