Monkeyluv (Book Review)
I had heard of Dr Robert M. Sapolsky over the years, the baboon guy who spends a certain amount of time every year in the wild. And he’s a wild looking scientist in the best of descriptions. So after listening to a few Sapolsky-interview episodes of Radiolab I came by a copy of Monkeyluv: and Other Essays on our Lives as Animals.
Dr Sapolsky, a neurobiologist / primatologist, presents a three part book – a fascinating progression of small published essays in which he approaches the myth and realities of genes, how we operate as individuals and, finally, the way we interact as societies and cultures. Once we understand the reality of what genetics provides (as opposed to a series of urban myths and outdated assumptions) he walks the reader through a broad view of the world that constitutes the most interesting things… but of which nearly everybody on the planet is probably as ignorant as myself. He’s the kind of guy that makes you nostalgic for that lost opportunity in High School to be that little bit nerdier.
Let me put it this way. In High School I had no idea that the pursuit of a science degree could possibly offer a life a fraction as rich as Sapolsky’s… and I bet that goes for most of us. And I think this is a part of the allure of the fascination of the tales he has to tell us.
Issues covered in this book range from the sex lives of bugs, rats, baboons and humans onto post traumatic stress disorder and depression and Munchausen’s by Proxy. He raves comfortably about the shrinking hippocampus, the intricate power of parasites to make us think in certain ways… and the flaws in experiments, theories and practices in some areas of the scientific community. Why is a maybe more effective than a definitive yes? And why does your better half want to keep fighting even after you said sorry? For that matter, why is it that religions and cultures spawned by the desert objectify women and are monotheistic; as opposed to the many equal gods of the jungle tribe? This is a book about questions and a driving obsession to find the answers.
From a management perspective – there should be more authors like Sapolsky in the Organisational Behaviour compulsory reading list. Seriously, its about understanding the true complexity of humans and the chemical drivers within each of our bodies. And no interaction designer should be seen dead without copies of this type of book on their study wall. How do you design for humans if you don’t have any ideas how humans in the real world operate?
I found Monkeyluv: and Other Essays on our Lives as Animals to be a compelling hard to put down read with short, concise and witty discussion of all manner of thought provoking (and even challenging) material. I really do hope this one gets passed around everybody that I know. Highly recommended.
