This whole lesson definitely came as a shock to me. I had always been aware of the fact that we’re closely related to chimps, for example, but I never truly realized how close a 98% genetic relation really is. I think the part that really shocked me, though I think I had already known this, was the fact that chimps are known to hunt on occasion. It was also interesting to see where primates began to deviate from one another. For example the primate classification PDF mentioned that some traits specific to modern lemurs were probably shared amongst all early primates.

I believe that we can better understand our own biology through the study of genetics as well as the study of the brain. It was really fascinating to learn that, even though there are differences in size, proportions, and functions, all vertebrates share a similar brain structure. If you were to then take this information and overlay it over our 98% genetic similarity of chimps, you have access to a treasure trove of information for biology.  

To better understand our behavior, I think the correct step would be to take a page out of the “What Does it Mean to be  Human?” series. I appreciated how they noted similarities between humans and other primates to highlight or differences. For example, in the second video they stated that a variety of primates use tools but it’s only humans who have really specialized them for a whole host of situations. Similar, yet different. Then of course, in true fashion of the class, we can always do anthropological fieldwork. Though some may disagree and say that the human-lead study of primates will disturb the natural living situation of primates, such as R. Brian Furgeson (mentioned in the “What Is War Good for? Ask a Chimpanzee” article by Erin Wayman), there is a benefit to these studies. Would we have not figured out the social organization of various primates without anthropological fieldwork? Would we have not observed multiple and specie-varying instances of violence had Jane Goodall not studied it? And who is to say that any anthropological study is totally accurate. Of course any being is going to behave differently when they know or sense that they are being watched. But to get the closest understanding of behavior is the end goal and this is a risk we have to take with ethnography. But by observing the variations in non-human primates, we can see how different environments shape different behaviors. The article mentions that groups that are more tightly-knit are less likely to breakout into violence, such as the Tai chimps, as opposed to the ones who undergo constant fission and fusion, like the spider monkeys. And to continue on this same track, we can also learn about human culture through this observation. As mentioned before, different groups coexist differently which would create a unique set of behaviors and group mentalities. By looking at situations of different primates, we could see what factors influence groups to become closer or more distant and what behaviors arise from that.