Humans "unique" social


While watching an interesting program on zebras today on the
Nat. Geo. channel, I started wunderin'...
It was esentially stated that, like many animals, zebras
have a herding instinct which has evolved to aid in defense
(in the case of zebras, mainly of their young) against
predators. Thinking of humans, I recall it often being said
that humans have a uniquely strong tendency towards
sociality (they form groups/tribes , cooperate in many
endeavors, combine resources, etc. etc.)

Note:

Is human sociality really unique, or is it simply an
extension of the herding instinct of many animals which was
originally developed for protection and honed by evolution.
In watching the zebras cooperate for their common goal, it
struck me as very similar to groups of humans who combine to
form adversarial alliances or coalitions (e.g., teams,
departments, friends group, etc.) in everyday life. Often
such competetive groups are formed ad hoc and may be very
subtle. They often provide protection against other groups
or people through mass influence or democratic voting. Where
is the sometimes claimed, putative unique and
exceptional human nobility vis a vis other animals in this?






.

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