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Frans de Waal

Frans de Waal Quotes

Primatologist

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Famous Frans de Waal Quotes

“You should know as much as you can about the human species if you have a hand in designing human society. Of course, I'm not saying that you can derive moral rules from nature - that's deriving an ought from an is, as the philosophers say - but you do need to know what kind of animals we are if you want to design a stable society.”

IfsKnowsWantNeedsShouldHumansKindHandsAnimalMoralDesignOughtSpeciesPhilosopherStableHuman SocietyHuman Species
Author:Frans de Waal
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“If you are a cooperative animal you need to watch what you get. If you, or even a whole community, invest in something but then a few individuals receive a much larger return, it's not a good arrangement. If it happens consistently, it's time to look for an arrangement that is more beneficial. That's why we're so sensitive to how rewards are being divided.”

IfsNeedsLooksWholeHappensIndividualCommunityAnimalWatchesReturnRewardsSensitiveDividedConsistentlyArrangementsBeneficialCooperatives
Author:Frans de Waal
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“Females avoid conflict. They are afraid of violence. The males, on the other hand, are less averse to strife. But once conflict breaks out, the males are much better at reconciling. In a study done in Finland, children who had quarreled were asked how much longer they intended to be angry at one another. The boys proudly said: "Oh, at least one or two days." The girls said "forever".”

ChildrenSaidTwoDoneHandsGirlBoysBreakForeverStudyViolenceConflictFemaleAngryMalesStrifeTwo DaysBreak OutFinland
Author:Frans de Waal
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“Humans became easy prey when they moved from the forest to the savanna, which deprived them of the option of climbing trees to flee predators. This shift made it necessary for the men to actively protect the women and their babies. Only as a result of this protection were women able to give birth in shorter intervals, perhaps once every two or three years. This meant that they could produce offspring about twice as frequently as apes. I would be willing to bet that this rapid reproduction is one of the reasons why we dominate the world today, and not the apes.”

MenWorldGivingYearsHumansMadeTwoReasonWould BeTodayAbleThreeEasyResultsTreeProduceWillingHe ManBabyBirthProtectMovedProtectionForestsMade ItReason WhyClimbingThree YearsPreyRapidsDeprivedApesWorld TodayOffspringReproductionPredatorIntervalsClimbing TreesSavanna
Author:Frans de Waal
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“To neglect the common ground with other primates, and to deny the evolutionary roots of human morality, would be like arriving at the top of a tower to declare that the rest of the building is irrelevant, that the precious concept of "tower" ought to be reserved for the summit.”

HumansWould BeCommonBuildingOughtMoralityConceptsRootsDenyNeglectTowersIrrelevantSummitReservedArrivingCommon GroundPrimates
Book:Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved
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