Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are

الغنى بالمعلومات والبعد الفلسفي للنقاش العلمي تجعله أحد الكتب التي تدخلك في حالة من الصفن والتفكر بعد الانتهاء منها.
يتناول بشكل رئيسي القواسم المشتركة بين القردة العليا ومن ضمنها الأخلاق التي تبين أنها ليست حكراً على البشر، بل راسخة بعمق في تراثنا الحيواني مثل العدوانية والسلوك التنافسي.
نحن البشر نعتقد بسذاجة أننا نتخذ القرارات الأخلاقية اعتماداً على المنطق العقلاني والإرادة الحرة. إذا كان الأمر كذلك، show more فسيلزم تفعيل القشرة الدماغية. ولكن عند فحص دماغ الإنسان في مواجهة معضلة أخلاقية، لوحظ نشاط مناطق أعمق في الدماغ - تلك التي نشترك فيها مع الرئيسات الأخرى. يناقش أيضاً كيف أن كراهية الأجانب جزء من تركيبنا التطوري، ما يجعل الحجج المنطقية غير نافعة في مواجهة هذا الفكر. show less

A conversational book about looking towards the apes - particularly bonobos and chimps- to find the origins of our own behaviors.

de Waal relates stories and research from the world of primatology (his own work and others) and hypothesizes on how they relate to the world of anthropology.

Some of the most interesting parts were seeing American science and culture through de Waal’s European immigrant eyes. His reflections on how violence saturates American cinema wasn’t eye-opening for me but it made my own desensitized nature on the subject more clear.

This book is not a textbook. Don’t go looking for lots of facts and figures on primate studies here. It is a meditation on what it means to be a human among all the other primates on show more this planet from an expert in the field. show less

As a leading primatologist, Mr. Waal has studied chimps and apes for years. He shares his findings on primate behaviour with the reader and draws astounding parallels to human behaviour. He shares personal experiences with the reader as well as some groundbreaking studies done in the field.

Although the book deals with science, psychology and behaviour it is insightful and not at all what I would consider a “dry read”. It really does not matter if your beliefs lean towards creationism or evolution, this book is informative and enjoyable.

De Waal takes the reader on a tour of the remarkable differences between chimpanzees and bonobo's, our two closest relatives, relating their traits back to human behaviour and predispositions. As a premier expert in primatology, De Waal knows his subject a noone else.

What I don't understand is why the author repeatedly takes a stand against the (popular) evolutionary literature of the last 30 years (characterizing it as focusing only on the brutish, selfish aspects of natural selection and keeping a blind eye to the fact that altruism, reciprocity and love exist). I personally really like books like The Selfish Gene and Darwin's Dangerous Idea and I found the ideas presented by De Waal to be in no way in conflict with the ideas from show more these books. In The Selfish Gene, Dawkins too stresses that the harsh, emotionless character of the selection process does not necessarily produce behaviour that is brutish ans selfish towards other beings. In the race for reproduction, morality, care for others and altruism can be viable strategies. Axelrod's The Evolution Of Cooperation (1984) is about exactly this comforting observation: moral and caring behaviour is in no way evolutionary naive.

Back to De Waal's book: apart from the slight irritation over the strawman argument against Dawkins c.s., I truly enjoyed this book. I have gained many new insights in the reasons behind certain behaviours in both humans and animals. I hope to be able to see chimpanzees or bonobo's in the wild some day and I will definitely reread this book then. Until then, the apes will claim (even) more time of the zoo visits I like to make. The chapter on chimpanzee power politics is a masterpiece. The author has an admirable ability to mix scientific observations and very personal, emotionally touching stories into a convincing presentation of a theory. He always makes sure that anecdotal evidence is marked as such and used as an illustration only. But what nice illustions they make!

All in all, I loved this book.

EDIT: I've just returned from a visit to Mahale Mountains NP, where I had the privilige of seeing chimps in the wild while re-reading this book. The book totally stands up to a second reading. Loved it again. Read this book. show less

Може би добра като за начало на пътешествието описващо еволюционните корени на човека и неговата психология, но с доста бих казал детинско разбиране както за еволюционната, така и на психологическата страна на нещата.

Това детинско, повърхностно разбиране, което пространно и многократно показва ДеВаал в настоящата книга, се простира както върху интерпретацията му на известни книги и идеи в сферата, така show more и върху собствените му разсъждения.

Не, Франс, "себичен ген" не означава, че гените правят хората себични - означава, че себичните гени на рибката, за която разказваш по-нататък, са предпочели да я убият, за да запазят няколкото копия на себе си, населяващи нейните деца. И това е са��о една от идеите, които той тълкува погрешно и от това страдат собствените му изводи.

Нещата стават още по-зле, когато се опитва да навлиза в обществената и политическа страна на нещата, давайки съвети относно това как трябва да уредим обществото и държавата, базирани на неговата интерпретация на психологията на шимпанзетата.

Иначе книгата е приятна и лесна за четене, анекдотите за наблюдаваните от автора шимпанзета са забавни и поучителни - но се налага да си вадим сами изводите от тях, а не да разчитаме на автора. show less

Read. This was a very interesting book. Talked alot about the historical development of Chimpanzees, bonobos, gorilla (some), and humans.

I have learned a little bit about other primates but nothing about humans so I feel cheated by the title. I suspect the title was designed to do that.