The Naked Ape - not what you are thinking.

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Close enough for government work

Recently finished reading The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris. Back in the late 60s and early 70s this book created a massive impact. Decades later, I find much of what Morris penned to be still relevant.

In actuality, the entire book is still relevant. The few items Morris makes mistakes on are based entirely on research which was current at the time but has since been supplanted. An error he makes is that the Naked Ape (his zoological term for a human) is the only one to make war simply for the sake of war. This is not the case. Other primates go to war, commit murder, rape and etc.

I sit here attempting to review this book knowing that exhaustive and far better reviews have been penned by others. So lemme tell you what the book is, without a review.

Not as different as you might hope.

As a Zoologist, Morris applied the same study methodologies to humans which he applied to animals.

Strictly to aid in the morphology and delineate and separate the human from other primates, Morris calls humans the Naked Ape. Most of our bodies are not covered with substantial hair. Think orangutan.

Through several chapters, he puts a zoologists eye on humans and relates how and why we act the way we do to how and why other animals react under the same circumstances. If you've ever lived in a big crowded city, you can certainly understand why he compares such places to overcrowded rat pens in a lab.

Some of the predictions he makes are still dead on accurate. Some of 'em remain to be seen.

One thing he does miss is that humans are unique in that we have the ability to manipulate our environment and know what we are doing at the same time. We also know the consequences, but whether or not we're willing to accept those consequences as reality is another matter.

I can, from a view decades after he penned this awesome book, understand now why there was such an uproar at the time. Being a child at the time the book was fresh, I didn't understand.

I get it now. The things Morris says about the Naked Ape are truths that only some of us are willing to admit to. Far fewer are willing to do anything about.

You can get a copy now free, PDF dropped to your computer, here: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.122.4206&rep=rep1&type=pdf