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.
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.