Our Inner Ape

Description

This SDG takes its title from that of our core book by primatologist Frand de Waal.  This is science at its enjoyable best.  We learn about ourselves from looking in the mirror of our cousins’ eyes. De Waal writes about cooperation, conflict resolution, deception, altruism, fairness, and the evolutionary origins of morality.  He’s the director of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University in Georgia.  He  has spent years observing and interacting on a daily basis with both bonobos and chimpanzees, our two closest relatives.  He provides us many anecdotes and insights from those years of personal involvement.

Weekly Topics

Week 1.  Apes in the Family   This topic will concern the evolutionary origins and relatedness of the different species of apes, including humans.  Behavior as well as physical characteristics are examined. 

 Week 2    Power     Dominance and submission and the formation of social  hierarchies are the topic.

 Week 3. Sex    Will look at the role of sex, not just for reproduction, but also  it’s roll in bonding and social hierarchies.

Week 4    Violence    This week will study the role of violence in primate societies.  Chimpanzees and bonobos are contrasted with each other and with humans. 

 Week 5.   Kindness     The role of kindness, empathy, and food sharing in  facilitating social bonding in  primate species and humans is the focus this week.

 Week 6    The Bipolar Ape    This chapter  title refers to humans and their innate bipolarity.  Humans are both aggressive and kind, prone to both fairness and deception.  The roots of human bipolarity are explored in an evolutionary context. 

 Week 7    This week we will explore how de Waal’s research and ideas have been accepted or rejected by others.  De Waal has been influential in his long career.  He has attacked the long prevalent view of humans as killer apes.  He nuances it, emphasizing both the  empathic and violent sides of our nature.  Other researchers readily adopt many of de Waal’s ideas and concepts. A case in point would be Steven Pinker. 

Bibliography

Our Inner Ape  by Franz de Waal, 2006