The Third Chimpanzee

Ian Collison

Professor O Mara

11-27-13

History 120
 The Third Chimpanzee

In the book, The Third Chimpanzee, Jared Diamond illustrates how humans have

evolved alongside other species of primates and eventually become the most dominant

animal on the planet. He also talks about how humans, seemingly so superior to other

beings, only vary from their closest cousins (primates) by less than two percent when it

comes to their DNA. This difference seems so miniscule but it is this difference that has

allowed humans to found civilizations and religions, create complicated forms of

communication, and learn a seemingly endless amount of information about the world

surrounding them. Diamond describes how this difference in our DNA made such a

drastic difference in our evolution as a species and how that difference has allowed us to

become the rulers of the world. How is it possible for one specific species to inhabit and

control so many different areas of the world when other animals that have evolved

alongside us have not been able to replicate the same result? What makes humans

different? These are just a few of the questions that Diamond raises in the readers mind.

The book gets the reader thinking, how can a species capable of creating cities, states,

and countries lack the ability to peacefully coexist with their peers who may not share the

same language, skin color, or religion. It also makes one wonder how humans can be the

only species to have developed so many diverse and sophisticated forms of

communication, yet we lack the ability to use these tools to avoid so many of our

problems. Human beings have brought forth so many different forms of incredible

change and advancement to the world in such a short period of time, yet some of these

changes are responsible for contributing to the destruction of the very ecosystem that

sustains all life on earth.

 Throughout human history people have committed acts of violence against one

another. There are so many examples of human cruelty that it is impossible to look back

on our past without seeing this displayed. Some instances of this would be wars, slavery,

genocides, imprisonment, torture, and discrimination just to name a few. All of these

atrocities have been apparent throughout human history. How can this still be possible in

a society that knows these things are wrong? We as humans have the cognitive ability to

understand that all of the actions are disgusting and inhumane, yet people around the

world continue to commit or be subjected to these things. Slavery is a perfect example of

humans cruelty towards one another and it is a topic discussed at length throughout the

course. Mark D. Welton of the US Defense Department says, Slavery was widespread

and legally sanctioned for most of human history. Chattel slavery-the legal ownership of

one person by another-was its most common form.1 We consider the United States of

America to be the most advanced and sophisticated civilization in human history. It is the

most economically and technologically advanced society the world has ever known, but it

took almost 200 years for a law to be past to abolish slavery. It took this long in a

country that is only 237 years old and even longer in the rest of the world. We can see

slavery in the history of major world civilizations like Egypt and Rome. At the time

these societies where at the height of their influence in the known world, just like the US,

but they were built on the backs of laborers and slaves. The economy of these empires

1
Mark D. Welton, International Law and Slavery, Military Review, Jan/Feb 2008,
http://sks.sirs.com.ezproxy.gwclib.nocccd.edu/cgi-bin/hst-quick-search?id=SCA1831-0-
8599&type=text&detail=Y&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=Y&ic=&method=relevance&keyword=war&sid
=SCA1831-0-
8599&keyword=slavery&SUBMIT.x=0&SUBMIT.y=0&SUBMIT=Search&taglist=0000316347ART0000
339280ART0000278647ART0000340522ART0000271222ART0000292890ART0000354650ART000033
7642ART0000337642ART0000117148ART0000120570ART0000350806ART0000350806ART00003452
94ART0000338543ART0000351605ART0000353640ART0000342613ART0000350209ART0000346481
ART0000340842ART&auth_checked=Y.
was dependant upon slaves and they would not have been the same nation without them.

They used slaves to get what they wanted or what they needed without having to do the

work. The idea of controlling and owning another human being seems so wrong now but

the world was shaped by it and would be incredibly different without it. Welton states,

Slavery in the ancient world served primarily military and economic purposes. The

military frequently forced individuals into service as soldiers or galley slaves. Slaves also

labored in public works construction in ancient Greece or in agricultural or mine work in

Mesopotamia and in the Roman Empire. Others were personal and household servants for

wealthy families and often provided sexual services to their masters or mistresses.1 This

demonstrates how dependent these large Empires were on their slaves. Without the

efforts of these slaves the economic and military might of these empires would have been

severely crippled. Other primates do not enslave and extort one another for personal

gain, in fact they ban together in order to live and survive as a unit. They protect each

other and work together for the good of the group. Slavery, or more specifically, slave

raids is a behavior documented among ants, however, its unlikely you will ever see a

chimp enslaving another in order to benefit itself so why is it that such an advanced

species like humans does this to each other?2 It makes the reader really think about why

humans are not able to understand this. With the cranial ability that we have we should

be able to work together to make life better for everyone rather than using and abusing

those around us. This kind of discrimination is prevalent not only in slavery but in many

other aspects of human behavior as well. Discrimination due to religious belief, ethnicity,

1
Mark D. Welton, International Law and Slavery, Military Review, Jan/Feb 2008.
2
Diamond, Jared, The Third Chimpanzee, Harper Perennial, 1993, pg. 170
skin color, and language fare no better in terms of how people treat each other, slavery is

just an obvious example.

Humans of modern times have evolved and developed many different forms of

advanced communication. We have the ability to communicate with people all around

the world at any given moment. Despite these advantages, human civilization has been

unable to avoid conflicts that have led to a divided and often hate filled world. War as

defined by Merriam-Webster is a state of usually open and declared armed hostile

conflict between states or nations.3 Though these conflicts exist among other animal

species, notably chimps, and are traditionally marked (like humans) by xenophobic

hostility, what makes human xenophobia much more lethal than chimp xenophobia is our

development of weapons for mass killing at a distance.2 Humans continue to wage war

against one another to this very day. A recent example is the United States engagement in

the Middle East. While war had remained largely unchanged in its tactics and execution

for many years, the one aspect of war that is developing most rapidly is the technology

that each country now brings into battle with them. With the development of chemical

and biological weapons, firebombs, and even nuclear warheads, humans now have the

ability not only to destroy their enemies but also themselves and the entire world in the

process. As Diamond states, Xenophobic murder has innumerable animal precursors, but

only we have developed it to the point of threatening to bring about our fall as a species.2

Humans attempt to use war as a measure of power and control. What we fail to do is use

our ability and capacity for communication and scientific understanding to help solve

these problems on a large scale through peaceful means. We know the potential for

3
Merriam-Webster, war, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2013
2
Diamond, Jared, The Third Chimpanzee, Harper Perennial, 1993, pg. 220.
2
Diamond, Jared, The Third Chimpanzee, Harper Perennial, 1993, pg. 220.
disaster so why are we so slow to act? It would seem our capacity to wage war that is

ever increasing in its destructive force and lethality outpaces our ability to seek solutions

to it.

The Third Chimpanzee explains that nearly all human behavior has its equivalent

in the animal kingdom. A unique combination of superior intelligence and manual

dexterity allowed humans to evolve into the most dominant species on earth. Humans

have the intellectual capacity to imagine great civilizations and possess the skill to build

them. Despite these advantages, poor decision making and failures to learn from past

experiences often produced tragic, but limited, consequences. The consequences have

been limited only due to our inability to act globally until relatively recently. Now,

humans command industries, technology, and military might, which have the potential to

destroy the planet through war or environmental destruction. The challenge that lies

ahead is for the human race to embrace our capacity for understanding, creativity, and

communication and, not only learn the lessons of our history, but implement the changes

necessary to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. The stakes have never been higher

and the consequences never so great. No other species has the wisdom, ability, or skill to

save us from ourselves.