Batesian mimicry
No surprise, then, that our ‘innate’ affinity for nature (biophilia) is matched by biophobia, an equally strong fear of things that look like, or move like, or, indeed, are spiders and snakes, etc. Biophobia appears to reflect some kind of evolved preparedness to develop a fear of, or acquire an aversion to, these ancestral threats.39 While so many
... See moreCharles Spence • Sensehacking: How to Use the Power of Your Senses for Happier, Healthier Living
be eaten, you can generally run and hide. If you are a plant, you need to defend yourself in place: you can grow a hard, protective shell, like a walnut; you can sprout spines, like a cactus; or you can fill yourself with poison. The poison strategy is a really common one. Think
Dave Asprey • Fast This Way: Burn Fat, Heal Inflammation, and Eat Like the High-Performing Human You Were Meant to Be (Bulletproof Book 6)
The koala bear can eat eucalyptus leaves, and monarch butterfly caterpillars milkweed. Humans invented their own ingenious detoxifying methods, including plant selection and breeding and cooking.
Harold McGee • On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
When a questionnaire was sent around to local hunters seeking advice on what people should do if they ran into a tiger, Smirnov ignored the list of carefully crafted questions and scrawled SHOW NO FEAR across the blank side. Smirnov approaches tigers the same way he approached hooligans in the back alleys of Moscow. “An animal is an animal,” he sai
... See moreJohn Vaillant • The Tiger
written The Ant and the Peacock,