The Wisdom of Geese

Article By Istvan Orban

posted by UK, January 29, 2016

There is an old saying that goes: “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander”, meaning that what is good for one person is good for another. If we look a little closer at the behaviour of geese, we can find many more things we can learn from them. Particularly their amazing spirit of cooperation and teamwork.

Have you noticed, for example, that when a flock of geese flies across the sky, they use a “V” formation? By doing so the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

If one goose falls out of formation, it feels the drag and resistance of flying alone; that’s why it quickly moves back into the formation and takes advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front of it.

When the lead goose tires, it naturally rotates back into formation and another goose flies to the point position. In this way, by seamless cooperation, they can travel for hundreds of miles a day.

But it’s not all about efficiency. There’s compassion too. When a goose gets sick or wounded, two other geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it.

Contrary to the old idea that “nature is red in tooth and claw”, scientists are now aware of another mechanism other than competition in nature: cooperation. You can see it in geese and you can see it in penguins. There are many examples that if beings work as a team, they can achieve more and better things, with less effort, simply by utilizing the laws of nature and working together. Does this not also apply to human beings, who are part of nature too?

Image Credits: By Fraukefeind | Pixabay |CC BY CC0 BY PD

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By Fraukefeind | Pixabay |CC BY CC0 BY PD

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