(this article is reproduced from the species calendar. If you are interested in learning about the original animation and comics ~)

according to the aesthetic standards of the public, "falling naked in the circle" is really a bit "lame". This is especially true for Chinese people with cultural "walls". But sumo on Fire Maru tells us from the beginning that sumo is a religious activity. In other words, it is a "ritual" with a "sacred" meaning .

interestingly, in Animal behavior , there is also the word "ritual", and its meaning is strikingly similar to the anthropological "ritual". The behavior of animals is not shaped by rational minds like human culture, but evolved in natural selection. But what they have in common is that they have "meaning outside of action"- uses "action" to convey "meaning" .

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"if you look here, you have kung fu on your legs!"

to compare the similarities between the two rituals, let's take a look at an example of a cartoon from the original Huozhi Maru. In fact, there is no such paragraph in the animation, but this example is too good to give up.

this split is a deformed "four strands", or "foot", originally used to exercise leg muscles and a sense of balance. lift the leg to the vertical , which is an exaggeration. The main meaning of sumo is not to exercise muscles, but to show strong> strength .

the plot at that time was like this. The protagonist Huozhiwan went to the field of other schools to train, and others thought he was short and looked down on him, so he took advantage of this action to "show" himself.

from an animal behavioral point of view, this action is really familiar. There is an insect called bamboo bug (Notobitus meleagris). Male bugs fight each other with muscular, sharp thighs that can clamp their opponents like pliers, crush them violently, and pierce each other's shells. When two male bugs meet, strong first raises their strong thighs and shakes them back and forth in front of their opponents , which is very similar to the meaning of the Fire Maru demonstration.

Bamboo bug specimens, pay attention to the sharp thorns on the thighs. Photo:

every action may have a "forewarning"

Animal Behavioral grandparents Konrad Lorenz and Nikolaas Tinbergen have found that in many animals, "meaningful" movements are mostly accidental- these movements happen to be "harbingers" of other movements , and if you read them, you can understand what the animal is going to do next.

for example, monkeys show their teeth before they open their mouths and bite. This would have been a meaningless move, but if a monkey can recognize "grin" followed by "bite" and make a correct response (dodge or tit for tat), it is evolutionarily good for it. So "grin" has meaning, it conveys the message of "I'm going to bite you" . At this time, "grin" is not only an action, but also a "signal".

for monkeys that send this signal, it would also be evolutionarily advantageous if it could convey the message more clearly. In order to enhance and accurately convey the "meaning" effect of signal , the ritualized action will become more and more exaggerated and intense . When lion-tailed baboons (Theropithecus gelada) demonstrate, they lift their upper lip completely, revealing bright pink gums and huge canine teeth. This is the enhanced version of the grin action.

this behavior will also become more and more "rigid" . It doesn't matter if the grin is just for a bite, but the demonstrating baboon always turns his whole lip over. This action is rigid and immutable. Because of this, the meaning it conveys is more accurate.

the lion-tailed baboon turned up its upper lip to demonstrate. Picture: BluesyPete /wikimedia

another way to emphasize the signal is "makeup" . The body parts used by many animals to express signals are embellished with exaggerated ornaments and bright colors to emphasize this signal.

occurs at the same time as the "enhancement" of the signal, which is the "degradation" of the original function of the signal. For example, after the monkey shows its teeth, it may not bite once in ten times.

during courtship, male mandarin ducks turn their heads to face the feathers of their wings with their mouths, sending out "courtship" signals, which is evolved from 's action of combing wings. Male mandarin ducks have two gorgeous orange feathers on their wings, like two flags, which can emphasize this signal. However, it doesn't really comb its wings, and its mouth doesn't even touch the hair, just like the action of Fire Pill, which is no longer for exercise.

male mandarin duck, pay attention to the orange feathers on your wings. Picture: pixAbay

Lorenz and Timbergen call this evolutionary process "Ritualization". It is very similar to the "ritual" in the human world. A "ritualized" action is no longer a pure action, but a carrier of meaning , just as books are not just paper, language is not just sound.

is not the victory or defeat of "tasteless"!

Monkeys show their teeth and bugs lift their legs. Although they are all showing weapons, they are not to kill each other, but to show their willingness to attack and their strong strength. Both sides of the fight intimidate each other with "ritualized" actions, to distinguish the strong and the weak, and then the weak take the initiative to give way .

from the point of view of human beings, the outcome of this kind of battle may be a little difficult to accept, and the other side is still alive, how can he lose? In sumo, Qianbi Road, a master wrestler, asked the same question to Huozhiwan. Sumo wrestlers can be defeated when they are pushed out of the circle or landed outside the soles of their feet. Qianbi Lu thinks this kind of defeat is really "tasteless".

this ritualized way of fighting may not seem so exciting, but it is good for both sides of the struggle. use "fancy fists and embroidered legs" to intimidate, neither side will get hurt . If it is dry without saying a word, countless monkeys' necks will be bitten and countless bamboo bugs will be tied into leaky spoons.

but as cunning human beings, we will think that if everyone uses "fancy fists and embroidered legs" to compete, will "people" (animals) take advantage of this loophole, bluff and pretend to be strong to deceive others?

as vice rises one foot virtue rises ten, you can think of deceiving others, others can also want to come and see through you. A "ritualized" action, or a "signal", requires at least two "people" (animals) to be established, one is the "sender" of the signal , and the other is the "receiver" of the signal . The power of natural selection acts on both parties. If the "bluff" is good for the "sender", then for the "receiver", it is good for the receiver to see through the "scam". The ability to "deceive people" and "detect scams" is tit for tat and is evolving.

once the liar is detected, the price is very painful. in the cartoon, the protagonist meets a group of "social people" who smoke with a hot head. After hearing the word "sumo department", the ferocious gangster immediately becomes respectful.

gangsters can be regarded as dishonest "sender". By smoking, drinking and perming their heads, sends false signals and pretends to be strong . But they're not really strong. Gangsters are afraid of sumo, just because (spoiler point doesn't matter, anyway, it's not in this animation). They didn't know the nature of heaven and earth, so they went to find trouble in sumo wrestling, and they were beaten up.

improving the "cost" of cheating

the ability to identify liars is very useful, but how to identify frauds? Evolutionary biologist Amotz Zahavi has come up with an answer. He said that a very simple way to prove that a signal is "honest" is to increase the cost of the signal .

A "expensive" signal is different for strong animals and weak animals. A strong animal makes an action that can be done with great effort, and a weak animal may lose half its life to complete it.

therefore, when conveying a "signal", animals will perform difficult movements , or carry extremely huge and bulky "weapons" , and even deliberately to show the key to the enemy, so as to show their strength. For example, only strong and nutritious bugs can grow a pair of long legs. The cost of "signal" can honestly convey the strength of one's own strength.

for sheep [Yu á n] (Capra ibex), huge horns are an expensive weapon. Picture: pixabay

sumo

every action may have a "forewarning"

Animal Behavioral grandparents Konrad Lorenz and Nikolaas Tinbergen have found that in many animals, "meaningful" movements are mostly accidental- these movements happen to be "harbingers" of other movements , and if you read them, you can understand what the animal is going to do next.

for example, monkeys show their teeth before they open their mouths and bite. This would have been a meaningless move, but if a monkey can recognize "grin" followed by "bite" and make a correct response (dodge or tit for tat), it is evolutionarily good for it. So "grin" has meaning, it conveys the message of "I'm going to bite you" . At this time, "grin" is not only an action, but also a "signal".

for monkeys that send this signal, it would also be evolutionarily advantageous if it could convey the message more clearly. In order to enhance and accurately convey the "meaning" effect of signal , the ritualized action will become more and more exaggerated and intense . When lion-tailed baboons (Theropithecus gelada) demonstrate, they lift their upper lip completely, revealing bright pink gums and huge canine teeth. This is the enhanced version of the grin action.

this behavior will also become more and more "rigid" . It doesn't matter if the grin is just for a bite, but the demonstrating baboon always turns his whole lip over. This action is rigid and immutable. Because of this, the meaning it conveys is more accurate.

the lion-tailed baboon turned up its upper lip to demonstrate. Picture: BluesyPete /wikimedia

another way to emphasize the signal is "makeup" . The body parts used by many animals to express signals are embellished with exaggerated ornaments and bright colors to emphasize this signal.

occurs at the same time as the "enhancement" of the signal, which is the "degradation" of the original function of the signal. For example, after the monkey shows its teeth, it may not bite once in ten times.

during courtship, male mandarin ducks turn their heads to face the feathers of their wings with their mouths, sending out "courtship" signals, which is evolved from 's action of combing wings. Male mandarin ducks have two gorgeous orange feathers on their wings, like two flags, which can emphasize this signal. However, it doesn't really comb its wings, and its mouth doesn't even touch the hair, just like the action of Fire Pill, which is no longer for exercise.

male mandarin duck, pay attention to the orange feathers on your wings. Picture: pixAbay

Lorenz and Timbergen call this evolutionary process "Ritualization". It is very similar to the "ritual" in the human world. A "ritualized" action is no longer a pure action, but a carrier of meaning , just as books are not just paper, language is not just sound.

is not the victory or defeat of "tasteless"!

Monkeys show their teeth and bugs lift their legs. Although they are all showing weapons, they are not to kill each other, but to show their willingness to attack and their strong strength. Both sides of the fight intimidate each other with "ritualized" actions, to distinguish the strong and the weak, and then the weak take the initiative to give way .

from the point of view of human beings, the outcome of this kind of battle may be a little difficult to accept, and the other side is still alive, how can he lose? In sumo, Qianbi Road, a master wrestler, asked the same question to Huozhiwan. Sumo wrestlers can be defeated when they are pushed out of the circle or landed outside the soles of their feet. Qianbi Lu thinks this kind of defeat is really "tasteless".

this ritualized way of fighting may not seem so exciting, but it is good for both sides of the struggle. use "fancy fists and embroidered legs" to intimidate, neither side will get hurt . If it is dry without saying a word, countless monkeys' necks will be bitten and countless bamboo bugs will be tied into leaky spoons.

but as cunning human beings, we will think that if everyone uses "fancy fists and embroidered legs" to compete, will "people" (animals) take advantage of this loophole, bluff and pretend to be strong to deceive others?

as vice rises one foot virtue rises ten, you can think of deceiving others, others can also want to come and see through you. A "ritualized" action, or a "signal", requires at least two "people" (animals) to be established, one is the "sender" of the signal , and the other is the "receiver" of the signal . The power of natural selection acts on both parties. If the "bluff" is good for the "sender", then for the "receiver", it is good for the receiver to see through the "scam". The ability to "deceive people" and "detect scams" is tit for tat and is evolving.

once the liar is detected, the price is very painful. in the cartoon, the protagonist meets a group of "social people" who smoke with a hot head. After hearing the word "sumo department", the ferocious gangster immediately becomes respectful.

gangsters can be regarded as dishonest "sender". By smoking, drinking and perming their heads, sends false signals and pretends to be strong . But they're not really strong. Gangsters are afraid of sumo, just because (spoiler point doesn't matter, anyway, it's not in this animation). They didn't know the nature of heaven and earth, so they went to find trouble in sumo wrestling, and they were beaten up.

improving the "cost" of cheating

the ability to identify liars is very useful, but how to identify frauds? Evolutionary biologist Amotz Zahavi has come up with an answer. He said that a very simple way to prove that a signal is "honest" is to increase the cost of the signal .

A "expensive" signal is different for strong animals and weak animals. A strong animal makes an action that can be done with great effort, and a weak animal may lose half its life to complete it.

therefore, when conveying a "signal", animals will perform difficult movements , or carry extremely huge and bulky "weapons" , and even deliberately to show the key to the enemy, so as to show their strength. For example, only strong and nutritious bugs can grow a pair of long legs. The cost of "signal" can honestly convey the strength of one's own strength.

for sheep [Yu á n] (Capra ibex), huge horns are an expensive weapon. Picture: pixabay

sumo