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Lifetide
Book •
Lyle Watson's 'Lifetide' is a popular-science work that explores patterns of collective behaviour and cultural transmission among animals and humans.
The book recounts observational anecdotes and interpretations of how learned behaviours can spread within animal populations.
One famous story from the book describes Japanese monkeys learning to wash sweet potatoes, which later became the source of the 'hundredth monkey' idea.
Watson used accessible prose to bring ethological observations to a general audience, influencing later discussions about cultural transmission and group learning.
While some anecdotes were later critiqued and exaggerated, 'Lifetide' played a role in popularising ideas about social learning and spread of behaviour.
The book recounts observational anecdotes and interpretations of how learned behaviours can spread within animal populations.
One famous story from the book describes Japanese monkeys learning to wash sweet potatoes, which later became the source of the 'hundredth monkey' idea.
Watson used accessible prose to bring ethological observations to a general audience, influencing later discussions about cultural transmission and group learning.
While some anecdotes were later critiqued and exaggerated, 'Lifetide' played a role in popularising ideas about social learning and spread of behaviour.
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when recounting the origin of the 'hundredth monkey' anecdote described in a popular science book.


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