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Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Song And Dance May Not Be Universal Human Behaviors, Study Shows
No matter what language you speak, music compels you to get up and move. Or so it's been thought. Some cultures, it now appears, may lose their groove, forgetting how to dance and even sing lullabies to their children. That's the main finding from new research carried out by anthropologists Manvir Singh, from the University of California, Davis, and Kim Hill, from Arizona State University, which was based on a decade of study on a Northern Aché tribe in Paraguay. In all that time, no singing was seen directed at infants, and no dances were observed. It's apparently not something the Northern Aché know how to do – and that challenges most previous research on the topic. "Dance and infant-related song are widely considered universal, a view that has been supported by cross-cultural research, including my own," says Singh. "And this conclusion, in turn, informs evolutionary theorizing about music's origins." What singing there was mostly happened when people were alone, the researchers found. Women tended to sing about loved ones who had passed away, while the songs of men (who sang more frequently) were primarily about hunting. The researchers have a couple of hypotheses explaining what's happened. The concepts of dancing and singing to young children may have been lost during times when the Northern Aché population dropped, or when they were settled on reservations. According to conversations with the nomadic hunter-gatherers, other behaviors – including the ability to make fire, the use of magic rituals in hunting, and polygyny – have been lost to time in the same ways. "It's not that the Northern Aché don't have any need for lullabies," says Singh. "Aché parents still calm fussy infants. They use playful speech, funny faces, smiling and giggling." "Given that lullabies have been shown to soothe infants, Aché parents would presumably find them useful." It's also notable that the Southern Aché tribe closely linked to the study group do have dancing and group singing. It's possible that their northern relatives did practice these behaviors, once upon a time. While this study only covers a single group of people, it seems that lullabies and dancing may not be innate for human beings. Compare that to something like smiling, which everyone does, and which doesn't need to be learned. Getting clarity on what we do and don't do naturally, without any input from anyone else, is important in understanding the evolution of our species – and the ways in which we've gained an advantage over other animals. However, the researchers aren't rushing to any firm conclusions from their years studying the Northern Aché. It'll be interesting to see if anthropologists discover any more communities who never think of dancing or singing lullabies. "This doesn't refute the possibility that humans have genetically evolved adaptations for dancing and responding to lullabies," says Singh. "It does mean, however, that cultural transmission matters much more for maintaining those behaviors than many researchers, including myself, have suspected." The research has been published in Current Biology. TikTok Trend Has Men Shaving Their Eyelashes – Here's Why You Shouldn't Unprecedented Survey of Aztec Obsidian Reveals Coast-to-Coast Trade Network Music Does Something Amazing to Your Brain's Own Natural Rhythms
The Hindu
23-04-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
ISL's future in doubt amid stalled growth and financial strains
In Indian football, the more things change, the more they remain the same. Before the start of the Indian Super League season, the host broadcaster ran a promo quizzing — 'Who is the next hero?' of Indian football. Recently retired international, Sunil Chhetri, considered the face of the league for the previous decade, with yesteryear star Bhaichung Bhutia in tow, was taking consensus from leading names in Bollywood, Indian cricket and badminton on who among the next generation would take the mantle from Chhetri. Eight months on, the find of the season has been Chhetri himself! At 40, he matched his season-best tally of goals, outscoring any other Indian, which prompted an international retirement U-turn. While it's a testament to his drive and skill to keep delivering at the highest level, the inability to find his successor leaves a question mark over the ISL despite the 11-season run. While the league has helped improve professional standards and technical expertise, it has not taken the sport in the country to the next level as was expected. The over-reliance on foreigners in key positions both on and off the field has yielded mixed results. In the 11 seasons, no Indian has won the Golden Boot. Chhetri leads the ISL scoring chart, but he has had the benefit of having played in 10 of the 11 campaigns. The four-foreigner rule in the playing XI isn't helping unearth the next Chhetri or Bhutia. Goals win matches and teams over the years have imported players to carry out that task. During the ISL play-offs, Bengaluru played an all-Indian backline, which allowed it to stack its six available midfield and attacking positions with four overseas players. Mohun Bagan's Manvir Singh, who can play multiple positions in the forward line, is a case study on having to fulfil two different roles for club and country due to the foreigner rule in the league. Manvir Singh has played more games as a striker for India than for his club Mohun Bagan Super Giant. | Photo Credit: Dipayan Bose/Abhijit Addya/Focus Sports/ FSDL In his five seasons at Bagan, he has had to make way to the right wing position for overseas players in the striker and centre-forward positions. Of his last 111 appearances in the league, Manvir has played as a centre-forward just nine times. But for the Indian team, during the same period, he has featured more times as a centre-forward (13) than as a right winger (9). At the home of the ISL double champion Mohun Bagan, it's also a problem of plenty, with several players being lost in the shuffle. The Kolkata outfit has an array of Indian talent, which includes Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Lalengmawia Ralte, Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan and Deepak Tangri. Thapa and Samad — two talented attacking midfielders, who made big-money moves to Bagan in the summer of 2023 — have enjoyed significant upheaval in their trophy haul and wages. But this season, on the pitch, they have had to take a back seat since the arrival of another exciting midfield talent, Ralte. In the 2023–24 campaign, Thapa and Samad averaged 64.86 and 69.53 minutes per 90, but in the recently concluded season, the playing time has dropped to 55.38 and 42.94 respectively. While the ISL has undoubtedly raised the ceiling among the Indian players, there have also been accusations of complacency, most notably raised by the national team coach, Manolo Marquez. 'My feeling is that Indian players are very comfortable,' the Spaniard pointed out. 'Life is so good for them in the ISL that it is difficult for them to try and go abroad.' Anirudh Thapa (R) of Mohun Bagan Super Giant has seen his minutes reduced in the recently concluded ISL season. | Photo Credit: R. Parthibhan/ Focus Sports / FSDL Last season, Ralte was reportedly registered outside the new salary cap regulations, while Thapa and Samad are also among the best-paid Indian players in the league. The preference to look abroad also extends to coaching roles, with Indians often being overlooked. Marquez, in his first press conference after his appointment, said, 'In the future, the national team coach has to be Indian. An Indian coach will know better how the country works and the people in every part of India.' Indians in the Indian Super League since 2014 Golden Boot Winners: 0 Top 10 All-Time Goalscorers: 2 Top 10 All-Time Assist Providers: 3 Head Coaches in ISL History: 2 But there appears to be no definite pathway or track record in the ISL for them to make that step up. It took until the seventh season before an Indian was appointed in a permanent head coach role. Among the 84 permanent head coach appointments in the ISL, there have been just two Indians — Khalid Jamil (NorthEast United in 2021) and Thangboi Singto (Hyderabad FC in 2023). At the end of the 2024–25 season, the ISL — the country's top-flight competition from 2019–20 — is at crossroads. After kicking off amid frenzied fanfare in 2014, the endeavour has become a loss-making exercise for the clubs involved. There is no certainty over relegation being introduced next season as charted in the AFC-AIFF roadmap, while financial struggles continue to plague clubs. Khalid Jamil became the first Indian to land a permanent head coach job in the ISL in 2021. | Photo Credit: Shibu Preman / Focus Sports / FSDL After Hyderabad FC's turmoil in recent seasons, Mohammedan SC, who was promoted last year, is a doubtful participant for the next season if it fails to find a sponsor and meet the league's financial criteria. READ | Kerala Blasters' David Catala: It's not my responsibility to develop Indians, I will choose the best 11 players The viability of the league has also come into question with the Master Rights Agreement between the national federation and its commercial partner, Football Sports Development League (FSDL), ending in December this year. The league's operational costs since 2014 have allegedly led to a loss of over Rs 5,000 crores for the FSDL. Unless all stakeholders at the table strike a deal on a sustainable model, the competition will remain under a cloud. And amid the lack of resolution from the top on the future of the ISL, Indian football will not be able to look past Chhetri as its main man.
