A guest blog post by Edward W. Hall
We hear constantly that nature is cruel and unforgiving, and that the most savage features of humanity come from our past, such as before we became the undisputed dominant force over planet Earth. Here we are now, with steel giants scraping the skies of every major city, supercomputers tucked away in every pocket, and we say things like, “Nature is cruel, and survival is a battle against it.”
In many ways, this assessment of nature fits with the preconception of early man as a conqueror, using his superior intellect to control the wild and establish his dominion over it. I think our relationship with the natural world is often misrepresented like this, with no regard for our empathy. Humans are highly social creatures, and empathy is one of our most essential adaptations. Primatologist Frans de Waal made this sentiment a key theme in his book The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society.
“Don’t believe anyone who says that since nature is based on a struggle for life, we need to live like this as well. Many animals survive not by eliminating each other or keeping everything for themselves, but by cooperating and sharing.”
Masters of Cooperation
Our closest relatives in the animal kingdom would say so, too. Bonobos are the masters of cooperation. Although they may look similar to chimpanzees, they behave very differently. Bonobos are matriarchal (female-dominated) and show us the peaceful side to survival. These apes are so peaceful, in fact, that there has never been a confirmed observation of a bonobo killing another of their own kind.
Chimps, on the other hand, show us the competitive side to survival. Where chimpanzees live, seasonal food scarcity means that groups must split up to disperse the competition for ripe fruit. Females with young children, especially, must isolate either alone or in small groups to avoid conflict with others. For bonobos, there is no need to split up, since the Congo Basin rainforest boasts “less seasonal variation and more access to fallback foods.”
With bonobo females together at all times, they have the opportunity to become strongly bonded with each other in a way that’s impossible for chimpanzees. These strong bonds are the groundwork for a powerful matriarchy that protects against male violence.
Females in Power
In bonobo society, the place of males in a group is almost entirely dependent on their mother’s position in the group hierarchy. The son of a high-ranking female can rank highly while his mother lives and “mothers provide agonistic support to their sons even into adulthood.” Here, the female bloodline determines the importance of an individual, not the male. In keeping with this ranking system, infant bonobos hold one of the highest positions in their society and can even pluck the food from the mouths of fully-grown males. One must imagine how this would end for a young chimpanzee!
For bonobos, the key to survival is not competition, but cooperation. To rise to the top of the bonobo world, a female must be accepted as the leader of her group by the other females. If a female were to usurp her matriarch, she would break the trust that not only protects the political system, but her own life. Without this powerful trust between females, the physically stronger males would be given an opportunity to take over. In The Bonobo and the Atheist, de Waal recounts a story like this of a matriarch at the San Diego Zoo, called Loretta. Before there were other females present in Loretta’s group, a male called Vernon was the undisputed leader. But as soon as more females were introduced and Loretta was able to form her own sisterhood, she very clearly took charge as the senior female.
A peaceful matriarchy sustains itself through cooperation and reconciliation between all individuals, as there seems to be “no clear influence of rank on reconciliation in adults.” High-ranking bonobos are still interested in reconciling with low-ranking individuals after a conflict. This is what differentiates bonobos from chimpanzees in my mind: the desire to equally reconcile. Because there is no notable relationship between consolation and rank, bonobos are likely driven to perform acts of consolation (such as grooming or food-sharing) as a result of empathy, rather than for political gain. There appears to be no political incentive for a high-ranking individual to perform such a high frequency of affiliative behaviours with low-ranking individuals.
Humans share similar perplexing motivations to perform acts of kindness for others. I remember how kind some strangers can be—I think about the lady down the street who lets me pat her dog, or the gentleman who picked up my wallet when I’d dropped it; I think about my best friend in primary school who ate lunch with me when I was alone. Where does this kindness come from? For millions of years, bonobos have survived this way. And for hundreds of thousands of years, we have done the same. Somehow, through studying the kindness of these apes, it may be possible to understand the origin of our social behaviour and learn a few tricks for natural and peaceful coexistence.
So, if you ever catch yourself thinking that nature is cruel, think of bonobos. When we look at our closest relatives, we see that our “struggle for life” (as de Waal called it) might not be so uncivilised after all. I think we owe our modern existence to the cooperation of our ancient ancestors.
Your reason to be kind is simple: survival.
Edward W. Hall is an Australian writer, educator, and bonobo ambassador. His love of bonobos is driven by the belief that their philosophy for survival may help humans to live more peacefully. One day, he hopes to travel to Africa and participate in a long-term study of bonobos in the wild. Follow him on Instagram.
Sources
De Waal, F. B. (2009). The age of empathy: Nature’s lessons for a kinder society. McClelland & Stewart.
De Waal, F. B. (2014). The bonobo and the atheist: In search of humanism among the primates. WW Norton.
Paoli, T., & Palagi, E. (2008). What does agonistic dominance imply in bonobos?. In The bonobos: behavior, ecology, and conservation (pp. 39-54). New York, NY: Springer New York.
Pusey, A. E., & Schroepfer-Walker, K. (2013). Female competition in chimpanzees. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 368(1631), 20130077. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0077
sati, A. G. (2017). Ecological variation in cognition: Insights from bonobos and chimpanzees. In Oxford University Press eBooks (pp. 157–170). https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198728511.003.0011
Stevens, J. M., de Groot, E., & Staes, N. (2015). Relationship quality in captive bonobo groups. In Bonobo Cognition and Behaviour (pp. 13-37). Brill.