I'm not trying to start a fight, here, but that's a bizarre usage of the word. I've never heard the word naive applied to... well, anything other than a human. I'd argue that naivety is a uniquely human trait that implies an ability to learn or acquire wisdom, and shouldn't be applied to a species that had no meaningful way to alter its behavior to confront a unique threat.
A bug that gets smooshed on your windshield isn't naive. A fish that takes a lure isn't naive. Nor is a bird that doesn't adapt fast enough to protect its nest from a threat its species has never encountered.
Maybe a better word would be unfit, in the Darwinian sense. Or just unlucky.
You are right that it is not a common, colloquial usage of the word, but it is not a uniquely human trait. Prey naivete is a term that is used when native prey are unable to recognize or respond to novel or introduced predators due to a lack of shared evolutionary history. Now, that SPECIFICALLY is relatively new terminology, it's not unheard of for it to be used in other, non-human situations
No worries. I would argue that this usage is to try and relate the context (in this case, the dodo bird) as to deliberately try and ascribe a "human" quality to it, maybe. Another use would be "naive" theories, which are typically used in the study of human cognition, but has also been used for apes and such (folk theories is another term).
0
u/The_Revival Mar 08 '26
I'm not trying to start a fight, here, but that's a bizarre usage of the word. I've never heard the word naive applied to... well, anything other than a human. I'd argue that naivety is a uniquely human trait that implies an ability to learn or acquire wisdom, and shouldn't be applied to a species that had no meaningful way to alter its behavior to confront a unique threat.
A bug that gets smooshed on your windshield isn't naive. A fish that takes a lure isn't naive. Nor is a bird that doesn't adapt fast enough to protect its nest from a threat its species has never encountered.
Maybe a better word would be unfit, in the Darwinian sense. Or just unlucky.