Occupation: Primatologist Birth: October 29, 1948
There is little evidence that other animals judge the appropriateness of actions that do not directly affect themselves..
When we are bad, we are worse than any primate that I know. And when we are good, we are actually better and more altruistic than any primate that I ….
People want to work with somebody who feels shame, who worries about the perceptions of others. Dishonesty is something we don't like in others..
Perhaps it's just me, but I am wary of any persons whose belief system is the only thing standing between them and repulsive behavior..
To endow animals with human emotions has long been a scientific taboo. But if we do not, we risk missing something fundamental, about both animals an….
We would much rather blame nature for what we don't like in ourselves than credit it for what we do like..
We are by far the most contradictory of all primates. An animal with this much internal conflict has never lived on this earth..
There's actually a lot of evidence in primates and other animals that they return favors..
If you ask anyone, what is morality based on? These are the two factors that always come out: One is reciprocity, … a sense of fairness, and the othe….
Science is not inherently good..
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 ….
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….
You need to indoctrinate empathy out of people in order to arrive at extreme capitalist positions..
The role of inequity in society is grossly underestimated. Inequity is not good for your health, basically..
We are territorial, power-hungry and even more brutal than chimpanzees..
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?.
The sturdiest pillars of human morality are compassion and a sense of justice..
Robin Hood had it right.Humanity's deepest wish is to spread the wealth..
The enemy of science is not religion... . The true enemy is the substitution of thought, reflection, and curiosity with dogma..
Socialism cannot function, because its economic reward structure is contrary to human nature..
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 ….