Book contents
- Chimpanzee
- Reviews
- Chimpanzee
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Sister’s Keeper
- 2 Wild Lesson
- 3 A Most Surprising Creature
- 4 Kin
- 5 Scratching Out a Living in an Unforgiving World
- 6 Guts, Glorious Guts, Large Stomach, and Colon
- 7 Thews, Sinews, and Bone
- 8 Arboreal Gathering, Terrestrial Traveling
- 9 Forged in Nature’s Cauldron
- 10 Up from the Protoape
- 11 Building a Natural Wonder
- 12 The Source of Similarity
- 13 Making Your Way in the Great Wild World
- 14 The Grim Reaper in the Forest Primeval
- 15 Powering Life
- 16 Shelter from the Storm
- 17 Meat-Seeking Missiles
- 18 The Mind of the Chimpanzee
- 19 The Brain of the Chimpanzee
- 20 Tired Nature’s Sweet Restorer
- 21 Chimpanzee Thought Transfer
- 22 Ape Implements
- 23 Wisdom of the Ages
- 24 The Daily Grind
- 25 A Nation at War with Itself
- 26 The Sporting Chimpanzee
- 27 The Passion of Pan
- 28 Into the Light
- 29 The Other Sister, Bonobos
- 30 Sister Species
- Book part
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
- References
14 - The Grim Reaper in the Forest Primeval
Wild Chimpanzee Diseases and Lessons for Healthy Living
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 July 2020
- Chimpanzee
- Reviews
- Chimpanzee
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Sister’s Keeper
- 2 Wild Lesson
- 3 A Most Surprising Creature
- 4 Kin
- 5 Scratching Out a Living in an Unforgiving World
- 6 Guts, Glorious Guts, Large Stomach, and Colon
- 7 Thews, Sinews, and Bone
- 8 Arboreal Gathering, Terrestrial Traveling
- 9 Forged in Nature’s Cauldron
- 10 Up from the Protoape
- 11 Building a Natural Wonder
- 12 The Source of Similarity
- 13 Making Your Way in the Great Wild World
- 14 The Grim Reaper in the Forest Primeval
- 15 Powering Life
- 16 Shelter from the Storm
- 17 Meat-Seeking Missiles
- 18 The Mind of the Chimpanzee
- 19 The Brain of the Chimpanzee
- 20 Tired Nature’s Sweet Restorer
- 21 Chimpanzee Thought Transfer
- 22 Ape Implements
- 23 Wisdom of the Ages
- 24 The Daily Grind
- 25 A Nation at War with Itself
- 26 The Sporting Chimpanzee
- 27 The Passion of Pan
- 28 Into the Light
- 29 The Other Sister, Bonobos
- 30 Sister Species
- Book part
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
- References
Summary
We humans suffer from a multitude of maladies. No matter our age, the ever-watchful Grim Reaper may spring upon us from any direction. One of the lessons chimpanzees teach us is that many of our ailments are self-inflicted – we kill ourselves in car crashes, shootings, and suicides, yes, but rather than external forces I mean internal afflictions that sap our vitality and tip us into an early grave. Comparing rates of heart disease, arthritis, and cancer among chimpanzees and different human populations tells us these ailments are the product of the mismatch between our current mode of life and the living conditions in which our ancestors evolved. Listening to these wellness lessons could yield profound health benefits, if only our cognitive selves could overpower instincts bequeathed us by our hunter-gatherer ancestors.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- ChimpanzeeLessons from our Sister Species, pp. 252 - 273Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020