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

by Frans De Waal (Author)
Key Phrases: wild bonobos, bonobo females, female bonobos, United States, Arnhem Zoo, San Diego (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Power, sex, violence and kindness: these four broad-spectrum categories encompass much of human behavior, so it's only fitting that they're also the primary subject material for Frans de Waal's (The Ape and The Sushi Master) book Our Inner Ape. The few (but deeply detailed) chapters are a mesmerizing read that spans biology, child psychology, postmodern theorists and fundamental morality, using tales of stern chimps, and sexy bonobos to examine humans' place between them. In the process, he examines why we need to know our place in the world, how our body language communicates feelings, and where the roots of empathy lie in mammalian life.

De Waal's respect for both his readers and his research subjects come shining through in the simple clarity he uses when describing both the endless sex of bonobo apes and the heartrending violence occasionally present in chimp hierarchal structure. By illustrating his points with a mixture of straight-from-research experiences and jokes at the expense of modern politicians, he keeps his ideas compelling for anyone with a basic understanding of evolutionary science without drifting towards the academic drone that could be expected of by a researcher of his experience.

You won't find specific conclusions concerning human nature, but instead a gentle, almost rambling look at two primate species with vastly different social networks and how, perhaps, humanity can learn from each to our benefit. A few of de Waal's lovely duotone photos (My Family Album: 30 Years of Primate Photography grace the end of the book, featuring close-up shots of the folks he's been writing about--chimps like Yeroen, Nikkie and Mama, and bonobo Kuif and adopted daughter Roosje are downright thrilling to see after reading such interesting stories about their lives. Jill Lightner --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Noted primatologist de Waal (Chimpanzee Politics) thinks human behavior cannot be fully explained by selfish genes and Darwinian competition. Drawing on his own primate research on chimpanzees and bonobos—our closest animal relatives—he shows how much we can learn from them about ourselves: our qualities of "fellow feeling and empathy" as well as our power-obsessed, violent side. We are "bipolar apes," de Waal says, as much like bonobos as like chimps. The latter are known for their viciousness and "red in tooth and claw" social politics, but bonobos offer a radically different social model, one of peace and hedonistic orgies; de Waal offers vivid, often delightful stories of politics, sex, violence and kindness in the ape communities he has studied to illustrate such questions as why we are irreverent toward the powerful and whether men or women are better at conflict resolution. Readers might be surprised at how much these apes and their stories resonate with their own lives, and may well be left with an urge to spend a few hours watching primates themselves at the local zoo.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594481962
• ISBN-13: 978-1594481963
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #98,325 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How special are you? , November 16, 2005

By	Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Our Inner Ape (Hardcover)

Primatology, the study of our ape cousins, must at once be the most rewarding and thankless jobs in science. On the one hand, these investigations can tell us more about ourselves than any philosophy or psychology curriculum can hope to impart. We learn of their friendships, conflicts, desires, social manipulations and group politics. The resemblances to humans make compelling reading. On the other hand, the long history of our culture has conditioned us to avoid recognising our evolutionary roots. There are "the animals" and there is "us".

With thirty years' experience in the Netherlands and the United States, de Waal wants us to understand how human values derive from primate origins. His careful studies have revealed things unexpected even to himself. His chief aim with this synopsis is to dispense with the many myths that have emerged over the past few years - chimpanzees as "murderers" or "war-makers"; bonobos as over-sexed and gender indifferent, both as "simply wild animals living at the command of "instinct". Diversity and individuality are a major facet of ape societies which, in de Waal's assessment, not only makes them worthy of study, but worthy of sound comparison with our own species.

At first glance, de Waal's condensation of ape behaviour into four topical chapters seems over-distillation. The material in those chapters, however, shows the complexity of primate personalities. Chimpanzee society is male-dominated, with young males taking every opportunity to displace the "alpha" group leader. They live in a strongly hierarchical society where the males hunt and dispense meat for sexual and other favours. Female chimpanzees form few alliances, although brief excursions with males other than the alpha occur. The other "chimpanzee", as de Waal points out, couldn't be more different. The bonobo, once known as the "pygmy chimp", has a more egalitarian society. In fact, the most dominant individual is usually an older female. When fights occur, they are generally brief and inconsequential. The "alpha" female is more likely to die of old age than be toppled by a younger competitor. The leading bonobo is respected for her conciliation and diplomatic skills. Power, then, is a feature of primate society, but how power is exhibited and maintained varies greatly.

"Sex" and "Violence" form the next two topics. Among the apes, including humans, there are several trade-offs involved in producing and raising offspring. Male-dominated chimpanzee groups can establish parentage with relative ease. "Extra-Pair Matings" [EPM] are discouraged and the alpha male is fairly secure in the babies being his. One of the more distressing discoveries about chimpanzees was the revelation that an usurping alpha would kill all his predecessor's offspring. Bonobos would find such behaviour abhorrent [as do we]. In bonobo society, everybody has sex with everybody else - gender is irrelevant. Consequently, since any baby might belong to any male, infanticide is unknown. It's not unknown among humans. The rate of violence against stepchildren, says de Waal, is a matter of some concern. The rate of human EPM is even higher, with studies indicating as many as one-fifth of newborns fathered by unacknowledged men. Yet, alone among primates, we form the "nuclear family" group.

There's another side to all ape behaviour, says de Waal. That's "Kindness". Science turns over both its own and society's often cherished beliefs. One of those beliefs is that only humans "care". Opening the book with the now-famous case of the gorilla that rescued a small child from a zoo moat, de Waal goes on to explain how apes are kind to each other, and even other species. We like to believe that kindness is something we invented with culture, but de Waal suggests there are roots for it reaching back at least 6 million years when the chimp-human lineage split. "The apes can tell us much about ourselves", he contends. There's no better place to seek that information than among them. While fights among chimpanzees are common and often intense, so is the reconciliation that follows. Chimpanzees, bonobos and humans are form societies. Each has methods to keep those societies functioning. Empathy and mutual kindness are as much a part of ape "culture" as in human communities. De Waal urges that we open our eyes to the examples offered by our ape cousins for hints about solving some of our own problems. The biggest step we must take in that process is the recognition that our habits derive from theirs.

That derivation is de Waal's conclusion to this excellent work. Much has been made of the fact that humans and chimpanzees share over 98% of our DNA. The author passes over the numbers in favour of the behavioural evidence. We and the other apes share the experience of "community" and how to live with others. In aspects of sex and violence, we share habits and diverge - but not far - in others. It's false, he says, to argue that humans are "naturally" violent or loving. We aren't the manifestation of "selfish" genes alone, but adapt fluidly to changing conditions. Like the other apes, we negotiate, maneuver and manipulate, sometimes successfully. Our greatest difference is in the way we occupy and use territory. We evolved in an open environment, but we live enclosed in urban centres. That is a contradiction we must learn to deal with. We are, in his words, "The Bipolar Ape". [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

46 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and thoughtful, but with the ocassional lapse, October 9, 2005

By	J. A Magill (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Our Inner Ape (Hardcover)

Proving that all social science remains cyclical, Frans De Waal offers readers a new trip around in the never ending debate of the biological roots of human culture and behavior. For decades, as any student who sat in on an intro anthropology class will tell you, the reigning comparison stood between Homo sapiens and chimpanzees. Thus these aggressive, territorial, and -- to anthropomorphize a bit -- brutal primates, with their hierarchical and male dominated social structure stood as the explanation for all of humankind's worst impulses. Such analysis fit well into the several millennium old dichotomy between our "animal" (evil) and "human" (good) impulses.

Through his fascinating and often amusing analysis of the bonobo, another primate with whom, like chimps, humans share 98.5% of genetics'. Where the chimp is brutal the bonobo is peaceful. Where chimps are territorial and hierarchical, the bonobos share and maintain a female dominate structure. Where chimps jealously guard sexual privileges, bonobos mate, well like animals, sharing partners in all conceivable combinations (De Waal pays this great attention, suggesting that such "loose" sexual relationships prevent aggression).

De Waal writes well, and offers an interesting thesis that in fact both sides of human nature may well come from our animal roots. He even presents interesting evidence for empathy among bonobs and more startling still, the elusive notion of consciousness, that an individual can project themselves into an alien form, such as bonobos caring for birds. All of this makes for a fun and thought provoking read.

De Waal falls short, however, in not going deep enough. While he demonstrates evidence for the emotional hardiness of chimps vs. the far more delicate bonobo (during a bombing in WWII all a zoo's bonobos suffered heart attacks, while the chimps survived), but does not go far enough in examining the potential genetic basis of such behavior. Also, while he does offer in bonobos interesting evidence of alternative survival strategies to aggression, he unfortunately empathizes a bit too much with these gentle creatures. The resulting anthropomorphize, while forgivable, distracts the readers and leads De Waal to make some arguments that seem a bit forced and ignore viable alternatives.

Such criticism, however, should not cause any to shy away from this quite enjoyable and thought provoking work.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Literate and thought provoking, October 10, 2005

By	Fred Bortz "Dr. Fred" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Our Inner Ape (Hardcover)

Even staunch supporters of Darwinian Evolution acknowledge the reason that many people find that theory hard to accept. We humans see ourselves as rational beings with manners and ethics, while apes are fundamentally different creatures that behave like -- well -- animals.

Emory University Primatologist Frans de Waal would not agree. If we really want to understand what makes us human, de Waal argues in Our Inner Ape, we should not focus on our differences with apes, but rather examine the "fascinating and frightening parallels between primate behavior and our own, with equal regard for the good, the bad, and the ugly."

That is precisely what he does in the book, with a wealth of stories and an entertaining style that does not sacrifice scientific depth or objectivity. He focuses on chimpanzees and bonobos because they are closest to humans, sharing a common ancestor as recently as 5.5 million years ago.

A 1000-word review of Our Inner Ape, including an opening limerick, is available at my Science Shelf online book review archive.