Title: The Naked Ape
Author: Desmond Morris
Publisher: Vintage 1994 (First published 1967)
ISBN: 0-09-948201-0
Pages: 164
The author is a world-renowned zoologist, ethologist and anthropologist. The book caused quite a stir when it first appeared in 1967. It attempts to study human behaviour through the eyes of an ethologist (one who studies animal behaviour when subjected to certain stimulus. The word should not be confused with ethnologist). The author recollects in the foreward that he had not expected such a barrage of criticism, coming one century after the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species. This uncalled-for response suggests that darkness of ignorance has still not completely removed its veil over the face of humanity and that people places themselves in such a high pedestal that any notion that they belong to a race of animals upsets the whole balance. The book has seen many reprints, the present one seeing the light of day in 1994. Morris claims that the content of the book is so up-to-date and relevant that he had only to replace a ‘3’, with a ‘5’ when it was revised. The number relates to the world population as it stood at 3000 million in 1967, but boomed to 5000 million in 1994. The book is part of a trilogy, The Human Zoo and Intimate Behaviour, being the other two. Critics also termed the book pessimistic and demeaning the human spirit. Such an over-reaction is definitely unwarranted, if we take an impassionate look at the book which can be easily seen to be a scientific enterprise in its quest to bring out the truth and nothing but the truth.
Morris calls humans the naked apes, the nakedness is the absence of body hair. This peculiarity differentiates humans from 192 other species of monkeys and apes, all of them full of fur. The change has come about due to evolutionary pressures on our ancestors. They left trees and walked into the savannah to begin life as a hunter-gatherer. The mainly herbivorous diet (which it still is for monkeys and some apes) gradually changed to mainly carnivorous. Humans also show neoteny, which is a phenomenon that the grown up adult also continues infantile growth. In all other species, learning ends with childhood, but humans continue it till the grave. The absence of hair might be due to neoteny, as all ape forms exhibit absence of body hair in the newborn. A typical ape completes 70% of brain growth in the womb, but humans do only 23% and continue growing for two decades more! Human kids do possess an unusually thick body hair during the 6th to 8th months of pregnancy, which is shedded just before birth. Prematurely born babies display this coat of hair, called lanugo, to the horror of the parents. Fortunately, the hair naturally drops off very soon. The author also suggests an aquatic theory for man’s unhairiness. Hunting apes, when they came out of trees, might have foraged for food on the African seashore. The coat of hair gradually gave way for easily navigating in the water. The head, which would be above the water level, retained its fur. This is further strengthened by the observation that subcutaneous fat deposits in humans are similar to the blubber in aquatic mammals like seals. The profusion of sweat glands evolved to provide cooling to the body after a hot chase for prey.
Desmond Morris loves controversy, it seems so often. There are numerous arguments which arise opposition even from scientists. The proposition that earlobes became prominent to receive erotic stimulus from the mate is outrageous, to say the least. Another prize winner is the development of conspicuous mammary glands in females (the breasts, in plain parlance). The author’s argument make us roar with laughter. He argues that copulation in apes is so positioned in all apes and monkeys that the male mounts from the rear. But when the naked apes adopted a vertical stature by going on hind limbs alone, this position was practically difficult. In response to a change in the copulatory position from the front side, mammary glands assumed the shape of rump so the male animal continues to get its ‘kick’! Apart from the amusement, such arguments are not based on any evidence or possibility.
The naked apes exhibit the urge to explore its surroundings and unknown things. This is the fundamental reason for our progress. This is also derived from an animal urge. Creatures which are not sure of where their next meal come from show exploratory nature, familiarizing every nook and cranny of their homebase. Neophilia (love of the new) prompts them to explore, familiarize and try variations on new subjects. Picture drawing, writing and sophisticated verbal communication are the results of the exploratory urge. This is kept on in adult phase, thanks to neoteny. Fighting among the species is a feature evolved for maintaining hierarchy (to impose itself on the group members) and to keeping territory (to protect it from other social groups). In an aggressive position, the sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system prepares the body for attack, by drawing blood from skin to internal muscles along with other symptoms, while the parasympathetic subsystem prepares it to calm down, by rushing blood to the skin. So, when angry, if the opponents shows a white face (devoid of blood), it is a sure sign of impending attack as against a red face.
The author muses also about the origins of religion. Religious ceremonies are congregation of numbers to bow before or appease a powerful master, called god. This stage developed when we left the forests and began life as a hunter gatherer, where social grouping demanded much more cooperative behaviour from its members. The leader, who possessed absolute mastery had to relinquish many privileges to demand cooperation from members. Gods surged ahead to fill the vacuum created by these chieftains. The development of religion was a crucial phase in the human evolution, without which large societies would not have originated. Unfortunately, judging from the intransigent attitudes of religious worshippers we have to conclude that it tries to keep society tied to the same spot.
Humans are omnivores. The trend in some people towards vegetarianism is not supported by natural history. Our carnivorous selves are seen in our spaced-out big meals, as against scattered short snacks of the primates. Also, by having a preference to eat the food hot, the old carnivorous instinct of devouring the prey while it is still warm is exhibited in an unconscious way. On the other hand our affinity to sweets is more linked to our herbivorous past we shared with other primates in the forest, which are in the habit of enjoying ripe fruits and nuts. Increased availability of food and development of highly nutritious food, combined with advances in medical science has brought out a population explosion. The numbers are inching higher towards unsustainable levels. If we can’t control it intelligently, the resulting competition among individuals each following its biological urges would spell doom for civilization. The title Naked Ape, is chosen and copiously reused to denote humans in a deliberate effort to make him stop and take note of the situation. It helps us to remember our animal ancestry and take a second look at the mess which we have inflicted on the planet. The book definitely served its purpose.
The book is rather short, but makes up for it in the breadth of ideas handled. The nitpicking extends to all social behaviour including eating, grouping, copulation, growth and psychological. Some readers may find the chapter on mating unsuitable for too young an audience. In any case, the author’s sharp eye reasserts itself. We would be flabbergasted at the subtle meaning behind our actions and mannerisms when presented through the zoological lens by the mastery of the author. The rise of adrenalin in the bloodstream of a CEO facing a business competitor across a conference table is the same as in an aborigin preparing himself for an ambush on an unsuspecting prey or a mortal enemy. Wherever we go and whatever we do, the same biological urges reign supreme. This, in a nutshell is the essence of the book.
The downside is the rather lewd description of human sexual behaviour, as mentioned earlier. Also, his predilection to extraordinary explanations for sufficiently common experiences threatens the scientific nature of the work.
The book is highly recommended.
Rating: 3 Star
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