Desmond Morris
Desmond Morris
Desmond John Morrisis an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth24 January 1928
men animal acting
...In little more than a single century from 1820 to 19450, no less than fifty-nine million human animals were killed in inter-group clashes of one sort or another.... We describe these killings as men behaving "like animals," but if we could find a wild animal that showed signs of acting this way, it would be more precise to describe it as behaving like men.
attitude humility animal
It must be stressed that there is nothing insulting about looking at people as animals. We are animals, after all. Homo sapiens is a species of primate, a biological phenomenon dominated by biological rules, like any other species. Human nature is no more than one particular kind of animal nature. Agreed, the human species is an extraordinary animal; but all other species are also extraordinary animals, each in their own way, and the scientific man-watcher can bring many fresh insights to the study of human affairs if he can retain this basic attitude of evolutionary humility.
angel reality thinking
We may prefer to think of ourselves as fallen angels, but in reality we are rising apes.
successful fundamentals unusual
This unusual and highly successful species spends a great deal of time examining his higher motives and an equal amount of time ignoring his fundamental ones.
friendly groups crowds
Under crowded conditions the friendly social interactions between members of a group become reduced, and the destructive and aggressive patterns show a marked rise in frequency and intensity.
funny zoos concrete-jungle
The city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo.
powerful animal ideas
The idea that it is funny to see wild animals coerced into acting like clumsy humans, or thrilling to see powerful beasts reduced to cringing cowards by a whip-cracking trainer is primitive and medieval. It stems from the old idea that we are superior to other species and have the right to hold dominion over them.
colored shown thousand
it has been shown off, concealed, styled, cut, trimmed, extended, straightened, waved, put up, let down, colored and decorated in a thousand ways.
ape covered exception monkeys naked species
There are 193 species of monkeys and apes, 192 of them are covered with hair. The exception is a naked ape self-named Homo sapiens.
birth death life visit
Life is like a very short visit to a toyshop between birth and death.
concrete english-scientist human
Clearly, then, the city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo.
chance exciting humankind ourselves shall strong term
We are, to put it mildly, in a mess, and there is a strong chance that we shall have exterminated ourselves by the end of the century. Our only consolation will have to be that, as a species, we have had an exciting term of office.