You big bully.

by DowninginReading on October 7, 2010

deWaal has spent years with apes, chimps and bonobos----different names for the same thing, but of so different from each other. And oh so like us. Without having to debate evolution, we can look at our ape cousins as similar to us, and learn from their behavior. The way disputes are settled, 'war' is waged, 'love' is made, and government is conducted among different apes colonies all have implications for the way we humans conduct our affairs.
Take leadership: the big bully can beat up anyone in the pack, but in order to maintain his rule, he needs allies, which may lead to compromise, betrayal, and surprisingly sophisticated skullduggery. Not a bad adjunct to Machiavelli.
For anyone interested in human behavior now and its potential future modifications.