“The fact that the apes exist and that we can study them is extremely important and makes us reflect on ourselves and our human nature. In that sense alone, you need to protect the apes.” NeedsHumansImportantFactsStudyHuman NatureProtectApes Author:Frans de Waal
“I describe in 'Chimpanzee Politics' how the alpha male needs broad support to reach the top spot. He needs some close allies and he needs many group members to be on his side.” NeedsSidesSupportGroupsMembersMalesSpotsBroadsAlliesAlpha MaleChimpanzeesAlphas Author:Frans de Waal
“If you want to design a successful human society you need to know what kind of animal we are. Are we a social animal or a selfish animal? Do we respond better when we're solitary or living in a group?” IfsKnowsWantNeedsHumansKindSocialAnimalSuccessfulGroupsDesignSelfishSolitaryHuman Society Author:Frans de Waal
“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
“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
“I think we need to start thinking about grounding our moral systems in our biology.” ThinkingNeedsMoralBiologyGrounding Author:Frans de Waal
“I'm personally a nonbeliever, so I'm struggling with if we really need religion.” IfsNeedsStruggle Author:Frans de Waal
“Empathy probably started out as a mechanism to improve maternal care. Mammalian mothers who were attentive to their young's needs were more likely to rear successful offspring.” NeedsCareYoungMotherSuccessfulEmpathyMechanismOffspring Author:Frans de Waal
“You need to indoctrinate empathy out of people in order to arrive at extreme capitalist positions.” PeopleNeedsOrderPositionEmpathyExtremesCapitalist Author:Frans de Waal
“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
