BBC_Science_Focus_-_08.2019

HUMANS LIKE TO BELIEVE THAT

WE ARE SOMEHOW DIFFERENT

FROM OTHER ANIMALS. NICHOLAS

MONEY, AUTHOR OF THE SELFISH

APE, ARGUES THAT WHAT

MAKES US UNIQUE IS OUR SELF-

ABSORBED DESTRUCTIVENESS

PRIDE BEFORE

A FALL

Profile

RADAR

WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO ACHIEVE WITH
THIS BOOK?
It’s a book that summarises in a succinct fashion the
human condition from a biological perspective, and
I think it places us within a proper context.
Hopefully it will lead readers away from the idea that
we are an exceptional species. ere have been so many
books, and media attention, focused on the measures
of human biology that speak to our triumphant place in
nature. Add to that the way that we ambé the planet
and the way we talk about articial intelligence, it feels as
though we’re beginning to acquire the tools to obtain an
almost godlike status.
But in my view, and the point I make in my book is,
humans are quite unexceptional, by more measures than
we care to admit.
We are, however, exceptional in our destructiveness,
and I think that this needs to be said to counter the voices
that seek to elevate us above the rest of nature.

WE HUMANS LIKE TO THINK OF OURSELVES AS
S P E C I A L. W H AT I S I T T H AT D I S T I N G U I S H E S U S
FROM OTHER ANIMALS, BIOLOGICALLY
SPEAKING?
e size of the human brain, that is the metric that
separates us from other organisms, although of course,
there are larger brains on this planet.
ere’s also our possession of language and the dextral
nesse we have – so, the fact that we’ve got hands.

As smart as killer whales might be, and pilot whales

certainly, they can’t alter their environment in any

conscious fashion. ey can go out there and feed and

mate and so forth, but we can actually build things with

our hands. We’ve certainly perfected tool use.

So, certainly there are many ways in which humans

dier from other species, but of course you could apply

the same thing to any other species on the planet; in what

way is a bumblebee dierent from humans? Certainly,

there are specics about the human condition, but in

many other ways, we’re not that exceptional. For example,

it has been fashionable for a long time to speak about

THE SELFISH APE

BY NICHOLAS MONEY

(£14.99, REAKTION BOOKS)

“Is an earthworm less

successful than a human?

ey’ll probably be here a

long time after we’re gone”