r/WhitePeopleTwitter • u/Kelmo7 • Sep 23 '22 • Silver 3 Helpful 5 Wholesome 5 Take My Energy 1 Bless Up (Pro) 1

Who makes you feel unsafe?

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u/JGauth13 Sep 23 '22

The whole alpha and beta thing is ridiculous - it’s a good thing that that convo made you uncomfortable…it means that you’re a normal human that doesn’t have to feel superior or create some fucked up testosterone fueled hierarchy to validate yourself

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u/itsadesertplant Sep 23 '22

It’s also incorrect, and the scientist who came up with it admitted as such. Wolves forced in enclosures who don’t know each other exhibit unnatural behaviors, while wolves in the wild are typically in cooperative family groups without such a strict hierarchy. But “alpha” and “beta” mythology lives on

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u/Glass_Memories Sep 23 '22 edited Sep 23 '22

L. David Mech is the biologist in question. Wolves used to be almost extinct so biologists could only really observe them in captivity, that's when he wrote “The Wolf: Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species" back in 1970. Since wolves have made a comeback and we have things like GPS trackers, he's changed his theories to reflect the new, more accurate information of how wolves really behave in the wild.

Because people have been misusing the now disproven "alpha" concept in recent years, he's been trying to get his old book pulled from circulation, but the publisher refuses. He has an article on his webpage about it.

https://davemech.org/wolf-news-and-information

Why people would assume that human social structure or behavior is anything like a wolves' in the first place can't be placed on him tho.