The Naked Ape

spectratg

spectratg

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The Naked Ape is a popular science book by Desmond Morris. Dr. Morris surprised society in 1967 by writing a pop anthropology book in which he described humans in the same objective, analytical way that zoologists describe animals. His then radical idea was to view mankind as no more than a very complicated primate. Much of our behavior could be understood in terms of animal behavior and its evolution. The similarities in courtship patterns between humans and nonhuman primates stems from our shared social behavior ancestry.

The title of the book is derived from the fact that there are 193 species of monkeys and apes on the planet, of which man is the only one not entirely covered in fur and is, therefore, the only naked ape.
 

I still have that now dusty book on a bookshelf. Took introductory community college anthropology courses about that time and read quite a number of other books that IMO has been quite valuable for understanding what we humans are and our past, along with other psychology studies. One reason I comically derisively often refer to we humans as Earth Monkeys since the vast majority of us in many ways are hardly more behaviorally advanced than our hairy relatives. 🧑‍🏫
 
Anthropology is a fascinating subject.
Last week I was watching a Youtube video that talked about a creature who walked on two legs and was 5.5 million years old. It has not been proved absolutely, but it is a strong candidate for the earliest relative of man.
The main theme was how it came about that it walked upright and what advantages that might cause. The video said that it quite possibly learned to walk upright, first along heavy tree branches, and later along the ground. Walking upright gave several major advantages: it could see further and gain some earlier warning of predators, and now, with hands free, it could carry more food back to the troop.
 
spectratg said:
The chimpanzee–human last common ancestor (CHLCA) is the last common ancestor shared by the extant Homo (human) and Pan (chimpanzee and bonobo) genera of Hominini, was about 6 million years ago as @senior chef indicates.
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One interesting thing about chimpanzees is that they share aprox 98% of common DNA with modern humans. This makes them our closest relative ... by far.
 
senior chef said:
One interesting thing about chimpanzees is that they share aprox 98% of common DNA with modern humans. This makes them our closest relative ... by far.
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If you watch wild life programmes, you surely will have noted how much like them we are? Our bodies might have developed a little more, but our minds haven't.
 
I never have read the Naked Ape and have no opinion on it, but this brings back a memory. I was in a bookstore and there was a discussion going on and the following comment was made: "Desmond Morris is to anthropology what the Keystone Cops are to law enforcement." Obviously it stuck in my mind all these years.
 
I, too, have a copy of the book. It's been decades since I read it. It came out in the late 60s, during the height of the "Moral Majority" era, so the concept that human behaviors were evolutionary was a big deal. BTW, when I was in the Navy, seeing some of the hairy guys in the shower, the idea that we evolved from apes wasn't much of a stretch.
 
Flarbalard said:
I never have read the Naked Ape and have no opinion on it, but this brings back a memory. I was in a bookstore and there was a discussion going on and the following comment was made: "Desmond Morris is to anthropology what the Keystone Cops are to law enforcement." Obviously it stuck in my mind all these years.
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Who ever said that in the book store, obviously had little to no knowledge of anthropology. The evidence of evolution is overwhelming.
 
The human species (homo sapiens) is physically inferior to other primate species. One hypothesis would hold that the human species developed a large brain in a last-ditch effort to survive extinction. There were at least seven other species (such as the Neanderthals) that did go extinct, except for some interbreeding that resulted in a small amount of their DNA in modern humans
 
spectratg said:
The human species (homo sapiens) is physically inferior to other primate species. One hypothesis would hold that the human species developed a large brain in a last-ditch effort to survive extinction. There were at least seven other species (such as the Neanderthals) that did go extinct, except for some interbreeding that resulted in a small amount of their DNA in modern humans
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I believe that humans developed a larger brain as a result of evolution, but not because humans wanted it to. The main idea is that when we began eating much more meat, that gave us greater amounts of protein, and thus "fed" the brain.

If left alone, chimpanzees, with no interference from humans, the meat they eat (from monkeys they catch and kill) would eventually cause their brains to increase in size. But, surely that would take 100's of thousands of years. Perhaps millions.
 
Hello, Spectratg


I vaguely recall reading the Naked Ape, as mandatory reading in High School. I remember, not having the faintest idea or comprehension of what I was reading, as it baffled me to no end. Yet your post inspired me to revisit its contents, and now, that I’m older, I understand my reason for utter bewilderment … lol

The Naked Ape at 50: ‘Its central claim has surely stood the test of time ‘ | Evolution | The Guardian

In late September 2022, the Observer published a recent article in the Guardian, headlining viewpoints from four different experts on Desmond Morris published work.

One of those people commenting:

Angela Saini who is a British science journalist, broadcaster, and Author wrote:

“His Arrogance Has Done Untold Damage”

“His consistent failure to understand the impact of patriarchy and female repression bordered on the bizarre.

He claimed that humans developed the loving pair bond to assure males their partners wouldn’t stray while they were off hunting.

Females evolved to be faithful. But a few pages later, he mentioned chastity belts and female ******* mutilation as means of forcibly keeping women virginal…”😯

Here’s a direct quote from Morris’s book, that I think most might tend to agree is rather disconcerting, as well as shockingly decadent and ludicrous, and even comical, if not taken seriously.

“The answer stands out as clearly as the female bosom itself. The protuberant, hemispherical breasts of the female must surely be copies of the fleshy buttocks, and the sharply defined red lips around the mouth must be copies of the red labia.”😂

Which makes me greatly appreciate @Flarbalard comment:

“Desmond Morris is to anthropology what the Keystone Cops are to law enforcement.”

Personally, I certainly can’t help being slightly amused, and confounded in the same breath, as I, try to imagine, the extent of sheer pleasure Morris garnered in flaunting, spewing, his pseudo-scientific erotica, into the world.

Yet, it’s not too difficult to understand, how the late 60s; proved impeccable timing for Morris’s personal grandstanding.

The Naked Ape could not have arrived at a more malleable, receptive, era than the “hippie counter-culture.”

The world ablaze of crumbling, discarded, usual conventions, Morris’s book was just another pale reminder, that “the beat goes on …”
Sonny and Cher: The beat goes on (HQ Version) - YouTube
 
spectratg said:
The title of the book is derived from the fact that there are 193 species of monkeys and apes on the planet, of which man is the only one not entirely covered in fur and is, therefore, the only naked ape.
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Uh, let's not be too quick to come to that conclusion

Maybe morning monkey

mornin.jpg
 
My memory of Morris' book is that it is pop science, putting forward multiple unsupported hypotheses about human behaviour. The title and book cover ensured that the readership would be very large.

As an aside I thought The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins did much the same thing. It implied that individual genes behaved with intent. Not something we hear much about today and is a long way from classical Darwinian theory.
 
I am a great admirer of Desmond Morris's books, having read a few of them, and attended some meetings where aspects discussed above were being developed further.

Some of the most memorable comments I can recall I'll try to cobble together very quickly, (hope it makes sense when I've done so!?).

"Stasis is data", "It took over half of human evolution before the ability to imagine our world developed, (an ability shown in cage paintings etc.)", and then the more controversial statements perhaps (as seen through the eyes of some today), "Faithfulness between couples having children together was fundamental to the survival chances of those children".
 

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