Significant Others: The Ape Human Continuum and the Quest for Human Nature

It is one the best books I have read on evolutionary psychology for many years, even if the author claims that his book is not about evolutionary psychology. There is an obvious continuum between apes and humans and many of human behaviours have certainly a strong biological component to the point that by studying apes we can find important keys for understanding human behaviours. However the main idea of the book is that human behaviours and human culture form so complex a system that all explanations based on evolutionary psychology, ethnology, primatology, and linguistics are reductionist and cannot give a true account of the complexity that link genetic inheritance with evolutionary pressure resulting from the environment, cognitive capacity, social behaviours and culture. In the introduction of the book Stanford start by debunking five myths of human origin. For the sake of brevity I will just mention the five myths without entering into the reasons that Stanford gives for rejecting those theories as "prime movers". I will just say that the arguments are very convincing and purely based on Darwinian evolutionary biology and palaeontology. The first myth is hat morphological and cognitive evolution of humans was driven by bipedal posture because being upright freed the hands for making tools. Stanford notes that "the brain changed very little in that first shift from ape to human". Stanford reviews a number of facts that put that theory in shamble despite that bipedal posture is often considered as "the hall park of membership in the human family". The second myth is the Savanna Model that considers that the essential stage in the humanization process of apes is the "canard" that apes "left the tree for the open grass land". The third myth is the myth of the hunter versus the scavenger. The fourth myth is the theory that opposes promiscuous males to monogamous females. The last myth is the myth of what Stanford calls the monolithic Palaeolithic, i-e that the transition from ape to human requires "a prime mover". Stanford write: "Meat-eating (...), cooking, protection against infanticide, concealed ovulation, social complexity: there has been no shortage of prime movers offered up. In reality, of course, there was certainly no one overriding selection pressure; instead there ware many interacting pressures that varied in importance in different times and place" (pp. 16-17). The fist part of the book is about "love, death, and food". It reviews issues related to aggressive behaviours, sexual coercion, warfare, and meat-eating. That part includes a very interesting comparison between bonobos and chimpanzees and leads to the debunking of another myth propagated by de Waal that "the chimpanzee resolves sexual issues with power; the bonobo resolves power issues with sex". In fact, things are far more complicated and more recent finding about bonobos "have led anthropologists to place humans squarely at an evolutionary crossroads" (p. 27) an

Craig Stanford has written a book that continues to inform the public of just how similar we are to the primates by attempting to show the reader that the differences between us are actually very minute. Through data and analysis Stanford points out how the behaviors of primates can be applied to our own human nature, which supports his thesis that "to understand human nature, you must understand the apes." (p.xviii). Stanford self describes Significant Others as a "field guide to the current state of our understanding of both human and ape culture..." (p. xviii). Through the descriptions of social interactions, tool usage, language, and culture Stanford provides a strong case in support of his thesis. Starting right from the beginning in his introduction, Stanford uses data and research theory to support his thesis and to refute the alternatives. He is not afraid to discuss behaviors that are of questionable regard. He delves into the subject of infanticide with similar gusto as he does in the chapter on language. Stanford's bottom line is the same throughout that we can use the studies of the great apes to explain our human nature and why problem behaviors like human infanticide persist today.Overall Significant Others is a good read. Stanford does an exceptional job of providing research that supports the notion that many of our human behaviors and traits can be explained by similar behaviors studied in the great apes. Although this was not pointed out until the end of the book by supporting his thesis Stanford also was providing strong evidence for the importance of conserving and protecting the great apes. Stanford was not afraid to indulge into his own opinions when he felt the need and this added a personal touch to the reading that provided interest to sometimes dry research findings. He also covered highly debatable information well by giving equal consideration to both sides of the picture, even though it was often evident what side of the debate he was on. I would recommend Significant Others to those that enjoyed reading Roger Fout's Next of Kin and want to further their knowledge of great ape behavior and how it might be related to human nature.

Mr. Stanford has written yet another fascinating and gripping book about human origins and primate behavior that is easy for the lay person to read and understand.

In Significant Others, Craig Stanford thoughtfully considers the ape-human continuum and the quest for human nature as he persuasively argues that the gap between apes and humans is very narrow, and not a vast unbridgeable realm. Stanford's argument draws close associations between apes and humans, considering their complex societies, social groups, and communications. An intriguing study.

This book is a great introduction to the relationships among the higher primates including humans. The discussion of tool use, cognitive abilities, cultural practices, and language skills is both very easy to read and highly informative. Readers with background in the subject may find a new perspective on some issues, but the book is most appropriate for someone who wants a short overview of how we are related to the other primates and why we should care. For those who wish to explore further, enough references to other works and to the current scientific literature are provided to open many doors.A good, quick read that demonstrates our kinship to those "significant others".