Hugs, handshakes and air kisses serve the same crucial purposes as animal greetings like sniffing, eye poking and buttock grabbing
ON 9 MARCH, Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, called a press conference to discuss his country’s response to the covid-19 pandemic. “From now on, we stop shaking hands,” he declared – before promptly reaching out his hand to greet an expert on infectious diseases.
Many of us can empathise. Social distancing sounds innocuous, but this year we have discovered how hard it can be in practice. Touchy-feely greetings, such as handshakes, hugs, kisses and nose rubbing, are deeply embedded in many cultures. These gestures aren’t merely learned, however. Look to the animal kingdom and you will see that many species – especially highly social ones – perform physical rituals when they approach each other. If our urges to touch one another in greeting seem instinctual, it is because they are.
Greetings adopted by animals can be very different to our own – they include eye poking and other gestures that might make you squirm – but understanding these behaviours can give us an insight into human salutations. Examining the evolution of greetings throws light on the subtle ways they lubricate social interactions and also helps to explain why they are so diverse. As we are a super-social species, it isn’t surprising that many of us are struggling to adjust to the new normal. But the good news is that we are proven masters at adapting our greetings to fit new situations.
Animal encounters
Mammals tend to use scents to suss each other out, which explains why …
Source: Humans - newscientist.com
