Xref: utzoo sci.misc:2882 sci.psychology:1182 comp.ai:2794 comp.ai.neural-nets:359 Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!gatech!gitpyr!loligo!pepke From: pepke@loligo.fsu.edu (Eric Pepke) Newsgroups: sci.misc,sci.psychology,comp.ai,comp.ai.neural-nets Subject: Re: Learned Behavior vs. Hard-Wired Behavior Message-ID: <164@loligo.fsu.edu> Date: 2 Dec 88 21:47:53 GMT References: <1824@cadre.dsl.PITTSBURGH.EDU> <208@logicon.arpa> Reply-To: pepke@loligo.UUCP (Eric Pepke) Organization: Supercomputer Computations Research Institute Lines: 25 In article <208@logicon.arpa> Makey@LOGICON.ARPA (Jeff Makey) writes: >A behavior that I once thought existed in all human cultures was >nodding ones head up and down to mean "yes" and shaking from side to >side to mean "no." According to my girlfriend, who works for a >company that does international trading, there is at least one place >where this is not true. Greeks who want to indicate vigorous assent sometimes shake their heads and say "Nehnehnehnehnehnehnehneh..." Here's another one: Nearly all languages in the world have a word for "mother" that sounds like an infant suckling. However, I doubt that this symbol is hardwired. Rather, the fact that this symbol exists is probably due to the universal nature of breast feeding and the influence of the infants on the inventors of language. Eric Pepke pepke%fsu.mfenet@nmfecc.arpa Supercomputer Computations pepke%scri.hepnet@lbl-csa2.arpa Research Institute pepke%fsu.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu Florida State University "It happens sometimes. People just Tallahassee, FL 32306-4052 explode. Natural causes." (904) 644-2276 Disclaimer: My employers seldom even LISTEN to my opinions. Meta-disclaimer: Any society that needs disclaimers has too many lawyers.