Rogue Primate: An Exploration of Human Domestication

this is an excellent book. it expresses truths that most humans would rather not acknowledge about their own ancestry, psychology, and place on earth and in the universe. it takes courage to digest this book and to evaluate it critically. nice companion to The Naked Ape. not for the weak-minded or weak-at-heart. KNOW THYSELF--even if it scares you or gets you a bit depressed, this book will likely make an impact. think carefully before embarking on this journey. it might be easier just to eat some nachos and watch TV.

Livingstone was a brilliant original thinker who was decades ahead of his time. The environmental community ignored him, because he was a robust critic of their ideology. This book does the best job that I have seen of describing humankind's transition from ordinary animals into domineering monsters. It's a crucial book for those who are seriously trying to understand ecological history.

The backbone of this book is the idea that human beings were/are the first domesticated species, and the ONLY evolved (being product of our biological and cultural history) domesticates. Human domestication was caused by dependence on a technology centered ideology that eventually led to the rationale frequently employed today of, "If we can do it, we should do it" (the people become servants of the tool as opposed to the tool serving those who employ it). Livingston explains that being a domesticate means being completely dependent upon something (one's handler) for survival; in the case of humans, the dependence is an ideology based on "storable, retrievable, transmissable technique." It is an exploration of how we (humans) got here and what it means to be the first domesticate, the only evolved one at that; he goes on to critique some of the aspects of present day civilization in light of the ideology of technology that it is founded on. It's a marvelous book that anyone who is interested in evolution, ecology, social problems, ideology, or why humans are the way they are in general should enjoy reading. A very very great book; it's one of those rare pieces of scholarly writings that anyone can pick up, read, and understand. Like the other reviewer, I wasn't always in complete agreement, but that's only because the book was so thought provoking.

This is one of the very few books that ever changed the way I look at things. I don't agree with all of the author's opinions (and he doesn't ask me to), but after reading this I doubt I'll ever look at humanity's relation to "Nature" - or even the idea of seperation of the two - the same way again.