The Injustice of Crab Mentality

Posted in Friendster March 2005

Ever saw a basket of crabs with live crabs inside? Every crab would try to get out of the basket pulling one another and as a result, nobody gets to get out at all. This was the basis for that Negative Attitude we call Crab Mentality. People would pull each other down so no one would succeed. C'mon! Give the crabs a break!
This behavior is because the crabs were placed in an environment that is unnaturally theirs. Try placing any human being 30 feet under the sea without any breathing aparatus. No matter how rationally excellent that human being is, his survival instinct will always take precedence. He'll also push anyone downwards in order to reach the surface quickly. It's a matter of life and death. Ok, some would say that's going too far. Why compare a drowning situation with a basket of crabs? Well, taking into consideration the difference of a human mind from that of a crab, I think that equates the situation.
Why not observe the crabs in their natural habitat to know their true behavior?
Steven Viscido and David Wethey studied the cohesion of fiddler crab flocks before and after an attack. They found out that when a predator launches an attack, the crabs scurried away but would always end up forming a tighter aggregation. The group offers a great deal of security that even crabs farthest away would rush to join the group even though it means getting near the predator.
Do you also know how crabs communicate with each other? By feeling each other or pushing/pulling each other. Both are normal crab behaviors. In fact, studies proved that the "feeler" fights and pushing contests are ways of getting acquainted with each other. They will run up against each other and wildly wave their antennae and sort of "flick" their legs and claws out at each other. This may seem like a fight to you but these behaviors are not dangerous for the crabs. When a crab starts to grab another one's shell by the openning and start pushing it back and forth with a chirping sound, ring the bell for the crabs are fighting. But otherwise, they're just making friends. So do you really think their behavior towards each other inside that basket is to pull each other down? Who knows, maybe they're just telling their friends to try harder...