Mimicry and Hybridity in the Book of Revelation

This postcolonial biblical critical analysis applies the constructs of mimicry and hybridity to analyse Revelation 1:1–6, 9:11, and 13:11. Certain symbols in Revelation 1:1–6 mimic Roman ideology in order to depict God as greater than Zeus. The passage subverts the social structures of the empire by identifying the audience as slaves and priests. The audience is invited to “hear” the book of Revelation since the concept of “seeing” enforces the empire’s values. Revelation 9:11 provides insight into how hybridity functions, while Revelation 13:11 provides an example of how mimicry and hybridity operate. John shrewdly mimics the dominant culture’s behaviour and values with the use of mimicry and hybridity by proposing that God’s empire subsumes the Roman Empire, based on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and that this godly empire is comprised of a new humanity of hearing slaves and priests (Rev 1:5–6)

Perceptions of Adventist Eschatology Among Teachers in Adventist Schools in Australia and the Solomon Islands

This chapter examines the views and perspectives of Adventist teachers in relation to eschatology. Teachers provide insights into topics like the Second Coming of Jesus, the judgement and the Three angels messages of Revelation 14 among others. Teachers in Australia and the Solomon Islands have similar perspectives on a range of eschatological matters, including commitment to the overall eschatological message of the church. Teachers in both countries do struggle with Adventist identity and the judgement message of 1844

The Thief in the Mirror

The few animals capable of recognizing themselves in a mirror have advanced social cognition related to adopting the perspective of someone else

Peace Lessons from an Unlikely Source

How much is the aggression we observe in nonhuman primates the result of culture, and will the answer provide insights into our own violent behaviour

With a Little Help from a Friend

In humans, the most commonly assumed motivation behind altruism is empathy. Might this also apply to other animals or are they indifferent to each other's welfare

Situating the study of jealousy in the context of social relationships

Whereas the feelings of other beings are private and may always remain so, emotions are simultaneously manifested in behavior, physiology, and other observables. Nonetheless, uncertainty about whether emotions can be studied adequately across species has promoted skepticism about their very presence in other parts of the animal kingdom. Studying social emotions like jealousy in the context of the social relationships in which they arise, as has been done in the case of animal empathy, may help dispel this skepticism. Empathy in other species came to be accepted partly because of the behavioral similarities between its expression in nonhuman animals and humans, and partly because of the neurological parallels. Non-invasive brain imaging results like those reported in the target article can thus help integrate human and animal emotions within an evolutionary framework — but the social context underlies precise definitions of the phenomenon

Ingroup-Outgroup Bias in Contagious Yawning by Chimpanzees Supports Link to Empathy

Humans favor others seen as similar to themselves (ingroup) over people seen as different (outgroup), even without explicitly stated bias. Ingroup-outgroup bias extends to involuntary responses, such as empathy for pain. However, empathy biases have not been tested in our close primate relatives. Contagious yawning has been theoretically and empirically linked to empathy. If empathy underlies contagious yawning, we predict that subjects should show an ingroup-outgroup bias by yawning more in response to watching ingroup members yawn than outgroup. Twenty-three chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) from two separate groups watched videos of familiar and unfamiliar individuals yawning or at rest (control). The chimpanzees yawned more when watching the familiar yawns than the familiar control or the unfamiliar yawns, demonstrating an ingroup-outgroup bias in contagious yawning. These results provide further empirical support that contagious yawning is a measure of empathy, which may be useful for evolutionary biology and mental health