A few days ago I came across a couple of Australian wood ducks with a brood of newly-hatched ducklings. The parents were initially fiercely protective of them, but the more they got to know me the less aggressive they became.
When I looked out for the family today I found the ducklings huddled together against the cold without their parents. Eventually they gravitated towards an adult but that one tried to chase them away and even bit them when they got too close. That was obviously the wrong duck!
Eventually the real parents arrived, but even then the ducklings didn’t recognise them and followed the one that had been rejecting and biting them. In other words, they were chasing gratification where they could not possibly receive it, while at the same time their real source of gratification was with them all along. Sound familiar?
aaron
It does sound vaguely familiar, I’m sorry..