What do politicians and chimpanzees have in common?



    “During political debates on TV, I always recommend turning off the sound. In this way, we can ignore the words and the content of the debates and better focus on the non-verbal communication (posture, gestures, facial expressions), "- says Professor of American Emory University primatologist Frans de Waal (Frans de Waal), responding to a questionpublished on the Quora website. According to him, it was absolutely necessary to turn off the sound during the last debate of presidential candidates from the Republican Party of the United States, because their "content did not make much sense." Candidates insulted each other, lied, questioned each other’s motives, even made anatomical comparisons. “In fact, they did what the monkeys do best: bully, threaten, turn their shoulders, beat themselves in the chest,” says the professor.

    The world famous biologist Frans de Waal studied the life of chimpanzees living in a large colony at the Burgers Zoo in Arnhem (Netherlands) for several years. In 1982, he wrote his classic work, Politics in the Chimpanzee: Power and Sex in the Primates.”, Where he showed an amazing similarity between politicians and chimpanzees. The book has survived many editions and still has not lost its relevance.

    According to the scientist, the political power in the group is by no means the most physically developed male, but the one who managed to secure the greatest support from other strong males. Thus, chimpanzees carry out actions that are well known in human society: they enter into alliances, competitors undermine alliances, use isolation tactics, enter into transactions, and weave intrigues. It is quite appropriate to use the same terminology that politicians have, because behavior and motivation are practically the same. The book “Politics in Chimpanzees” was written for the masses, but now it is used as a textbook, it is included in the list of business literature for business consultants and even once fell into the list of literature recommended to congressmen in the first year of their work.

    Frans de Waal describes his observations of what is happening in the chimpanzee group. He usually does not compare them directly with specific people, with the exception of isolated random comparisons (one of the males showed a loss of power in full accordance with Richard Nixon’s reaction to the loss of power after the Watergate scandal: he fell to the ground , stretched out and in despair hit him with his fist, exclaiming loudly). But even without direct comparisons, an attentive reader will find many obvious analogies. For example, in chimpanzee groups, the old male often acts behind the scenes, exploiting a fierce struggle between younger males.

    To gain the female’s favor, the chimpanzee tickles her cubs: politicians act in the same way to gain the female electorate’s position. Holding a child in front of television cameras is a standard election campaign technique. “Women's support can be critical in competition between men,” the primatologist writes. “So making a good impression is very important.”

    There are many parallels, down to typical gestures and examples of non-verbal communication, such as lowering the voice and importance. For example, a gesture with an outstretched hand and an open palm, we call "reaching out". In the Dutch colony of chimpanzees, this is the most common gesture.


    Screaming, Jackie reaches out with a beggar gesture to another chimpanzee who stole his berries. He wants to get them back. “Politics in Chimpanzees: Power and Sex in Primates”

    Its significance, like that of many other chimpanzee signals, depends on the context in which it is used. Monkeys use it to ask for food, get bodily contact, or even support in a fight. When two monkeys aggressively collide with each other, one of them can reach out to the third monkey. “This inviting gesture plays an important role in the formation of aggressive alliances, or coalitions, the main political tool,” writes France de Waal. He emphasizes that all behavioral patterns (more than a hundred registered) in the colony were also observed in chimpanzees in their natural habitat. That is, the playing face, grin, asking gestures and other forms of non-verbal communication primates did not adopt from people. These are indeed our common traits.

    Contacts between opponents after a conflict are much more intense than contacts in other situations, with kisses being the most characteristic feature. The most appropriate word for this phenomenon is “reconciliation,” but I know people who objected, pointing out that, choosing such terms, we unjustifiably humanize the monkeys. Why not call it somehow neutral, for example, “the first post-conflict contact”, because, in fact, is it so? From the same desire for objectivity, kisses could be called “mouth-to-mouth contact”, hugs - “contact with the arms around the shoulders”, face - “face”, and hands - “front paws”. I am skeptical of arguments that support such dehumanized terminology. Isn’t this an attempt to use words to hide the mirror that chimpanzees are holding in front of us? Are we hiding our heads in the sand

    “Politics in Chimpanzees: Power and Sex in Primates”

    The author does not set the goal of somehow belittling people. He says that he is interested in another aspect: when studying monkeys, we better understand our own nature, the motives of the behavior of people around us and the laws that operate in society.

    Imagine a situation in which one of the adult males shows himself to his rival. He seems swollen, because his fur stood on end, he smiles, his upper body sways from side to side, and in his hand he holds a stone. An inexperienced observer may not notice the stone, since all attention is focused on this amazing frightening demonstration. He can be so captivated by the sight that he won’t even notice the manipulations of one of the adult females. She calmly approaches the male demonstrating himself, unclenches his fingers with which he holds a stone, and leaves with him. It took me several weeks of observation before I realized what was going on. The note on this day in my diary is marked with a bold exclamation mark, because at that time I was sure that I had made the discovery of the century. But as soon as I became acquainted with this regularity in behavior, I realized that it is not at all uncommon. Sometimes such scenes are played several times a day. We call themconfiscation . In such a situation, the male never reacted aggressively to the female. Sometimes he tries to pull his hand out of the female’s hands, and if he doesn’t succeed, he may look for another stone or stick. Then he continues his awesome demonstration. But this second weapon can also be confiscated: once a female confiscated at least six objects from the same male.

    “Politics in Chimpanzees: Power and Sex in Primates”

    After the book “Politics in Chimpanzees: Power and Sex at the Primates”, France de Waal later wrote several more books about bonobos, about peacemaking, as well as the wonderful work “ The Origins of Morality: In Search of Humanity in Primates, ” which proves that morality is not a purely human property. Primates have moral rudiments: they help relatives in trouble, help the sick, they are characterized by compassion, empathy, altruism, generosity (often inherent in dominant males, by the way), comforting upset friends with hugs and kisses and many other supposedly “human” qualities and features. Some of these qualities are inherent not only in monkeys, but also in other mammals, even intellectually underdeveloped species, such as dogs and cats.



    Moreover, on the example of monkeys, we can conclude that morality appeared before religion and these are not related concepts. Maybe for an atheist this sounds like a matter of fact, but it will be a revelation to the theologians. In fact, the norms of morality, the concept of good and evil, are not at all the invention of mankind, and certainly not the church.

    Visitors to the zoo always seem to be amused by the sight of chimpanzees. No other animal causes so much laughter. Why is this so? Are they really such clowns, or are they funny because of their appearance? One can almost certainly say that it is their appearance that amuses us, since it is enough for them to walk or sit down - and we are already laughing. Perhaps our fun hides completely different feelings and is a nervous reaction caused by a noticeable similarity between humans and chimpanzees. They used to say that monkeys are our mirror, but it seems difficult for us to maintain seriousness at the sight of reflection.

    Not only visitors are fascinated and at the same time nervous by chimpanzees - the same can be said of scientists. The more they learn about these large apes, the more our identity crisis seems to worsen. The similarities between humans and chimpanzees are not only external. If you look directly into the eyes of a chimpanzee, we will see that an intelligent and self-confident person is looking at us. If they are animals, then who are we?

    “Politics in Chimpanzees: Power and Sex in Primates”

    The specialist considers the current presidential race in the USA to be very curious from a scientific point of view, because a female candidate is present in it. Thus, a direct confrontation between a man and a woman is possible, where both are dominant personalities. Gender differences completely change traditional dynamics, says France de Waal: “The way males intimidate other males is predictable and well received. Men insult each other, make rude jokes, try to look big and strong, and all this is part of the game. Taller men have an advantage, which is why undersized politicians (Dukasis, Sarkozy, Berlusconi) like to stand on a stand during photography. ”

    In case of confrontation with a woman, the standard methodology no longer works. Apparently, the semantic content of the debate is becoming more important.

    Moreover, female solidarity complicates the situation, the scientist believes. He says that female chimpanzees rarely get together, but they do so without hesitation when faced with male hostility: “The best way for a male chimpanzee to get into trouble is to show violence to a high-ranking female or try to force her to submit.”

    According to the expert, traditional tactics do not work against a female candidate. Moreover, she can claim great support if the male shows disrespect for her and gets a rebuff. “Preserving one’s position against male insults will cause instant sympathy,” the primatologist is sure.

    One can agree or not with the scientist’s assessment, but one thing is clear: years of observation allow an experienced specialist to recognize and interpret the behavior of primates much better, which is impossible without proper training.

    At such moments, I have to remember that I also did not understand for a long time why no structure was visible in these episodes, while in fact the problem was not in the absence of structure, but in my own defective perception. It is necessary to get to know many individuals as close as possible, their friendships and rivalries, with all their gestures, characteristic sounds, facial expressions and other forms of behavior. Only then do the wild scenes that we observe begin to really make sense.

    “Politics in Chimpanzees: Power and Sex in Primates”

    Perhaps by observing the primates, the professor began to better understand people?

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