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Title: The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal
ISBN: 0385334303
Author:
Desmond Morris
Publicate Date: 1999-04-13
Publish: 1999-04-13
List Price: $16.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $7.99
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $4.75
Amazon Merchant Price: $10.88
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| Customer Review: |
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1: aren't we all gods: pretty monkey
it seems like a bad joke, liek it took a zoo-oligist, or animal guy, to teach me truly about the beauty of my humanity... it's a sly joke of the divine to express the true value of humility within the hairless chimp form we carry.. and to see fit to allow a guy just observinng and making subtle comparisons within what many see as the adversarial view to a creation point. Desmond is a craftsman let it be known though, and a story teller, so it's not strict academia here.. and that's where the artist gets in as the shadow of a perspective much greater and grander.. Only a synthesis of understanding will do, i truly see now.. evolving is how we all get there.. and Morris to me reminds me of the fact of how much the physical mimics and crudely relays the message and reality of much higher diviner things...
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2: I'll be a monkey's uncle!
This is a great book that should be read. Morris is a very intelligent guy, and a very good writer, and you'll be able to polish this book off with no trouble.
One caveat is that the book is over forty-one years old, and so some of the conclusions/assertions/asseverations may be obsolete (and many more "politically incorrect")...but most, I'd imagine, still hold true. Evolution tends to take a while...one need look no further than the nearest mirror. Morris makes some dated predictions, and overreaches on a few, but nothing on a Paul Ehrlich-level of hyperbolic nonsense.
Many clever insights are provided throughout the book, shining an etiological bulb on numerous aspects of naked ape culture and behavior. Morris's articulated reasoning for the invention and continuation of religion in an allegedly rationalistic age was novel to me (though intuitively obvious--after the fact!), and his explication of how some traits have developed out of conjunction with our evolutionary time-frame (while anachronistic others remain sticky long after they've ceased being useful) is truly food for thought.
I recommend The Naked Ape highly, with the proviso, alluded to earlier, that certain folks holding certain orthodoxies probably won't find their cherished faiths reinforced, and thus will react with hostility.
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3: "A Naked Look at Social Convention"
A stirring look at the primal factors driving man in the art of Love, the doldrums of Work and the visceral depths of War and chronicling our relative similarity to our closest cousins, the primates, Desmond Morris adds soil and soul to the grassroots movement sparked in the Sixties counterculture to reconnect with some bygone artifact of Man's blind past. There can be no doubt that the embattled Sixties and the embittered youthful revolts influenced Morris to direct his scientific acumen at the internal drive of Man.
Overall, this is a good start for those questioning just how biological many of Man's drives are.
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4: Evolution or revolution
This book is great to read. Whether you believe what's been written or not, not-so-religious people can't deny evolution. It's as simple as 1+1=2 and that's how this book has been written.
You believe what I just said? Grab a copy of the book now!
Don't believe me? Good, as I don't buy into everything that has been said as well. But I do think it's important that the more views you have, the better your fundamentent for judgement is. This book certainly has some very strong points and may sound familiar to you.
So, just with psychology and Dr. Phil, don't believe everything that's being said, but make up your own mind. Maybe this book will be 'a changing day in your life...'.
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5: An outdated analysis
If you are interested in a 1950-60's view of human evolutionary science, this book may be worthwhile. Otherwise, don't waste your time. Evolutionary science has advanced dramatically in the last 50 years and has discredited many of the views presented in The Naked Ape. Several are even laughable, such as the explanation of homosexuality in the chapter on sex.
Further, while promoted as a zoological study, the presentation is psychological, focusing on behavioral issues and their explanations rather than biological evolution. It is filled with the "he-man hunter" psychobabel that was preached in 1960's university Psych courses.
Simply, this book was a waste of my time and money. The reviews that stated the book was dated, but still relevant, were sadly mistaken.
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