# When you look at people do you see an ape? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 2, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-look-at-people-do-you-see-an-ape/402540 "2007-05-02T22:48:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Faruiza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@Faruiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faruiza)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-look-at-people-do-you-see-an-ape/402540/41 "2007-05-07T19:08:16Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Primate? Others have mentioned it and I think it fits. This occasionally comes up in discussion. And when people argue about how primate-like we really are, I make an observation that usually brings the debate to, if not a close, then at least a long and thoughtful pause. Imagine: You see somebody about to step in dog shit. You have one second to warn them. Do you say: “Danger! Dog shit!” No. You point and go: “Oo! Oo! Oo!” And the other person freezes in response. A more immediately identifiable and impossible to refute demonstration of our essential primate nature, I have yet to discover. [/QUOTE] I love, love, love, this characterization. RIGHT on the money! I laughed like a hyena while reading that. I do it to my husband in the car all the time. Not the dog shit thing…no…but warning him of impending disaster when I’m sure he doesn’t see it. Whoa! ooooooOOO! ---
**Author:** ![Dob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-look-at-people-do-you-see-an-ape/402540/42 "2007-05-07T19:09:32Z")
No, never actually. But then I wouldn’t look at my cousin and think “aunt” either. ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-look-at-people-do-you-see-an-ape/402540/43 "2007-05-07T20:25:38Z")
This thread is incomplete without a link to this song: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PBEIWGdT-nc/hqdefault.jpg "ape man") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBEIWGdT-nc) ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-look-at-people-do-you-see-an-ape/402540/44 "2007-05-08T19:18:26Z")
[QUOTE=Corner Case] Perhaps “ad hominem”, considering our predilection to appealing to one’s prejudices, emotions, or special interests rather than to one’s intellect or reason. [/QUOTE] I thought that he was just referring to the “hominim/homonym” similarity of sound. I found it funny. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-look-at-people-do-you-see-an-ape/402540/45 "2007-05-08T21:01:45Z")
Sometimes I see humans as various types of animals. If I see someone chewing gum I often think “cow.” What strikes me odd is that we’re the only species that will engage in faux-mating while looking at 2-dimensional depictions of others of our species mating. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-look-at-people-do-you-see-an-ape/402540/46 "2007-05-08T21:08:42Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] Sometimes I see humans as various types of animals. If I see someone chewing gum I often think “cow.” What strikes me odd is that we’re the only species that will engage in faux-mating while looking at 2-dimensional depictions of others of our species mating. [/QUOTE] I thought chimpanzees did that, too. What’s more, I thought chimpanzees masturbated to \*human \*porn. No? (Would that make them bestialists?) ---
**Author:** ![enigm4tic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@enigm4tic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigm4tic)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-look-at-people-do-you-see-an-ape/402540/47 "2007-05-09T00:15:57Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] I thought chimpanzees did that, too. What’s more, I thought chimpanzees masturbated to \*human \*porn. No? (Would that make them bestialists?) [/QUOTE] yeah (male) chimps will forego food to look at pictures of female chimps. As an aside, there’s also several other species that have sex for fun besides humans. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-look-at-people-do-you-see-an-ape/402540/48 "2007-05-09T14:32:01Z")
[QUOTE=enigm4tic] yeah (male) chimps will forego food to look at pictures of female chimps. As an aside, there’s also several other species that have sex for fun besides humans. [/QUOTE] A wise Doper (I forget who) once pointed out that ALL animals besides humans have sex for fun _exclusively_. We’re the only ones (as far as we know) who sometimes have sex with the \*intention \*of making babies. We primates may be the only ones who have sex outside of our fertile times, but I’m not sure. Dolphins are pretty randy, though. ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-look-at-people-do-you-see-an-ape/402540/49 "2007-05-09T15:28:02Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] What’s more, I thought chimpanzees masturbated to \*human \*porn. [/QUOTE] I read about a family-raised female chimp who used to love to read and masturbate to Playgirl. I don’t think bonobos would have any qualms about mating with humans (they don’t have any about mating with chimps). I read about a researcher who had previously only studied chimps who, on his first day of working with bonobos, got a french kiss from one. Chimps just kiss lip to lip and he wasn’t expecting the tongue. To answer the OP’s question, yes, I really do. I study primatology and the more I learn, the more I see us as the “naked ape.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-look-at-people-do-you-see-an-ape/402540.md?page=2)