How humans and animals can live together-Jane Goodall-Review
We came here with much aspiration to find ways as to how Humans and Animals can coexist, but to our dismay, we were faced with nothing more than a speculated theory and a platform used to show case personal agenda of Roots and Shoots.
You can view the full talk on Ted.com
Introductory
Foremost, the talk revolved only around Chimps, but Chimps are not the only animals that abound the world. To start off, the talk seemed to be more of a personal hype of an individual’s work, rather than a talk that can solve humanity problems.
The speaker Jane Goodall gives a brief incite to the works of onetime researcher, Louis Leakey, who spent his time looking for fossilized remains of early humans in Africa, with his sole purpose being to understand human behavioral patterns and how his works had influenced hers in Africa.
According to Louis, behavior doesn’t fossilize. He argued — that if we could find common behavior patterns similar or the same in our closest living relatives, the great apes, and humans today, then maybe those behaviors were present in the ape-like, human-like ancestor some seven million years ago. And therefore, perhaps we had brought those characteristics with us from that ancient, ancient past. This also seems to Jane’s motivation
The Problem with this Claim
These claims are nothing more than speculation, one for the fact, how could you look for predefined behaviors in animals that you see around today, and then conceptualize these behavioral pattern to those of the human like ancestor [claim by Louis]. When you use that word, “like”, it just means, insinuation.
The problem with most of these theories is that they hide behind words such as “proposed theories”, “claims”, “arguments” and loosely used word, “similar”.
Similar does not mean Equal. Just because something is similar that does not mean you can qualify and qunatify that something to be as equal with the one that you are comparing with.
This has been the major flaw with most of these so called animal behavioral scientists.
They see one and speculate the rest.
Even a Crocodile, if weighed on the “Similar scale”, will qualify a human.
Flaws in Text books
As we move on, we find Jane Goodall, mentioning how textbooks of today, speculating as to how humans may have behaved. Now there is a huge problem in this.
When you Speculate, it will only pass through as a good story line for some Hollywood sitcom but not for a Science. The bitter truth is we have curriculum designed on books which are written on mere speculation and insinuation rather than on empirical and experimental science, this we call as research.
Jane’s claim to Equate Chimps with Humans is a flawed claim
Jane Goodall’s claim that Chimpanzees are more likes humans, is erroneous and flawed to the core and would only serve a good story line to earn her funding but will not be validated as a scientific fact.
A Chimp would never be able to do the following
A Chimpanzee would never be able to use its Shoulder, Elbow and Hand movements, all in conjunction to hurl a Javelin.
The Stomach inner design of a Chimpanzee cannot digest Fats, but Humans can.
A pack of Humans [ that is of course, if we were to settle with the claim that Humans were hunters] can run a Gazelle down. How? Just keep the chase on, the temperature is 40 degrees plus, Humans are blessed with perspirations. A pack of Chimp will die within the first mile. This is the single most remarkable feature that no animals are blessed with.
A Chimp can never lock its knees, only a Human being can.
A Chimp can never stand tall, only a Human can.
Chimps are cute when as a baby, but Chimps are known for their notorious and wild side of behavior that no Animal Scientists wants to talk about.
Chimps have known to have attacked their owners mercilessly and killed. There are stories where the Chimp mutilated the body of its owner and dined on it for days.
A Chimp starts up in weeds and will end up in weeds, but a human may start up with weeds and will end up in a garden.
Jane’s Connective link between Chimp and Humans is flawed
Jane herself mentions that, Chimps are capable of extreme brutality, primitive warfare. Exhibiting aggressive behaviors directed against individuals and neighboring social group and that Chimps are territorially aggressive.
Jane believes that Chimpanzees, more than any other living creature have helped us to understand that, after all, there is no sharp line between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom.
Jane is very smart with words, and specially with the use of word “helped us”, we are not sure, who the word “us” here means, and more so, to equate the merciless brutal behavior of Chimps with humans by Jane, goes only to show her lack of understanding about Humans and the Humanity with which they function.
Probably, Jane was not aware of the beacon of Humanity, Intelligence, Leadership and Truth that the world experienced through the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Carnegie, Emerson, Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Malcolm X, Mahatma Gandhi, Napoleon Hill, Confucius.
Conclusion
The later part of the talk gravitates towards a different sphere totally deviating from the title addressed here to rather broader areas, like Climate Change, Famine, Poverty, Ex-Child soldiers, HIV/AIDS.
Then the promotion of the so called foundation Roots and Shoots. The much important question to ask here is, what has Roots and Shoots got in common with how Humans and Animals can live together and with dwindling Chimp population.
Jane had mentioned that, the air that we breathe that often poisons us. The earth is poisoning our foods. The water — water is perhaps one of the most crucial issues that we’re going to face in this century — and everywhere water is being polluted by agricultural, industrial and household chemicals that still are being sprayed around the world, seemingly with the inability to profit from past experience. The mangroves are being cut down; the effects of things like the tsunami get worse. We’ve talked about the soil erosion. We have the reckless burning of fossil fuels along with other greenhouse gasses, so called, leading to climate change.
Some of the question to be asked?
What are the recommendations?
We see nothing more than, planting trees and growing organic vegetables as recommendations.
This is a picture that Janegoodall.org, has on its website, to depict deforestation, but what is left unsaid, is the jungle at the backdrop.
Janegoodall.org, which is apparently the oracle of JGI [jane Goodall Institute], lists its prime objective being to protect Chimps and great apes and makes an analogy that protecting the habitats of the Chimps and Apes will in fact protect the forest. Well, in that case, we are to understand that all forests necessarily have Chimps and Apes, and that Forests which houses Chimps and Apes will be protected, if there were forests which do not house Chimps and Apes, then they would not be considered to be a Forest in the very first place, leave alone the element of protective cover coming around.
Much of the JGI, work is centered around Congo Basin, The Congo Basin is the largest contiguous tropical forest on Earth. Now do you want to know the truth about the Country Congo? Here you go,…
Congo Unemployment rate is 50%.
Three Million Children suffer from Acute Malnutrition.
Due to Conflicts, 3 Million people are disabled
47% of Children suffer from Anemia
40% of Women suffer from Anemia
Half a Million women suffer from Malnutrition
60% of Children are less than average in Growth
7 Million people are suffer from hunger induced issues
Congo is the poorest Country in the world and apparently it is house for extensive forest cover. With millions of dollars poured in under the name of Chimps and great Apes, protection, with people not even getting a morsel of decent meal to feed their children.
Recommendations we wish to give
Apes and Chimps are important, but so are other Animals too. African Savannah are the home to some of the most Exotic Animals in the world, Channel resources to safeguard the Savannah.
Take a stand against Poaching, there is nothing like illegal Poaching and legal Poaching. Of late you will find words such as illegal Poaching, illegal Poachers, this is what is called the heights of idiosyncrasies. Animals are a treasure, no matter they be Chimp or Not, Ape or Not.
Focus on people too. Of late there is huge cry on saving the Earth. Saving the Forest, Saving Chimps, Saving the Apes. Take for example the country, Congo, people live in abject poverty and there a funds pouring in millions for safe guarding Apes and Chimps, what an Irony?
The JGI, makes some wrong and inaccurate correlation about, Chimps, Apes and Forest deforestation. They JGI, need to put in some solid research before presenting facts.
