Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Primate Muse Tuesday - MATTERS THAT MATTER



"Primate Muse"
 
"Origin of man now proved, Metaphysic must flourish.
He who understands baboon would do more for metaphysics than Locke.
-Charles Darwin-
1838
Friendship and connection in the primate world is quite similar to
human behavior, as Dr. Frans deWaal shows in
"The Mystery of Love"
Chimpanzees and bonobos show feelings of empathy, compassion, friendship and even altruistic behavior, but only for their own clan members. They don't care, and might even kill,
outsiders vying for resources.
 Sound familiar?


Family, clan, nation, race, gender, or personal preference
are not actual lines of separation.
They are all artificial, unstable, and fluctuating divisions,
usually constructed to suit someones agenda.
In reality, all waters are one water.
Nothing separates anything.

Jane Goodall Hasn't Found The Missing Link
But, she's come closer than nearly anyone else.
The primatologist says the only real difference between humans and chimps is our sophisticated language.
She urges us to start using it to change the world.

2007
30 Minutes

Transformation
Primatologist, Jane Goodall, tells her own life story
from a young English girl of modest means,
to an international symbol of wildlife conservation.
She explainswhy she is hopeful about the future.

Address to the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice
University of San Diego.


59 Minutes

read more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall
***
"Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue
with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right."

"Lasting change is a series of compromises.
And compromise is all right, as long your values don't change."




3 comments:

deanna7trees said...

followed Jane Goodall in the 60s and 70s. fascinating stuff. always love listening to her talks. maybe we are slowly evolving to care for 'outsiders' instead of just caring for 'our own'. it's a very slow process.

Ms. said...

Slow in star time, swift in the stream of time. Worth the waiting? We shall see. Ted talks has some clues to our Neanderthal past here - http://blog.ted.com/2011/08/30/dna-clues-to-our-inner-neanderthal-svante-paabo-on-ted-com/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TEDBlog+%28TEDBlog%29 - But I am convinced that we are from the sea, and will return to it eventually.

Ms. said...

afterthought-if you're interested, this will get you there for the twenty minute talk:
Sharing the results of a massive, worldwide study, geneticist Svante Pääbo shows the DNA proof that early humans mated with Neanderthals after we moved out of Africa. (Yes, many of us have Neanderthal DNA.) He also shows how a tiny bone from a baby finger was enough to identify a whole new humanoid species. http://youtu.be/kU0ei9ApmsY