Altruistic Chimps

[anam_moon]

Chimps

Hell's Bells, those chimps are really catching up to us. First we catch them leaving markers on trails so those lagging behind will know where to go, then it's making spears to hunt with, then they're living in caves, and now they're demonstrating generous behavior for no reward. We'll be finding their cave paintings any day now.

Comments

[jackkansas.livejournal.com]

I want to see their sex toys (I'm currently reading Jared Diamond's The Third Chimpanzee [1993]).

Opponents of evolutionary theory used to challenge Darwin and others to prove how "survival of the fittest" could produce altruism. The answer is really rather elegant and depends upon a sophisticated understanding of what "fittest" really means. Many animals other than humans exhibit altruism, and, unfortunately, not enough humans do.

[anam-moon.livejournal.com]

I can say with the utmost certainty that I do not want to see their sex toys. ;)

The answer is really rather elegant and depends upon a sophisticated understanding of what "fittest" really means.
How lovely.

[evanesse.livejournal.com]

Wait, chimps have sex toys? I knew it! :) Bonobos really do rock!

[anam-moon.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be surprised if they did; Bonobos are amazing.

[evanesse.livejournal.com]

I've been curious about that book for a long while, actually. My husband read Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel about a year or so ago, and I got to watch the television adaptation of it soon after he read it, and we both really enjoyed his ideas and found them fascinating. What do you think of The Third Chimpanzee so far? I might just have to cave and buy it.

[jackkansas.livejournal.com]

I thought Guns, Germs, and Steel was fantastic. Diamond has an amazing ability (genius?) to formulate difficult questions and devise innovative ways of answering them. The Third Chimpanzee is an earlier work, exploring how facets of our behavior that we consider "uniquely human" have their origins in animal behavior. I'm enjoying the book and would absolutely recommend it, although if your cash flow is tight you might use your public library. He's particularly strong on subjects such as language, art, and sexuality (although he overlooks the issue of sterility in his discussion of monogamy and adultery). He has a humanistic, progressive view of humanity that I think you would find congenial.

P.S. I was kidding about the "chimp sex toys" — I was hoping to provoke amusing comments from anam_moon.