Monkey business: primate insecurity and morality

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

A couple of very interesting videos.

 

First, grab a beer and sit down to watch this. It's about 18 minutes long, but it's profoundly interesting (it was to me, anyway). It's about research into primate behavior - particularly as regards matters of fairness, inequity, and morality, and as you watch it, you'll see glimpses of our own humanity:

 

 

OK, with that out of the way, we can get back to the fact that monkeys, generally speaking, are funny. Spider monkeys in particular are funny as hell any time they are moving. Add in a little insecurity, and, well, you get this:

 

 

[Medic Mike]

That was a very impressive wind up for an Epic Fail on that last vid Mitch. Watched it 4 times while at work, and each time brought smiles to the face.

[Kathy R]

I laughed so hard at the Wall Street protest that I scared Nigel.

[Whip]

I will never look at cucumbers and grapes the same again.

 

Thanks for the link.

 

L

 

 

[1MPH]

Thanks for that. Even if a bit humbling.

[Selden]

Wonderful — especially throwing back the cucumber, pounding on the counter and shaking the plexiglass wall. On occasion, I have behaved similarly when thwarted. I'm sure that if there had been a sound track, it would have featured much monkey swearing.

 

See also Robert Sapolsky's A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons, which has my all-time favorite opening line for a book of non-fiction:

 

I joined a baboon troop during my twenty-first year. I had never planned to become a savanna baboon when I grew up; instead I had always assumed I would become a mountain gorilla.

 

[Whip]

[Medic Mike]

I don't know why, maybe due to my hellish night at work, but that vid made me feel a lot better about our world. Thanks Whip.

[Whip]

I don't know why, maybe due to my hellish night at work, but that vid made me feel a lot better about our world. Thanks Whip.

 

 

Thank Mitch

 

 

I am just here for the beer.

 

 

 

 

 

[4wheeldog]

I laughed so hard at the Wall Street protest that I scared Nigel.

 

The 99% get cucumber, while the 1% get grapes!