Seeing as how humans are fairly unique in terms of our mental and social advancement, I’d say it is of paramount importance that we try and determine how exactly we’ve reached the point we’re at now. Historians and scientists already have a difficult time deciphering how things really were only hundreds of years ago. So to attempt and find out more about us as a species, one can see how it is actually quite an undertaking. By reading through this weeks material, I was able to see exactly what kind of routes people were taking in order to learn as much as we can. I enjoyed reading about the levels of DNA we shared with apes in our past lesson, but this week garnered even more of my attention with its focus on things like social hierarchies and socialization in general. Aside from the conceptions of Alpha males and such in regards to topics like breeding, I found the idea that we share inherent traits and behaviors to be quite interesting. The idea that a “war” could break out between tribes from a small conflict is something that I think is the most compelling. This display of behavior shows that the idea of grudges or vendettas exists between the groups of apes. This creates the idea that the apes aren’t simply protecting their territory or relations. On this level, we can see how we as humans have come to understand our own types of conflict. Going back off of a previous point and intertwining it with this one, we can see how it is we can come to study our ancestors and our past. By looking at the way the apes interact and connect with each-other, we can make inferences on how exactly things came to be. By combining this with the biological comparisons we’ve made, we can reach a consensus that at least appears to reflect an accurate truth even if we are missing a lot of information. I think this is the best we’re going to get because the lack of physical evidence makes this much more of a guessing game than most people would probably like. I think this is also a good thing however. The lack of 100% evidence means that we as humans have to constantly learn more and more about other creatures alongside learning about ourselves. Since people can always learn more and more, I think this game of analysis and hypothesis is nothing but beneficial to mankind as a whole. Whether it’s the process of learning or the studying the end result from the information that we’ve accumulated, I think the way we’ve gone about studying these creatures will ultimately continuously prove to be beneficial in the long run. This process of learning is something that we share with the very beings we’re studying, and I think that could be one of the most significant characteristics that both humans and apes possess. While we both share many inherent behaviors, I believe that the potential of humans and apes is far more interesting and important.