An argument over great apes
Oh yeah. Not even a week into the semester. I sure am making friends fast.
So, the original post that I was responding to was asserting that the great apes don’t have a hippocampus minor, so therefore humans should not be classified as great apes because humans do have this part of the brain. Because we’re in, you know, school, I thought participating in discussion when someone argues a fact that is wrong was a good thing.
My reply to the assertion that apes don’t have a hippocampus minor:
Your assertion that apes don’t have a “hippocampus minor” (known as calcar avis in modern science) is wrong. They also have a hippocampus. The human brain is not unique to the ape brain, there is just a difference in brain mass, which leads to different functioning of different parts of the brain. Richard Owen was a giant anti-evolutionist, and proposed that apes didn’t have the hippocampus minor without any scientific evidence to back it up. When Thomas Huxley proved that apes did in fact have this, he ruined Owen’s credibility, because Owen purposefully left out the fact that he had evidence to the contrary, from anatomists who’d published papers dissecting a chimpanzee brain (you have to remember that anything resembling modern anatomy’s roots were in the 1600′s, so in the 1800′s when Owen and Dawkins were around was uncovering some significant things about the body).
Another student, we’ll call her Ms. X, replied to my above post:
Courtney:
Why are you in this class?
It appears that you already know quite a bit about Apes. So much so that you can tell another student when they are incorrect.
Are you an anthropology major? How many years have you studied this subject?
Your knowledge seems vast and will probably be helpful to the class.
Ms. X
Could I leave that be and not reply? No, no I could not.
I don’t think there’s a need to be rude. I was only telling the student that she was wrong because she was; what should I have said instead? If I’m in the wrong about something that I’m asserting, I’d want to know as well, so feel free to correct me if I post something that is incorrect throughout the remainder of the class.
I’m not an anthropology major, I’m a psych major, bio minor, and am involved in animal research relating to neuroscience; currently I work with baboons. I’m not sure how it’s relevant, but since you asked, I took this class because I’m fascinated by evolution, and I wanted to learn more about the great apes – a population that isn’t really touched upon in any other class at UMUC. I might know a lot about the brain, but I don’t know much about great apes.
If you have a problem that is personal, I’d appreciate it if you addressed it through an e-mail instead of posting it in the class forum.
Courtney
To which Ms. X replied:
I don’t know what the problem is, but you might want to calm down and bring it back a few.
I was not being rude. I only asked why you were taking the class and noted that you seem to have enough knowledge to correct the student.
Speaking of being rude, you could have said that he/she was incorrect or that you disagreed with them, not that they were “wrong”. I’ve never seen any professor put it that way when a student is incorrect in their response.
I don’t have anything personal for or against you; I don’t know you to do either. I only made an observation.
Your reply was uncalled for, immature and over the top. I’ll refrain from replying to you from now one.
Ms. X
And my most recent response:
I wasn’t aware there was a problem, and I didn’t think my response to you was over the top or rude. I’m sorry if it came across that way; I was simply addressing your response and questions to me. The tone in your original post came across as rude to me – I’m not sure what my reasoning for taking this class had to do with anything, nor what my major was. I also didn’t think that saying someone was wrong was rude; if I said that 2 + 2 = 5, would you say to me “I think maybe I have a different opinion on what the sum is, I think I disagree” or would you tell me that I was wrong? I would be telling me that I was wrong.
Generally in life, you can’t tailor how you interact with people based on what they may or may not take offense to – I think you’re arguing with me over semantics; you find one way of presenting evidence more desirable than another, but how can I take account for how any of the 50+ people in this class might like evidence presented? For the record, this is my 5th semester taking online classes, and I’ve honestly never had a problem with another classmate over semantics in a posting. We’re taking an online course, which means you might read a post that feels like a certain tone when you read it, and is the complete opposite tone of what the original poster was trying to get across. At the very least, you should give the benefit of the doubt to the poster before you post something based on how you interpreted a response.
The fact that was presented was wrong – apes do have hippocampus minors. The entire point of going to school is to learn, to converse with people in your class, to learn different perspectives and maybe change your own views based on things you learn. I’m merely participating in this process. If you don’t want to interact with me this semester, that’s fine. I’m just not sure why you’re taking a back-and-forth to that level.
Courtney
