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Frans de Waal

Frans de Waal Quotes

Primatologist

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Famous Frans de Waal Quotes

“I was raised Catholic. Not just a little bit Catholic, like my wife, Catherine. When she was young, many Catholics in France already barely went to church, except for the big three: baptism, marriage, and funeral. And only the middle one was by choice.”

LittlesBigsYoungChoicesThreeBitsChurchWifeMiddleLittle BitCatholicRaisedMy WifeFranceFuneralBaptism
Book:The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates
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“Popular culture bombards us with examples of animals being humanized for all sorts of purposes, ranging from education to entertainment to satire to propaganda. Walt Disney, for example, made us forget that Mickey is a mouse, and Donald a duck. George Orwell laid a cover of human societal ills over a population of livestock.”

HumansMadePurposeCultureForgetAnimalExamplePopulationEntertainmentPropagandaSatireDucksMicePopular CultureWaltMickeyLivestock
Author:Frans de Waal
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“As in a Russian doll, however, the outer layers always contain an inner core. Instead of evolution having replaced simpler forms of empathy with more advanced ones, the latter are merely elaborations on the former and remain dependent on them. This also means that empathy comes naturally to us. It is not something we only learn later in life, or that is culturally constructed.”

MeanFormEvolutionEmpathyCoreFormerDependentLatterLayersReplacedDollsLater In LifeRussian Dolls
Author:Frans de Waal
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“I sometimes try to imagine what would have happened if we’d known the bonobo first and the chimpanzee only later—or not at all. The discussion about human evolution might not revolve as much around violence, warfare and male dominance, but rather around sexuality, empathy, caring and cooperation. What a different intellectual landscape we would occupy!”

IfsTryingFirstsHumansDifferentSometimesMightKnownImagineViolenceHappenedEvolutionIntellectualEmpathyMalesCaringSexualityLandscapeDiscussionCooperationWarfareDominanceChimpanzeesHuman EvolutionBonobosMale Dominance
Book:Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are
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“We start out postulating sharp boundaries, such as between humans and apes, or between apes and monkeys, but are in fact dealing with sand castles that lose much of their structure when the sea of knowledge washes over them. They turn into hills, leveled ever more, until we are back to where evolutionary theory always leads us: a gently sloping beach.”

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Book:The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society
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“It is not only visitors to the zoo who are fascinated but uneasy in the presence of chimpanzees; the same is true of scientists. The more they learn about these great apes, the deeper our identity crisis seems to become. The resemblance between humans and chimpanzees is not only external. If we look straight and deep into a chimpanzee’s eyes, an intelligent, self-assured personality looks back at us. If they are animals, what must we be?”

IfsHumansLooksSelfSeemsEyeAnimalIdentityPersonalityScientistIntelligentCrisisDeeperFascinatedAssuredApesVisitorsZoosUneasyResemblanceChimpanzeesIdentity Crisis
Book:Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes
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“Why not assume that our humanity, including the self-control needed for livable societies, is built into us? Does anyone truly believe that our ancestors lacked social norms before they had religion? Did they never assist others in need, or complain about an unfair deal? Humans must have worried about the functioning of their communities well before the current religions arose, which is only a few thousand years ago.”

NeedsYearsBelieveHumansWellsDoeSelfHumanitySocialCommunityDealsNeededThousandBuiltYears AgoAssumingIncludingCurrentsComplainingWorriedWhy NotAncestorSelf ControlUnfairThousand YearsNormSocial Norms
Author:Frans de Waal
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“I've argued that many of what philosophers call moral sentiments can be seen in other species. In chimpanzees and other animals, you see examples of sympathy, empathy, reciprocity, a willingness to follow social rules. Dogs are a good example of a species that have and obey social rules; that's why we like them so much, even though they're large carnivores.”

SocialAnimalMoralAtheismDogExampleEmpathySpeciesPhilosopherPositive AtheismWillingnessSentimentsReciprocityGood ExamplesChimpanzeesCarnivores
Author:Frans de Waal
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