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<DIV id="readability-content"><DIV class="page" id="readability-page-1"><div data-omnivore-anchor-idx="1" dir="ltr" lang="en" id="mw-content-text"> <p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="2"><i data-omnivore-anchor-idx="3"><b data-omnivore-anchor-idx="4">An Instinct for Dragons</b></i> is a book by <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="5" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Central_Florida" title="University of Central Florida">University of Central Florida</a> <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="6" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropologist" title="Anthropologist">anthropologist</a>, David E. Jones, in which he seeks to explain the universality of <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="7" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon" title="Dragon">dragon</a> images in the <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="8" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore" title="Folklore">folklore</a> of human societies. In the introduction, Jones conducts a survey of dragon myths from cultures around the world and argues that certain aspects of dragons or dragon-like mythical creatures are found very widely. He claims that even the <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="9" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit" title="Inuit">Inuit</a> have a reptilian dragon-like monster, even though (living in a frigid environment unsuited for cold-blooded animals) they had never seen an actual <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="10" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptile" title="Reptile">reptile</a>. </p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="11">Jones then argues against the common <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="12" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothesis" title="Hypothesis">hypothesis</a> that dragon myths might be motivated by primitive discoveries of <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="13" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur" title="Dinosaur">dinosaur</a> <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="14" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil" title="Fossil">fossils</a> (he argues that there are widespread traits of dragons in folklore which are not observable from fossils), and claims that the common traits of dragons seem to be an amalgam of the principal predators of our ancestral <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="15" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominid" title="Hominid">hominids</a>, which he names as the <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="16" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_of_prey" title="Bird of prey">raptors</a>, great cats (especially <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="17" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard" title="Leopard">leopards</a>) and <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="18" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythonidae" title="Pythonidae">pythons</a>. </p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="19">The hypothesis to which Jones conforms is that over millions of years of <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="20" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution" title="Evolution">evolution</a>, members of a species will evolve an <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="21" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instinct" title="Instinct">instinctive</a> fear of their <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="22" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator" title="Predator">predators</a>, and he proposes ways in which these fearful images may be merged in artistic or cultural expression to create the dragon image and, perhaps, other kinds of hybrid monster. </p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="23">Finally he suggests sociological reasons for why such images may be perceived differently at different stages of a culture to try to explain why <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="24" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_dragon" title="Chinese dragon">Chinese dragons</a> are considered basically good and representative of government, but the great majority (although not all) <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="25" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_dragon" title="European dragon">European dragons</a> are evil and often represent chaos. </p> <h2 data-omnivore-anchor-idx="26"><span data-omnivore-anchor-idx="27" id="Reception">Reception</span></h2> <p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="28">Jones' theory was opposed in an article by Paul Jordan-Smith in the Spring 2002 issue of <i data-omnivore-anchor-idx="29">Western Folklore</i> and by other authors. Jordan-Smith criticized the lack of evidence given to prove why dragon myths could not have been passed from culture to culture. He also notes that it cannot be demonstrated that the fears of ancestral hominids are coded into the human brain. He concludes his review by writing "One is tempted to say, as <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="30" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Parker" title="Dorothy Parker">Dorothy Parker</a> once did, that this is a book not to be tossed aside lightly but thrown violently. But no, it is not worth spending even that much energy on."<sup data-omnivore-anchor-idx="31" id="cite_ref-1"><a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="32" href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> </p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="33">D. Ogden writes that Jones' ideas "might offer pause for thought given the universality of dragon-slaying narratives". He adds, though, that the compound cat, snake, raptor creature imagined by Jones is mostly the Western stereotype based on <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="34" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_dragon#Middle_Ages" title="European dragon">mediaeval imagery</a>, and that Jones has sought out similar images in a way that lacks <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="35" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholarly_method" title="Scholarly method">rigor</a>. In particular, Ogden notes that the <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="36" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragons_in_Greek_mythology" title="Dragons in Greek mythology">dragons of Graeco-Roman myth</a> do not fit with Jones's prototype, typically lacking one or more of the hybrid components (with the exception of <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="37" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhon" title="Typhon">Typhon</a>, who, however, combines many more animals than Jones's three).<sup data-omnivore-anchor-idx="38" id="cite_ref-drakon_2-0"><a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="39" href="#cite_note-drakon-2">[2]</a></sup> </p> <h2 data-omnivore-anchor-idx="40"><span data-omnivore-anchor-idx="41" id="References">References</span></h2> <div data-omnivore-anchor-idx="42"><ol data-omnivore-anchor-idx="43"> <li data-omnivore-anchor-idx="44" id="cite_note-1"><span data-omnivore-anchor-idx="45"><b data-omnivore-anchor-idx="46"><a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="47" href="#cite_ref-1" aria-label="Jump up" title="Jump up">^</a></b></span> <span data-omnivore-anchor-idx="48"><cite data-omnivore-anchor-idx="49" id="CITEREFJordan-Smith2002">Jordan-Smith, Paul (2002). "Review: <i data-omnivore-anchor-idx="50">An Instinct for Dragons</i>". <i data-omnivore-anchor-idx="51">Western Folklore</i>. <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="52" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> .</cite><span data-omnivore-anchor-idx="53" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Western+Folklore&rft.atitle=Review%3A+An+Instinct+for+Dragons&rft.date=2002&rft_id=%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F1500302%23id-name%3DJSTOR&rft.aulast=Jordan-Smith&rft.aufirst=Paul&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAn+Instinct+for+Dragons"></span></span> </li> <li data-omnivore-anchor-idx="54" id="cite_note-drakon-2"><span data-omnivore-anchor-idx="55"><b data-omnivore-anchor-idx="56"><a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="57" href="#cite_ref-drakon_2-0" aria-label="Jump up" title="Jump up">^</a></b></span> <span data-omnivore-anchor-idx="58"><cite data-omnivore-anchor-idx="59" id="CITEREFOgden2013">Ogden, Daniel (2013). <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="60" rel="nofollow" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&pg=PA24"><i data-omnivore-anchor-idx="61">Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds</i></a>. Oxford University Press. pp. 24–25.</cite><span data-omnivore-anchor-idx="62" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Drakon%3A+Dragon+Myth+and+Serpent+Cult+in+the+Greek+and+Roman+Worlds&rft.pages=24-25&rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&rft.date=2013&rft.aulast=Ogden&rft.aufirst=Daniel&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DFQ2pAK9luwkC%26pg%3DPA24&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAn+Instinct+for+Dragons"></span></span> </li> </ol></div> <!-- NewPP limit report Parsed by mw1331 Cached time: 20220804021123 Cache expiry: 1814400 Reduced expiry: false Complications: [vary‐revision‐sha1] CPU time usage: 0.304 seconds Real time usage: 0.374 seconds Preprocessor visited node count: 953/1000000 Post‐expand include size: 9193/2097152 bytes Template argument size: 1243/2097152 bytes Highest expansion depth: 19/100 Expensive parser function count: 0/500 Unstrip recursion depth: 1/20 Unstrip post‐expand size: 9154/5000000 bytes Lua time usage: 0.174/10.000 seconds Lua memory usage: 3082804/52428800 bytes Number of Wikibase entities loaded: 1/400 --> <!-- Transclusion expansion time report (%,ms,calls,template) 100.00% 342.913 1 -total 65.80% 225.643 1 Template:Infobox_book 55.47% 190.209 1 Template:Infobox 33.32% 114.269 1 Template:Reflist 28.73% 98.524 1 Template:ISBNT 22.38% 76.759 1 Template:Cite_journal 16.51% 56.610 1 Template:Catalog_lookup_link 7.03% 24.123 1 Template:Wikidata_image 3.52% 12.062 1 Template:Error-small 2.85% 9.786 1 Template:Small --> <!-- Saved in parser cache with key enwiki:pcache:idhash:1928876-0!canonical and timestamp 20220804021123 and revision id 992642852. --> </div></DIV></DIV>
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