Apes and humans are cut from the same evolutionary cloth; all that fundamentally distinguishes us is posture, we being upright walkers and the apes quadrupeds. Everything else, from the size and function of our brains to the other aspects of our shared anatomies, is a difference of degree and not of kind. Significant Others is about the continuum between humanity and the great apes. What was once a bold line dividing us from them has turned out to be fairly blurry, and that tidal change has profound implications for how we view ourselves and other animals. In their emotions, cognition, linguistic ability, homicidal brutality and erotic sexuality, the apes and we are far more alike than we are different. Most of us are familiar with the early work of Jane Goodall. But you may be less familiar with the past decade's discoveries of what great apes and other primates do with their lives. These revelations are astonishing enough to force a re-examination of what it means to be human.
The world's foremost expert on chimpanzees in the wild, ethnologist Jane Goodall conducted the longest study of any animal species in its natural surroundings. After working in Africa for over forty years, Goodall turned to promoting worldwide habitat conservation through lecture tours, television specials for Home Box Office (HBO) and National Geographic, and writing.
Appreciation of the human—ape continuum is the culmination of a century-long process. In the first half of the twentieth century, the anthropologist Franz Boas changed the prevailing racist sensibilities of his time. He convinced us that we could no longer think of darkskinned people in their remote villages and hunter—gatherer bands as savages. (Arias, Ron 93-94) They eke out a living in harsh environments using simple technologies but are every bit as sophisticated as internet-savvy, cell phone-carrying western people............
