#Chimpanzee vs human fight series

Three of us support one candidate, and two the other, and previous discussions about this political split hadn't gone so well.The Chimpanzee is a primate and is the closest relative to humans (According to studies, their DNA is extremely similar to that of humans). Maybe you recognize your family in mine: five of us went out for a birthday dinner last weekend and avoided the topic of the election completely. Tension, at the very least, is the order of the day, and not only at the town, state or national level. is a deep one, admittedly, with frequent demonizing of, and raging at, those who don't share our political perspective. Each of us can listen more, and drop the coarse epithets about the candidate we don't support. Specifically, we can understand that whatever anxiety and fear we may feel about this election, supporters of the other candidate feel the same. We can build on the ape, indeed the mammalian, evolutionary bedrock of empathy that de Waal emphasizes in his later work (see also Eric Michael Johnson's interview with de Waal). Our species has evolved a more elaborate brain and a more elaborate sense of empathy compared to our ape kin. Status striving can end quite badly in chimpanzees.īut it doesn't always end that way. In fact, Luit was killed in a brutal manner, apparently via a coalition between Yeroen and another male called Nikkie. My choice of chimpanzees here is not intended as any model of how things should be regarding sex, gender and political leadership in our society.įor another thing, chimpanzees may be violent. Bonobos are female-dominant or co-dominant, rather than male-dominant.

For one thing, we're as closely related to bonobos as to chimpanzees. I observed apes in captivity for many years and know that I'm cherry-picking to a certain extent here. Following an altercation, 'If neither of them was prepared to make the first reconciliatory move - by looking at the other, holding out a hand, panting in a friendly way or simply going up to his opponent - the two would continue to sit tensely opposite each other and it was frequently a third party who helped them out of the impasse.'īy terming this third-party behavior mediation, de Waal underscored that it is a purposeful act - one undertaken, incidentally, by adult females.

#Chimpanzee vs human fight series

'After a conflict,' he noted, 'the opponents are attracted to each other like magnets,' and may embrace each other or otherwise interact positively.Ĭhimpanzees, in other words, are political animals who understand shared power and the benefits that flow from reconciliation.Īt Arnhem, two older males called Yeroen and Luit fell into what de Waal called a 'protracted series of impressive displays and conflicts.' Yet reconciliation was often a part of the picture, too. His position is granted him, in part, by the other chimpanzees.' Further, chimpanzee political conflict can result in greater social bonding than had existed before.

Instead, I want to use de Waal's insights as a springboard to reflect on what happens after the election, among the rest of us.Ī chimpanzee leader, de Waal wrote in the book, 'cannot impose his leadership on the group single-handedly. No, I won't be comparing Obama and Romney to male chimpanzee rivals, using nonverbal displays in their contest for dominance. With a little more than a week to go in Barack Obama and Mitt Romney's battle for the American presidency, it's an apt time to revisit the book's message.