Customer Reviews

Intimate Behavior: A Zoologist's Classic Study of Human Intimacy

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If science is regarded as a dry and boring matter Dr. Morris' Intimate Behavior comes to prove it wrong. In this delightful book the scientist states that "man is a social animal and the ordinary healthy human being finds prolonged isolation a severe punishment.

According to Dr. Morris the very beginning of our lives is replete with intimacy in our contact with our mother. After a brief while our quest for independence launches us toward the unknown world. If this urge for independence and exploration is the base for the development of human society it also weights heavily on the individual that loses the so needed intimacy. During puberty when the young couples start to form the intimacy returns and with it there's usually a certain return to infancy. That's when young adults cuddle each other and call each other babies usually using high pitch voices.

Dr. Morris warns us about the crescent overcrowding found on the "Human Zoo", the modern megalopolis. The overcrowding creates a high level of stress that helps to separate people. This creates a positive feedback link: elevated stress level reduces intimate contact that in turn increases the stress.

This 19971 book although covering fast changing subjects like human behavior and human evolution is still surprisingly up to date. As in his other books Dr. Morris presents the topics based in precise scientific propositions backed by his observations, historical analysis and by the painstaking study of over 10,000 magazine and newspaper pictures.

This book is a must read for everyone interested in human behavior. You will be surprised to learn why do we do the things we do. Other fantastic books by Dr. Morris include the revolutionary "The naked Ape", the "Human Zoo" and the recent "The Human Animal" that accompanies the TV series and summarizes his work.

Although the book dates back several decades, with only a short updated prologue, the subject ,human intimacy, does not lend itself to change as quickly as technology or medicine therefore the information and opinions are still valid today. Desmond Morris captivated me with his zoological perspective on human behavior, viewing us as we are, animals; but with social restrictions and norms that artificially restrain our natural urge for intimacy.

I found it a fascinating read but found the last few sections not in line with his zoology background but rather from a ridiculous psychoanalytic perspective. This perspective is not based on scientific fact or reason but formulated by Freud from unrecorded observations that he recounted by memory of case studies he had saw. Having Desmond Morris try and convince me that I indulge in the occassional cigar, which represents a "super nipple", as a substitute for intimacy that I recieved as a child made me crack up rather than stop and reflect on his brilliance. This type of opinion seems to me out of Zoology's domain.

I rather enjoyed the sections concerning parental, sexual, and social behaviour as they were told from a zoological perspective, while the later sections had the sour flavour of Sigmond Freud. I do recommend this book to anyone interested in the behavioural sciences particularly in the ways we touch and do not touch each other. So dont be scared to 'touch' this book and become 'intimate' with its pages as you will learn much from it.

Dr. Morris has written his most important document inside the pages of this book. It seems as if he matured after writing "The Naked Ape" and decided to condense all of the important points in his masterpiece and make it quick informative reading as "intimate Behaviour". When it was written, Morris was the head Zoologist at the London Zoo. His understanding of the human animal will answer all of the "why?" questions that your parents couldn't answer. This book should be mandatory high school reading and if it were so, speaking would be at a minimum and body language and gesturing would reign supreme.

There are so many things we take for granted, including care for our children and each other. We would spend thousands of dollars on training, learning, and loving our pets but we failed to do the same for our children and for each other. Our children have more negelected love then what our pets have received. This book is a great wake up call for everybody. It has been a great tool for me to learn more on how to love and care for anyone I come in contact.

Morris uses his same method of detachment and logic as that found in The Naked Ape and creates a modern guide to understanding the intimate behavior of the human animal. His philosphy is extremly simple due to the strong sense of logic that creates its foundation. Morris's work is destined to be a landmark within the future of psychology

An old book dealing with a contemporary, old problem. Morris gives easy to understand observations that each reader can relate to one moves through this book. Even though the book is old the information is timeless. People have not changed in their basic nature even though some want to think we are enlightened and better than those generations before us.

I like the writings of Desmond Morris because he takes the discipline of a scientist and applies it to looking at us. He is as objective with this lens as he would be looking at other mammals. This approach cuts through some of a subjective opinions and cherished ideas about who we are and how we function. Yet at the same time, he is honoring of what we are and points to things that can help us relate to each other more healthily and more naturally. This book is no exception. My favorite of his is PEOPLE WATCHING which seems to summarize much of what he says in other books and also shows a lot with pictures.

I am new to Morris' general work but I am thourougly impressed. So far I have read this book and The Naked Ape.

This book lags in certain parts, but he consistently gives detailed attention to all aspects of human intimacy - the sections Sexual Intimacy, alone (at least) are worth reading as he couragously attends to a very difficult subject of love and sex in very practical ways. His thinking on this front is well stated and offers doorways for the thinking man to manifest new ways forward for the sepcies.

Dr. Morris has written another marvelous book that clearly elucidates the intimate behavior of the human animal. It is delightful, interesting and informative.
It is definitely a book worth reading.......

Sorry, my review is not about the book, but about i.parcel, the company that was supposed to send it to me
Never anymore, they probably lost my book and the service was really unpolite with me when i contacted them
AVOID