Mrs. Darth Vader
06-03-2010, 06:51
Chapter sixteen deals with the lives of apes. We did chimps so now it is apes turn since they were close second as to being related to us. Sagan does jump back and forward between apes and chimps in general. Sagan starts this chapter by describing the demeanor of the alpha ape and the subordinate ape. Here Sagan directly compares the alpha ape to a Chinese or Ottoman Emperor or a Catholic Priest before the Bishop of Rome or a Pharaoh of ancient Egypt. The subordinate is clearly showing deference in an extreme bow and scrape manner. The subordinate really grovels. The subordinate clearly makes you think of the above mentioned leaders and the way subordinates in human societies act towards such high ranking officials. The alpha ape then touches the subordinate on the head giving reassurance. The alpha then goes his way touching other apes as he goes. Here the alpha is compared to American Presidents who shake hands with the masses. Sagan compares this action of the alpha to the reassurance that statesmen give to the people. Here Sagan clearly draws a straight line between human and ape society. Part of the alpha’s duty is to reassure the others and calm anxieties in the group. The alpha ape is the king and government of ape society. He, like any king in human society, gets the best food and fed first, women and deference and respect from the entire group. In return, like any king, the alpha mites justice. He is expected to settle disputes between hotheaded young males. The alpha prevents conflicts from flaring up. Sagan describes the demeanor of how alpha ape separates two hotheaded young males itching for a fight. Sagan compares this to the rudiments of government. The alpha has to do symbolic gestures and real actual practical stuff and render services to the group. Here the alpha is compared to good kings who rule well. Here there is a give/ take relationship. It is not all one way where the alpha is serviced and everyone else is out of luck. The alpha does his part as well.
Sagan then switches to how the alpha keeps his power and the intimidation tactics alpha uses to keep the other apes in their place. Here violence is sparingly used to prove that it will be done if necessary. The violence is dispensed with wisely so that when gestures and bluffs are made they are believed. In human society money has replaced the violent combat and bluffs of the alpha ape. The further back you go in human history combat and bluffs were just as done. Pistols at dawn. Swords and duels of the middle ages where no different than the violence and gestures of the alpha ape. Even though money has replaced this the dynamic is the same underneath. The alphas in our society are the ones who owns the houses and has the money. Here the threat is life of banishment and the streets if you cross these petty alphas. In our society these alphas can be male or female and are many, with the apes it is only the male because strength is necessary. In ape society there are a few alphas more like that of a vanguardist dictatorship. American society has many more petty alphas than does the apes. Money makes it so even a weakling can rule which would be unheard of in ape society. Here is how the apes do it (rule and intimidate).
“The anger of a high-ranking male is fearsome. His arousal is obvious to any bystander, because all the hair on his body is standing on end. He may charge, intimidate, and tear branches from trees. If you’re not prepared to meet him in single combat, you might want to appease him, to keep him happy. You closely monitor the slightest raising of a single one of his hairs. Not only are you perpetually compliant (“I’m yours whenever you want me”), but just for your own comfort you need frequent reassurance that he’s not angry with you. When he is angry, he exaggerates his size and ferocity and displays the weapons that he will bring to bear if the adversary does not submit.” Page 297 “Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors by Carl Sagan.
There are many American house holds that run in this manner. Some with the literal violence (cases of domestic violence), others more subtle gesture intimidation. People do not make their hairs stand on end but they too have their intimidation gestures. Humans can swell and look bigger on demand as well. It is just more subtle than our ape cousins. The weapons we threaten with is the power of society and our position in it. The sub-group we belong to with in that society is also used as a threat. “Obey me or I will sic my gang on you”. In ape society to become alpha you must over throw the reigning alpha. Defeating the reigning alpha once in combat is not enough. You must defeat him many times. Then you become alpha. The ex-alpha usually still lives in the group. It is just now that someone else is in charge.
“Political assassination-that is, dominance combat in which the looser dies-is rare.” Page 298.
Physical contact among apes, chimps and monkeys is important to their psychological well being. When chimps are born they constantly cling to their mothers. Mothers groom and touch their infants and chimp children a lot. Touching continues through out the life of chimps, monkeys and apes. If chimps, monkeys and apes are well fed but not hugged and groomed they grow up to be socially, emotionally and sexually incompetent. They become misfits. They will not fit into their society if they are brought up to be estranged from it by too much distance and no physical interaction. Here Sagan makes you think about how our children are brought up and how adults are very distant from one another. Children are not toughed or hugged much in our society. It is not considered macho. Adults do not touch at all except in rare cases of two lovers and they keep a distance most of the time. Of course our society is dysfunctional. People have no common group bonding with one another. We all are isolated individuals and the next guy is a competitor as if from another species like the prey.
Male chimps are quicker to reconcile to each other because they go on patrol often to guard their territory. If too much mistrust is brewing it will lessen the effectiveness of the patrols. Males are more aggressive than the females but they forgive and make up faster as well. Again this is rooted in survival. You need to trust each other on patrols. This is the same reason that military buddies are closer bonded than their civilian counter parts. In the military everyone is needed to protect each other. Survival here has no room for grudges. Civilians cut the ground from each other’s feet. This behavior is rewarded by the business community so it continues. In the chimp world it is the females that hold the grudges. They do not go on patrols so they can afford to keep their grudges.
Sagan then brings up the rats that were over crowded in an enclosure and their reaction to that over crowding.
“When Calhoun crowded his rats together he found a wholesale change in their behavior, almost as if their collective strategy was now to kill off enough of themselves and to lower the birth rate enough that the population in the next generation would be reduced to manageable numbers…(and in fact, described in the next chapter, that baboons can go into a murderous, annihilating group frenzy when packed together.)” Page 301 Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors”. by Carl Sagan.
Here humans act more like rats and baboons when our over crowding occurs. Chimps, on the other hand try to lesson tensions. The males suddenly show measured restraint. When conflict does arise between males, it is the female that does the peace making.
Sagan then goes back to describing chimp life in the wild. When a male chimp “courts” a female it is much briefer than humans, more like the offensive one night stand kind of approach. We all know the type “Hello, baby. Want to get it on?” He is usually pushy besides. Many of the male chimp gestures for wanting a female is very similar to the gestures used in intimidating other males. The female usually always complies with only a 3% rejection rate. Sagan then describes the sexual behaviors of chimps. Here is where they make humans feel awkward and embarrassed. You will have to read the book for yourself to read this part. The high ranking males are the ones to get the females. Females comply to male advances all the time because the male is more likely to protect her child if she does not reject him. Sagan compares this side of the sex lives of chimps to the protection racket done by the Mafia or “Mob”.
Sagan explains the molecular level how sperm cells compete with each other to try to get to the egg. In one human ejaculation there are some 200 million sperm cells. So there are many competitors for the one egg. The strongest sperm cells make their way towards the egg. When the sperm is near enough to the egg, the egg sends out a tether and hooks the chosen sperm cell, of those that made it close enough, and reels it in. Then the egg creates a protective barrier so no other sperm cells get in. This is a surprising new discovery because before scientists learned that the egg is more aggressive than at first thought it was believed that the egg lay their totally passive and the sperm did it all. Now the egg is a more active participant.
Chimps, apes and monkeys have children that have to be taught how to fit into their perspective societies. Here they are very much like us. Dysfunctional parents make dysfunctional children which grow up to be dysfunctional parents. Mothers are essential in chimp society. Sagan here reminds us why we hate to acknowledge our relationship to chimps. Their society is oppressive and unpleasant to look at. Sexual exploitation is considered normal in chimp society. The female is expected to comply to every male advance unless the male is related. If a male chimp young is attacked by an adult male it will leave it’s mother and chase after the attacker begging for approval. It is wanting acceptance from the one who attacked it. In human society if a person were to respond in this manner it is called “Stockholm Syndrome”. Then Sagan reminds us how hauntingly similar to chimps we are. Our similarities to chimps really shows up in times of small government and when social rules are too relaxed. When society looses it’s ability to keep the perfume of civilization on, the more aggressive elements of our society revert back to chimp, ape or monkey behavior. Here I am reminded of a movie called “The Patriot” starring Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin. In a scene where men are gathered to decide to go to war against England Benjamin Martin says why he is hesitant to fight. Benjamin Martin says he prefers one dictator three thousand miles away over three thousand dictators one mile away. Here our small government allows us to act like chimps fighting for small petty dominance hierarchies in our homes. Big powerful governments prevent this because like in ape society the state keeps the little petty dictators from rising. This chapter ended in a chilling note since it reminds me how thin a veil civilized society is from becoming uncivilized chimp society. Here Sagan, quite by accident, proves an open shut case for the “Vanguardist” point of view. Tyranny comes with relaxed order and small government. Sagan when asked about politics always promotes democracy. This is why I say that he proved the Vanguardist view by accident. Sagan was not a supporter of vanguardism.
Sagan then switches to how the alpha keeps his power and the intimidation tactics alpha uses to keep the other apes in their place. Here violence is sparingly used to prove that it will be done if necessary. The violence is dispensed with wisely so that when gestures and bluffs are made they are believed. In human society money has replaced the violent combat and bluffs of the alpha ape. The further back you go in human history combat and bluffs were just as done. Pistols at dawn. Swords and duels of the middle ages where no different than the violence and gestures of the alpha ape. Even though money has replaced this the dynamic is the same underneath. The alphas in our society are the ones who owns the houses and has the money. Here the threat is life of banishment and the streets if you cross these petty alphas. In our society these alphas can be male or female and are many, with the apes it is only the male because strength is necessary. In ape society there are a few alphas more like that of a vanguardist dictatorship. American society has many more petty alphas than does the apes. Money makes it so even a weakling can rule which would be unheard of in ape society. Here is how the apes do it (rule and intimidate).
“The anger of a high-ranking male is fearsome. His arousal is obvious to any bystander, because all the hair on his body is standing on end. He may charge, intimidate, and tear branches from trees. If you’re not prepared to meet him in single combat, you might want to appease him, to keep him happy. You closely monitor the slightest raising of a single one of his hairs. Not only are you perpetually compliant (“I’m yours whenever you want me”), but just for your own comfort you need frequent reassurance that he’s not angry with you. When he is angry, he exaggerates his size and ferocity and displays the weapons that he will bring to bear if the adversary does not submit.” Page 297 “Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors by Carl Sagan.
There are many American house holds that run in this manner. Some with the literal violence (cases of domestic violence), others more subtle gesture intimidation. People do not make their hairs stand on end but they too have their intimidation gestures. Humans can swell and look bigger on demand as well. It is just more subtle than our ape cousins. The weapons we threaten with is the power of society and our position in it. The sub-group we belong to with in that society is also used as a threat. “Obey me or I will sic my gang on you”. In ape society to become alpha you must over throw the reigning alpha. Defeating the reigning alpha once in combat is not enough. You must defeat him many times. Then you become alpha. The ex-alpha usually still lives in the group. It is just now that someone else is in charge.
“Political assassination-that is, dominance combat in which the looser dies-is rare.” Page 298.
Physical contact among apes, chimps and monkeys is important to their psychological well being. When chimps are born they constantly cling to their mothers. Mothers groom and touch their infants and chimp children a lot. Touching continues through out the life of chimps, monkeys and apes. If chimps, monkeys and apes are well fed but not hugged and groomed they grow up to be socially, emotionally and sexually incompetent. They become misfits. They will not fit into their society if they are brought up to be estranged from it by too much distance and no physical interaction. Here Sagan makes you think about how our children are brought up and how adults are very distant from one another. Children are not toughed or hugged much in our society. It is not considered macho. Adults do not touch at all except in rare cases of two lovers and they keep a distance most of the time. Of course our society is dysfunctional. People have no common group bonding with one another. We all are isolated individuals and the next guy is a competitor as if from another species like the prey.
Male chimps are quicker to reconcile to each other because they go on patrol often to guard their territory. If too much mistrust is brewing it will lessen the effectiveness of the patrols. Males are more aggressive than the females but they forgive and make up faster as well. Again this is rooted in survival. You need to trust each other on patrols. This is the same reason that military buddies are closer bonded than their civilian counter parts. In the military everyone is needed to protect each other. Survival here has no room for grudges. Civilians cut the ground from each other’s feet. This behavior is rewarded by the business community so it continues. In the chimp world it is the females that hold the grudges. They do not go on patrols so they can afford to keep their grudges.
Sagan then brings up the rats that were over crowded in an enclosure and their reaction to that over crowding.
“When Calhoun crowded his rats together he found a wholesale change in their behavior, almost as if their collective strategy was now to kill off enough of themselves and to lower the birth rate enough that the population in the next generation would be reduced to manageable numbers…(and in fact, described in the next chapter, that baboons can go into a murderous, annihilating group frenzy when packed together.)” Page 301 Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors”. by Carl Sagan.
Here humans act more like rats and baboons when our over crowding occurs. Chimps, on the other hand try to lesson tensions. The males suddenly show measured restraint. When conflict does arise between males, it is the female that does the peace making.
Sagan then goes back to describing chimp life in the wild. When a male chimp “courts” a female it is much briefer than humans, more like the offensive one night stand kind of approach. We all know the type “Hello, baby. Want to get it on?” He is usually pushy besides. Many of the male chimp gestures for wanting a female is very similar to the gestures used in intimidating other males. The female usually always complies with only a 3% rejection rate. Sagan then describes the sexual behaviors of chimps. Here is where they make humans feel awkward and embarrassed. You will have to read the book for yourself to read this part. The high ranking males are the ones to get the females. Females comply to male advances all the time because the male is more likely to protect her child if she does not reject him. Sagan compares this side of the sex lives of chimps to the protection racket done by the Mafia or “Mob”.
Sagan explains the molecular level how sperm cells compete with each other to try to get to the egg. In one human ejaculation there are some 200 million sperm cells. So there are many competitors for the one egg. The strongest sperm cells make their way towards the egg. When the sperm is near enough to the egg, the egg sends out a tether and hooks the chosen sperm cell, of those that made it close enough, and reels it in. Then the egg creates a protective barrier so no other sperm cells get in. This is a surprising new discovery because before scientists learned that the egg is more aggressive than at first thought it was believed that the egg lay their totally passive and the sperm did it all. Now the egg is a more active participant.
Chimps, apes and monkeys have children that have to be taught how to fit into their perspective societies. Here they are very much like us. Dysfunctional parents make dysfunctional children which grow up to be dysfunctional parents. Mothers are essential in chimp society. Sagan here reminds us why we hate to acknowledge our relationship to chimps. Their society is oppressive and unpleasant to look at. Sexual exploitation is considered normal in chimp society. The female is expected to comply to every male advance unless the male is related. If a male chimp young is attacked by an adult male it will leave it’s mother and chase after the attacker begging for approval. It is wanting acceptance from the one who attacked it. In human society if a person were to respond in this manner it is called “Stockholm Syndrome”. Then Sagan reminds us how hauntingly similar to chimps we are. Our similarities to chimps really shows up in times of small government and when social rules are too relaxed. When society looses it’s ability to keep the perfume of civilization on, the more aggressive elements of our society revert back to chimp, ape or monkey behavior. Here I am reminded of a movie called “The Patriot” starring Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin. In a scene where men are gathered to decide to go to war against England Benjamin Martin says why he is hesitant to fight. Benjamin Martin says he prefers one dictator three thousand miles away over three thousand dictators one mile away. Here our small government allows us to act like chimps fighting for small petty dominance hierarchies in our homes. Big powerful governments prevent this because like in ape society the state keeps the little petty dictators from rising. This chapter ended in a chilling note since it reminds me how thin a veil civilized society is from becoming uncivilized chimp society. Here Sagan, quite by accident, proves an open shut case for the “Vanguardist” point of view. Tyranny comes with relaxed order and small government. Sagan when asked about politics always promotes democracy. This is why I say that he proved the Vanguardist view by accident. Sagan was not a supporter of vanguardism.