"Sunday" TV1, primate section?

[rustyrobot]

naughty little monkeys!!

[Dave Lobster]

How do you know ?

It's in the bible. It must be true

[tigertim20]

Did the "Sunday" programme section on primate behaviour strike a cord on depressed human behaviours perhaps?

Acceptable human behaviour according to societies and religious rules seem to me to be two tiered or more depending on the individual.

For instance, we are the person we present to others, while underneath there lurks the person we are, while even more distant lies the person we would like to be!

The primates in the TV excerpt on Sunday were completely free to express themselves and behave exactly as they wanted to, apparently totally unconstrained!

Is there a lesson to be learned from these primates?

Are humans suffering under a strain of suppression of natural behaviour and desires, can this be the root cause of some of mankind's murky social problems?

Comparing the monkey society and our human society, it was patently obvious which one had the least hangups and need for antidepressants!

Food for thought?

maybe, however, I would like to raise the following points.
1. primates can shit in their hand and throw it it other primates, and it's all good. When we get into a 'shit slinging' match, we are actually slinging words.

2. primates can bash and smash things and other primates, and nobody gives a fuck.

3. primates can fuck as many other primates as they want. in the same day. and nobody gives a fuck.

4. they walk around all day with their bits out. and no one gives a fuck.

5. primate do not have to deal with bills, driving to the speed limit, having to work for an asshole, and do not have to resist the urge to bash women during their rage inducing days of the 'cycle'.

6. Primates can bash another primate on the head, drag them away and root them. and no one gives a fuck.

what do we learn from this? wel for one, itd be easier if we never evolved from primates for a start...
but more importantly, we as people are socially constructed, we do not get afforded the opportunity to grow as we want to, like a tree, or wild gorse. We grow more like the grape vine, which is tied to a wire (societies socially constructed values and laws) and any tendrils of growth which begin to grow away from that 'preferred direction on growth' are either tied down, or cut off.
Proof of this is evident from comparing cultures. Some cultures still consider that marital rape is not a crime, rather the right of all married men, and offer men all the rights and powers deemed necessary under their own societies moral code, and women are a second class citizen, often seen more as a necessary curse than as an equally autonomous human being.

And how does society make these rules? simple. me and you do. Ill prove it.
NZ society suggests that highly sexist, or racist jokes, binge drinking, titty shows and the like as unnacceptable. However go to a bike rally, and all these things are common place, the biker rally becomes a micro society, and the rules, expectations, and socially acceptable codes are determined by the people there.
get a fat hairly drunk old bastard to walk down queen street in a pair of wet jocks, and he will get arrested, abused, and recieve disgusted looks, but at the biker rally, it's 'funny', he is cheered, and gets given a bottle of piss as a prize for doing it.

basically, what becomes acceptable changes depending on what type of society we find ourselves in at the time, be it the micro society of a biker rally, new zealand society, or a jewish or muslim one. Each different society will repress us in some aspects, but allow us to blossom in others.

I dont think Ive answered your question, but i dont care!

[oldrider]

Heavens to murgatroid, I sure hope that little rant helped ease whatever it is that's is eating you up!

[scissorhands]

s, but allow us to blossom in others.

I'm blossoming right now, but a pavlovian lap dog was not what I had in mind when I bit into the apple pie

[PrincessBandit]

maybe, however, I would like to raise the following points.
1. ..........6.

what do we learn from this? ,

basically, what becomes acceptable changes depending on what type of society we find ourselves in at the time,.............. Each different society will repress us in some aspects, but allow us to blossom in others.

I dont think Ive answered your question, but i dont care!

Wow, I'm impressed. But then it is early in the day, and I'm more easily impressed then.
(Actually seriously, regardless of whether your answer was serious or not, it's a well reasoned response to why gregarious monkey sex is fine in some species but not in others).

Heavens to murgatroid, I sure hope that little rant helped ease whatever it is that's is eating you up!

See my response above, murgatriod. hehehehe.

I'm blossoming right now, but a pavlovian lap dog was not what I had in mind when I bit into the apple pie

I would hate to think what is blossoming right now.....and, is the apple pie still warm?.....(this one time at band camp)

[Winston001]

Haven't seen the clip John but I'd take a guess it is related to Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality by psychologists ­Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá. Review here: http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3665...x_at_dawn.html

The thesis developed by the authors is that sexual monogamy as practised by humans is not natural to us. It has arisen because of social pressures instead of evolutionary reasons.

Their evidence is the free love hippie society enjoyed by the Bonobo apes of the former Belgian colony, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I'd take a wild guess that the "documentary" focused on sex.... Spare me.

The book is intelligently written and has been lauded as being as important as the Kinsey Report. Time will tell. Bonobos are only one arm of the ape family and the NZ scientist quoted by the book doesn't support its reasoning.