Considering the original study only documented Wolves in captivity I explain it like this: Alpha, Beta, Sigma, whatever, is just the type of prison bitch you'd be, so congrats.
Exactly this. Put any one species into a tiny depressing enclosure with way too many strangers and way too little food, and they will fight and establish a pecking order eventually. This has nothing to do with how the same species would behave in the wild and with enough resources to live comfortably, and the author realized that mistake years ago and is since trying to correct it.
But I guess the entire "alpha male" thing is just too popular with certain people ... ahem.
I chuckle inside and exit the room at the first chance when someone non-jokingly refers to themselves as an alpha male. And that's not because I'm afraid of them--the fact is that I'm the alpha male.
/s
Humans in packed cities could be described in a similar way though, if there's not a social reinforcement in place, by the community elders who are respected and followed, to keep them from it. I live in a medium sized city now because of work, but even still I can relate to the rats [I'm aware of the studies flaws].
Put any one species into a [packed] depressing [space] with way too many strangers and way too [varied amounts of resources per individual], and they will fight and establish a pecking order eventually. This has nothing to do with how the same species would behave in the wild and with enough resources to live comfortably.
I grew up in the country with tens of acres and my nearest neighbor was a mile away. Separated from the small town nearby by a river and surrounded by thick hedgerows going miles around in every direction, with a huge open space (fields) between our house and the hedgerows. I've never been happy in the city. No matter where I am, I feel like I'm in a cage. I'm not agoraphobic but there's a sense of being 'watched' when I leave my house that just isn't there when you live in a remote area. All the people, sights, sounds, smells can be incredibly overwhelming at times.
I am only capable of attaining a true level of peace when I'm in nature.
Whether or not it's a real concept doesn't matter to these people, all that matters is whether it appeals to their pre conceived notions or not.
Also a great argument for the fact that caging humans doesn't change anything in a positive direction. Especially when you enslave them too like in countries with barbaric penal systems such as the US.
The sad part is that a no small amount of prisons (especially "for profit" prisons) don't have the end goal of rehabiliting the inmates in the first place. It's all about cheap labor. They don't want to change anything into a positive direction.
Funny that pecking order is something you see in chickens. So these human alpha males are copying hen behavior.
Alpha: Incomplete, generally unstable and full of errors.
In other related news, the makers of these shirts watched their stock prices plummet today:
I’m not sure ‘alphas’ are the target market for this shirt.
Actually, I’d love to see this shirt on self-proclaimed alphas. Would be so.. badass…
The magic of Three Wolf Moon exists on an entirely different plane than anything else wolf related. Those wolves are no longer a one-man wolfpack.
But that is a group photo, nothing alpha about it.
Ironically its that they don't have "alphas" in the wild because they just separate and leave each other alone...
For humans in school, prisons, and even just work environments we're a lot more like captive wolves than wild
This terminology arose from research done on captive wolf packs in the mid-20th century—but captive packs are nothing like wild ones, Mech says. When keeping wolves in captivity, humans typically throw together adult animals with no shared kinship. In these cases, a dominance hierarchy arises, Mech adds, but it’s the animal equivalent of what might happen in a human prison, not the way wolves behave when they are left to their own devices.
That being said, any person describing themselves as an alpha is usually a big piece of shit.
Personally, I like the "alpha as in new software" approach: Alpha version = unstable, missing important features, filled with flaws, prone to breakdown and not fit for the public.
Oh I’m definitely stealing this my dear. That’s gold
A lot of guys have started calling themselves sigma males, but i just approach them and tell them I'm a Smegma male which is over a sigma male. 😤 these are facts that cannot be disputed.
Just like the vaccines cause autism study, this won't ever die out. People only ever remember the original.
People only ever remember the original.
And only partially so. Conveniently, they forget the part where, IIRC, guy was just trying to promote his own vaccine
Ironic. It wasn't his own vaccine. It was two vaccines that he held stock in.
His name was on the patent. There was a second name on it as well, and that guy was someone whom the first cited. This second guy lost his license two years before publishing his paper, that the infamous one cited.
Try telling Andrew Taint this
...so he can have a total meltdown over an internet stranger again? =P
I tried, but I don't know the address to the prison he's in.
These days, the only people still using this debunked wolf talk are douchebros, chuds, & incels.
I just call them good doggos. Is that okay?
wood doggo
Indeed. There are many still who are making big bucks on this misconception. The worst offender in my opinion is "The dog whisperer", who is likely the worst well known dog trainer, and has done (and still does) a lot of damage. The whole basis for his school of thought is based on this alpha/beta/omega hierarchy.
I only watched his show once and it was so clear that he was abusive that I couldn't even watch the whole episode. Just disgusting.
Chimpanzees do, though (source). and they're closer to humans than wolves.
The whole alpha wolf thing kind of sounds like projection.
I don't mind calling the posers prime chimps.
Honestly, that feels like giving them too much credit. Chimps are fucking terrifying. The more I learn about them, the more I wonder "jesus fucking christ, how badass/insane was Jane Goodall?!". Those things are the closest things to real demons I've ever heard about.
Edit: well, aside from particularly unhinged humans
Yeah but bonobos are close to chimpanzees and humans too yet they have totally different culture than chimpanzees.
In fact, bonobos used to be a subspecies of chimpanzees but because that nonviolent culture, they've become their own species.
Alpha hyenas, however, those are definitely real. But they're boss babes so the PUAs can't work with that
Alpha dommy mommies
I'm pretty sure Moon Moon is an alpha version wolf.
LIES, EVERYONE KNOWS I'M THE ALPHA AWOOOOOO 🐺🐺🐺
People who say alpha wolves don't exist obviously never seen me crankin my hog. ARRRROOOOOOOO
HE'LL YEAH BROTHER NOTHING LIKE CRANKING A COLD ONE AFTER CRACKING YOURE HOG AROOOOOOO
I mean if you believed that shit in the first place you're probably not going to believe this post eh
At least it helps point out the awful people who use the terms "Alpha" and "Beta" unironically to describe people.
Wolves are also scavengers and would gladly eat rotten corpses, trash and literal shit (just like dogs).
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