When you look at people do you see an ape?

Great Debates
41

[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!

42

No, never actually. But then I wouldn’t look at my cousin and think “aunt” either.

43

This thread is incomplete without a link to this song:

44

[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.

45

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.

46

[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?)

47

[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.

48

[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.

49

[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.”