PR AISE FOR OUR INNER APE A New York Times Notable Book “A remarkable journey of discovery to the heart of a profound ques- tion: What can we learn about the evolution of our own cultures by studying the behavior of our primate cousins? A deftly written, deeply reflective work.” —The New York Times Book Review “Absorbing and entertaining... explaining to the interested layperson more clearly than any other book the sound science that lies in the mid- dle of the sometimes shrill debate about the origins of human nature.” —The Washington Post “De Waal is an original thinker and writes with such a light hand that the reader can take a stimulating ride through this imaginative philo- sophical discourse.” —The Boston Globe “For those ready for some self-scrutiny, and a less biased view of culture and learning in our fellow creatures, this book will be a revelation.” —Scientific American “Simply brilliant. A must-read for anyone interested in the questions of what it means to be human and what it means to be an ape. Not only is the language accessible to everyone, it is a wonderful, thought- provoking read.” —The Glasgow Herald “If you care about the great apes, this book, with its superb photo- graphs and vivid text, is a must.” —Jane Goodall continued... “An entertaining and provocative read.” —New Scientist “Frans de Waal is uniquely placed to write a book on the duality of hu- man nature and on its biological origins in other primate species. No other book has attempted to cover this ground. Few topics are as timely to the understanding of the human mind and behavior.” —Antonio R. Damasio, author of Descartes’ Error “One of the most important disciplines that is generating new knowl- edge about human nature is primatology. Frans de Waal is the best- qualified scientist not just to describe the results of this research, but to draw out a balanced understanding of what it implies about contempo- rary politics and social policy.” —Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History and the Last Man “Even more enlightening than Machiavelli’s The Prince, this book de- scribes power takeovers and social organizations in a chimpanzee colony....I ’ll never look at academic or corporate politics the same way.” —Jim Collins, Inc. “The best book ever written on the social life of apes in captivity... The author has that special empathetic insight into the mind of the chimpanzee which is shared by few but can somehow be recognized by many.” —William McGrew, Human Ethology Newsletter Also by Frans de Waal Chimpanzee Politics (1982) Peacemaking Among Primates (1989) Good Natured (1996) Bonobo (1997) The Ape and the Sushi Master (2001) My Family Album (2003) Frans de Waal Photographs by the author Our Inner Ape A L EAD I N G P R I MATO LO G IST EXP L AI NS WHY WE AR E WHO WE AR E R IVE R H EAD B O O KS New York THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), Cnr. Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. Copyright © 2005 by Frans de Waal Photographs courtesy of Frans de Waal Cover design by Nellys Li Cover photographs © 2005 Joshua Sheldon Book design by Michelle McMillian All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. RIVERHEAD is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. The RIVERHEAD logo is a trademark belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc. ISBN: 1-4295-3349-8 The Library of Congress has catalogued the Riverhead hardcover edition as follows: Waal, F. B. M. de (Frans B. M.), date. Our inner ape : a leading primatologist explains why we are who we are / Frans de Waal; with photographs by the author. p. cm. 1. Chimpanzees—Behavior. 2. Bonobo—Behavior. 3. Human behavior. 4. Psychology, Comparative. I. Title QL737.P96W3214 2005 2005042768 156—dc22 For Cattie, my love