THE NAKED APE

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abstract, lofty code of moral principles, when in reality all we are doing is obeying a deeply ingrained and long 'forgotten' set of purely imitative impressions. It is the unmodifiable obedience to these impressions (along with our carefully concealed instinctive urges) that makes it so hard for societies to change their customs and their 'beliefs'. Even when faced with exciting, brilliantly rational new ideas, based on the application of pure, objective intelligence, the community will still cling to its old home-based habits and prejudices. This is the cross we have to bear if we are going to sail through our vital juvenile 'blottingpaper' phase of rapidly mopping up the accumulated experiences of previous generations. We are forced to take the biased opinions along with the valuable facts. Luckily we have evolved a powerful antidote to this weakness which is inherent in the imitative learning process. We have a sharpened curiosity, an intensified urge to explore which work against the other tendency and produce a balance that has the potential of fantastic success. Only if a culture becomes too rigid as a result of its slavery to imitative repetition, or too daring and rashly exploratory, will it flounder. Those with a good balance between the two urges will thrive. We can see plenty of examples of the too rigid and too rash cultures around the world today. The small, backward societies, completely dominated by their heavy burden of taboos and ancient customs, are cases of the former. The same societies, when converted and 'aided' by advanced cultures, rapidly become examples of the latter. The sudden overdose of social novelty and exploratory excitement swamps the stabilising forces of ancestral imitation and tips the scales too far the other way. The result is cultural turmoil and disintegration. Lucky is the society that enjoys the gradual acquisition of a perfect balance between imitation and curiosity, between slavish, unthinking copying and progressive, rational experimentation. 112
CHAPTER FOUR EXPLORATION ALL mammals have a strong exploratory urge, but for some it is more crucial than others. It depends largely on how specialised they have become during the course of evolution. If they have put all their evolutionary effort into the perfection of one particular survival trick, they do not need to bother so much about the general complexities of the world around them. So long as the ant-eater has its ants and koala bear its gum leaves, then they are well satisfied and the living is easy. The non-specialists, on the other hand-the opportunists of the animal world-can never afford to relax. They are never sure where their next meal may be coming from, and they have to know every nook and cranny, test every possibility, and keep a sharp look-out for the lucky chance. They must explore, and keep on exploring. They must investigate, and keep on re-checking. They must have a constantly high level of curiosity. It is not simply a matter of feeding: self-defence can make the same demands. Porcupines, hedgehogs and skunks can snuffle and stomp about as noisily as they like, heedless of their enemies, but the unarmed mammal must be forever on the alert. It must know the signs of danger and the routes of escape. To survive it must know its home range in every minute detail. Looked at in this way, it might seem rather inefficient not to specialise. Why should there be any opportunist mammals at a112 The answer is that there is a serious snag in the specialist way of life. Everything is fine as long as the special survival device works, but if the environment undergoes a major change the specialist is left stranded. If it has gone to sufficient extremes to outstrip its competitors, the animal will have been forced to make major changes 113
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THE NAKED APE by Desmond Morris A B
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book is intend
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INTRODUCTION THERE are one hundred
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some respect. If they were healthy,
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CHAPTER ONE ORIGINS THERE is a labe
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we put it, it looks out of place. E
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The primate group, to which our nak
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Faced with a new environment, our a
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complex manoeuvres could be develop
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The brightest stars in the carnivor
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a pack of African hunting dogs it i
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the night, but the contrast is neve
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in the dirt of the den or lair. Aft
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was a process of differential infan
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eating it, each have their own part
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Male and female hunting apes had to
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feature was its naked skin, which l
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home bases, its dens became heavily
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vital missing links in our ancient
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first appears. A great deal will de
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CHAPTER TWO SEX SEXUALLY the naked
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phase, privacy is sought and the su
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summatory act of sperm ejaculation
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the arteries pumping blood into the
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activity. Once the climax has been
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old females will have experienced o
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stay put and mind the babies while
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-the female remains responsive to t
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Page 59 and 60: areas in other animals where there
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Page 63 and 64: At some point, back in our ancestry
Page 65 and 66: sexual contacts. In this particular
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Page 87 and 88: CHAPTER THREE REARING THE burden of
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Page 93 and 94: apid during the first two years of
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Page 101 and 102: oth frighteningly odd and at the sa
Page 103 and 104: friendly, but if we greet them by l
Page 105 and 106: We develop the vital bond of attach
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Page 113 and 114: are combined, one with another, to
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Page 119 and 120: and clothing, in furniture and cars
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Page 123 and 124: epeatedly bite themselves, or pull
Page 125 and 126: on the other hand, of vital signifi
Page 127 and 128: in respiratory activity. Breathing
Page 129 and 130: under the extreme conditions of agg
Page 131 and 132: formalised into rhythmic twistings
Page 133 and 134: sdditional energy on it, and it is
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Page 139 and 140: intensities of it are expressed in
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Page 145 and 146: such a situation can be seen to per
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Page 153 and 154: frequent accompaniment of wailing o
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personal acquaintances listed there
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grounds. It is a predominantly masc
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elements of challenge, luck and ris
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Another interpretation is that we h
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If they appeal to our old primate w
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disposal, we might be expected to r
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giving an impression of great conce
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the female can then fondle it and c
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is it aesthetically pleasing. Its f
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significance of the hair. In its re
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co-operativeness, specialised groom
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it is a strong dose of security tha
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If the environment becomes too cold
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CHAPTER EIGHT ANIMALS UP to this po
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prey-predator relationship, since i
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substitute space-traveller. No othe
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interferes with the efficient runni
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point of view, are fully justified
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small objects (chimpanzee, monkey,
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The unexpected discovery here is th
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on its back. It must be stressed he
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This cannot be explained solely on
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spiders being nasty, hairy things.
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symbolically, scientifically or aes
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tendencies; that if we have to beco
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Heart-beat response: Salk, 1966. Gr
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BIBLIOGRAPHY AMBROSE, J. A., `The s
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MILES, W. R., 'Chimpanzee behaviour
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Mimikry der Primaten'. Die Naturwis
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THE NAKED APE

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