Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2014 July 14

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July 14

Digging instinct in children?

Children seem to have an endless desire to dig into the ground, in sandboxes and beaches and many other places. No doubt many mammals dig by instinct, but in humans as we mature we seem to lose interest - while adults garden for fun or for more serious reasons, I don't think many enjoy the digging for its own sake. It's kind of hard to think of a good way to find references on this. A mention is found at [1] but I don't think it's pursued. What I'm wondering is...

• Is there a formal name or recognition for instinctive digging by children?

• In very primitive societies, are there clearer indications of the usual purpose of the digging? (shelters, finding roots etc.)

• What are the best biological correlates of the end of digging activity?

• Has anyone compared fMRIs of dogs and kids digging in the same sandbox?

• Ideally: Are there any specific genes, mutations, or metabolic aberrations proposed to have specific effect on this activity, which change during maturation and potentially might be revealed by the behavior continuing to adulthood?

I am thinking that somehow this instinct ought to give us insight into how human ancestors lived for some substantial period of evolutionary development. And just possibly inspire the invention of the best sandbox any kid has ever seen. :) Wnt (talk) 14:49, 14 July 2014 (UTC)

Digging gets a few mentions of digging in this book "Juvenile Primates: Life History, Development and Behavior" [2], and this book has a bit about digging tools and behaviors: "Tools, Language and Cognition in Human Evolution" [3]. I don't think there's any formal name for a digging instinct, but I could be wrong. I found those books with various combinations of /children human digging excavate behavior/ SemanticMantis (talk) 15:08, 14 July 2014 (UTC)

There are a lot of things you won't see the chairman of Goldman Sachs doing in a suit, like sitting on the floor or digging around in the park across from his office. That's cultural. Gardening, archaeology, and geology for example are productive and usually more interesting ways that adults channel those urges. Of course there's simple curiosity. Last time I was at the beach I dug for mole crabs out of curiosity, and not finding them, observed the larger meiofauna, and showed my nephews the baby clams and the polychaetes. My inlaws, however would never do anything so undignified. They haven't lost their genes, just unlearned their humanity. μηδείς (talk) 15:20, 14 July 2014 (UTC)

"dig, dig, dig until you are safe" - General Ian Hamilton, Gallipoli, 25 April 1915. (Hamilton, Ian (1930). Gallipoli Diary, 1915. Alexandria, Egypt: Library of Alexandria. ISBN 1-4655-3837-2.) The instinct to dig is not presumably for the purpose of sheltering from artillery and machine-gun fire, but the instinct to construct things of all types is quite strong. Ruapekapeka is an earlier example, Minecraft a much later one.

Significant numbers of humans lived in caves at various points (see for example 1556 Shaanxi earthquake), which may have relevance to associating enclosure with safety. Children's den and Blanket fort constructions quite often come about through natural experimentation rather than tradition and design, whereas the construction of a Wendy house usually involves adults or older children.

When it comes down to it, though, if you find that you can wade into water safely, then you want to reach for things underneath it. Likewise, if you find there is earth and you can dig into it and you find things, you naturally want to dig further. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 21:55, 14 July 2014 (UTC)

I'd guess that looking for buried treasure from stories is one reason why kids dig. Some adults continue to do so, often using a metal detector to improve the odds. StuRat (talk) 22:09, 14 July 2014 (UTC)

Its doubtfull this phenomenon exists as such. Infants and young children grab and play with everything they can get their hands on unless it is unpleasant or painfull. The ground, or even way more interesting, an earth or sand ground, is just in their reach. Its simply an awesome toy and humans still play with it if they are full grown (for example building a sand castle at the beach)! --Kharon (talk) 01:44, 15 July 2014 (UTC)

What about mining? Some people spend their entire lives underground digging for coal or diamonds or gold. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.43.11.252 (talk) 16:26, 18 July 2014 (UTC)