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Title: Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence by Richard Wrangham, Dale Peterson ISBN: 0-395-87743-1 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 14 November, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.96 (27 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A look at "how it might have been"?
Comment: _Demonic Males_ offers an interesting and somewhat wishful look at "how it could have been" or "how if could be" for us humans (if we evolve into or consciously choose a different way of living).
This work examines two topics that we "civilized" people often find difficult to deal with--violence and sexuality. Though they do look at other species (hyenas and lions, for example), the authors' main focus is modern ape behavior and its possible relationship to human behavior.
The authors outline how four of the five ape species (orangutans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and humans) engage in violent behavior that stems directly from competition for food, reproductive rights, and other resources. According to the authors' interpretation of recent ape observations, gorilla females stay with their dominant male silverback because he protects their infants from other silverbacks who won't hesitate to kill one generation of offspring to ensure the paternity of the next. Underdeveloped orangutan males regularly rape females as a result of being unattractive to females and therefore low on the reproductive "totem pole". Male chimpanzees engage in female battering and intimidation to ensure their dominance over all the females in the group. Predominantly male chimpanzee raiding parties enter neighboring chimpanzee territories, track and find isolated members of the rival group, and then seriously injure or even kill them. The authors argue that with our history of similar behaviors, humans are also a species dominated by "demonic males". (I join the authors in using extreme caution while explaining such behaviors as rape as "natural", and in no way do I imply that such behavior in humans is to be condoned in any way or written off as something over which males have no control.)
The exception to this rule is the fifth ape species, the bonobo. Bonobos strongly resemble chimpanzees and are genetically very closely related to humans, but were only identified as a separate species in the early twentieth century. Bonobos evolved in an area where there was little competition for food resources. Thus, the authors argue, they were free to develop behaviors that weren't involved in assuring that any one ape got the lion's share of resources, to mix a metaphor. Bonobos have a female-dominated society, where the social position of one's mother determines the offspring's social position. Sexual behavior is used as a tension-diffusing tool, and is openly and freely practiced between both sexes and with members of the same sex. Because sex is practiced so freely, there is no way for any male to know if he is the father of any individual offspring, so violence over paternity (such as that evidenced by the gorilla) is eliminated. The result is a kinder, gentler ape.
A fascinating read written in a fast-paced and easily read narrative, this book is a must-read for those interested in the connection between humans and the other apes.
Rating: 2
Summary: This shouldn't be your first book on evolutionary psychology
Comment: Don't misunderstand. This book has a lot of interesting information about apes. But when the authors try to extrapolate human behavior from ape behavior, they blow it. If you want to learn about human evolutionary psychology, try "The Adapted Mind" by Barkow, Cosmides and Tooby or "The Moral Animal" by Wright. If you're trying to understand the evolutionary origins of human violence, read "Homicide" by Wilson and Daly. If you want to learn about chimpanzees, bonobos and other primates, start reading de Waal. And if you want to understand just why nature is so nasty, read "The Selfish Gene" by Dawkins. After you've read those, you may be able to correctly interpret this book, but after all that, why bother.
The authors leave out a bunch of important information. There is no mention or analysis of Hamilton's inclusive fitness theory, Triver's reciprocal altruism theory or Axelrod's computer simulations of Triver's theory. The authors point out that homo sapiens is a patriarchal species, but fail to mention that, specieswide, women are much more sensitive than men to the socioeconomic status of their prospective mates and, unlike men, their sensitivity is directly proportional to their own status. (see "The Evolution of Desire" by Buss.) They never mention that, unlike the other apes and 97% of mammalian species, human males provide significant investment in their offspring, making husbands vulnerable to cuckoldry, which sometimes necessitates violent precautions and responses by the husbands and their genetic kin. The authors gloss over the critical importance of fitness variance within the male and female genders and differences between these two variances. The authors mention that, like orangutans, male elephant seals commit rape, but fail to mention that with the help of the females, about 5% of the males do about 80% of the breeding, increasing the odds of the other males' genetic death. They attribute the peaceful nature of bonobo society to massed female power but, unlike de Waal, fail to mention that males may accept this because females' extreme promiscuity thoroughly obscures paternity and almost certainly shrinks both male fitness variance and the difference in variance between males and females. And they reduce sperm competition to a footnote.
The book has the tone of a feminist propaganda piece. The authors repeatedly attribute violent male behavior to stable and internal factors while attributing violent female behavior to external factors. (For a different view, see "When She was Bad" by Pearson.) They adopt a narrow definition of violence which makes men look bad and women look good. (The most general definition of violence is: Individual A is violent toward individual B if (1) A gains, (2) B loses, and (3) B cannot keep A from controlling if and how the transaction occurs.) And unlike most books written by professional social scientists, this book uses the vocabulary of morality to describe issues of gain and loss. But morality is simply a methodology and set of rules to manipulate, modify and control other people's behavior, in other words, a mechanism for doing violence to its victims. That's why feminists virtually always cast women's self-interest as universal moral imperatives.
Rating: 5
Summary: Our roots in reality
Comment: What drives humanity to engage in its incessant wars? Why do men fight over apparent inconsequentials? Is rape a "natural" and "sex-driven" event, or merely the consequence of human cultural demands? These questions and a host of others are addressed in this superb survey of primate behaviour studies. Ever since Jane Goodall discovered chimpanzees sought colobus monkeys for dinner treats, new studies of primates have revealed arresting behaviour patterns. Like humans, other primates murder, rape and even make war. The authors have scoured a wealth of primate studies to derive a picture of our heritage. They suggest we learn what our cousins do in order to better understand what we do. Otherwise, we will continue to make bad decisions based on flawed assumptions.
Our fellow primates are avid territorialists, argue the authors. Borders unseen by us are clearly delineated by chimpanzees, orangutans and monkeys. These defined areas are hotly defended. The other side of the coin produces invasions. Opportunism, failing resources, or just spite, drives chimpanzee groups to stealthily scout and enter another band's range. Rarely, an individual will stage a foray, but only if he thinks success likely. Too often, the raids appear to have no particular purpose. A sally may lead to injuries or even death, but the attacking troop is just as likely to withdraw to its original range with neither captives nor booty. What prompts these seemingly mindless assaults? Are they inevitable among primates?
The latter question was answered, according to the authors, with the discovery of the "pygmy chimpanzee" or bonobo. This species contrasts sharply with its common chimpanzee cousins, who live in bands beset by tension. Common chimpanzees may raid other groups, but "back home" the hierarchical structure leads to internal conflict. Raids on other groups may vent some aggravation, but it's the struggle for dominance that rules common chimp behaviour. Bonobos, by contrast, use sex to resolve their social conflicts. Bisexual and same sex couplings are common and frequent. With no hierarchy to climb, males need not struggle for dominance. Although a senior female may wield some authority, even her "rules" are imparted by selected groomings or couplings with aggressors.
Bonobos are late arrivals on the evolutionary stage, having split off from the chimpanzee line after chimps and humans diverged from their common ancestor. Humans tended in some ways toward chimpanzee behaviour, toward bonobos in other aspects. Male dominance and most aspects of male violence stem from similarities to our nearest cousins, the chimps, say the authors. They stress that most human violence is rooted in our volutionary past. Although they're prompt to deny that this foundation cannot be overcome, they stress that we must understand these roots in order to make better decisions. Most significantly, they argue, we must shed the mythology of violence as a cultural artefact. This will be a difficult step for many, but it must be taken. This book will ease the path.
[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
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Title: The Dark Side of Man by Michael Ghiglieri ISBN: 0738203157 Publisher: Perseus Books Group Pub. Date: 04 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman by Marjorie Shostak ISBN: 0674004329 Publisher: Harvard University Press Pub. Date: November, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.50 |
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Title: Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic by James Gilligan ISBN: 0679779124 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 May, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Evolution and Human Behavior by John Cartwright ISBN: 0262531704 Publisher: Bradford Book Pub. Date: 24 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $32.00 |
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Title: The Woman That Never Evolved: With a New Preface and Bibliographical Updates by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy ISBN: 0674955390 Publisher: Harvard University Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.25 |
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