B007Q6XKEY EBOK by de Waal Frans

Author:de Waal, Frans [Unknown]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

TEN COMMANDMENTS TOO MANY

Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe, the oftener and more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above and the moral law within.

—Immanuel Kant1

Can we help feeling pain when the fire burns us? Can we help sympathizing with our friends? Are these phenomena less necessary or less powerful in their consequences, because they fall within the subjective sphere of experience?

—Edward Westermarck2

At Tama Zoo, in Tokyo, I witnessed a surprising ritual. From the rooftop of a building, a caretaker spread handfuls of macadamia nuts among fifteen chimpanzees in an outdoor area. The macadamia is the only commercially available nut that most female chimps cannot crack with their teeth. The colony lacked adult males (I visited a small shrine with fresh flowers for Joe, their longtime alpha male, who had died a few weeks earlier), who do possess the jaw power to crack even this tough nut. The chimps rushed about collecting as many macadamias as they could in their mouths, hands, and feet. Then they sat down at separate locations in the enclosure, each with a neat little pile of nuts, all oriented toward a single place known as the “cracking station.”

One chimp walked up to the station, which consisted of a big rock and a smaller metal block attached to it with a chain. She then placed a nut on the rock’s surface, lifted the metal block, and hammered until the nut gave up its kernel. This female worked with a juvenile by her side, whom she allowed to profit from her efforts. Having finished her pile, she then made room for the next chimp, who placed her nuts at her feet and started the same procedure. The zookeeper explained that this was a daily ritual that always unfolded in the same orderly fashion until all nuts had been cracked.

I was struck by the scene’s peacefulness, but not fooled by it. When we see a disciplined society, there is often a social hierarchy behind it. This hierarchy, which determines who can eat or mate first, is ultimately rooted in violence. If one of the lower-ranking females and her offspring had tried to claim the cracking station before their turn, things would have gotten ugly. It is not just that these apes knew their place; they knew what to expect in case of a breach of rule. A social hierarchy is a giant system of inhibitions, which is no doubt what paved the way for human morality, which is also such a system.

Impulse control is key.

The Elusive Wanton

When a Frenchwoman accused “DSK” (Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a prominent politician) of sexual assault, she couldn’t resist adding that he had behaved like a “randy chimpanzee.”3 As soon as humans lose control over their impulses, we feel the need to compare them to animals. It was a terrible insult . . . to the chimpanzee!

In academic circles, too, it is impossible to avoid the popular image of out-of-control animals. This is critical in

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