Renowned primatologist to tout animal intellect at free Spokane lecture
Humans routinely underestimate the intelligence of other animals, according to Frans de Waal, one of the world’s leading primatologists.
“We look at intelligence as one way to solve problems in the environment, and animals can do things we cannot do,” de Waal said in an interview with The Spokesman-Review.
Echolocation used by dolphins and bats is just one example of how some animals are capable of advanced intelligence.
“Humans tend to judge things based on what we’re good at, and we’re really not impressed by echolocation, but really it is as complex (a form) of communication,” de Waal said.
The Dutch/American biologist and author will discuss themes from his best-selling book, “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” at a public lecture and book signing at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox in Spokane. The free event is part of the President’s Forum for Critical Thought lecture series at Eastern Washington University. He will also speak at a special event for students, faculty and staff earlier in the day on the EWU campus.
De Waal is the C.H. Candler professor of primate behavior in the Emory University psychology department, the director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. His numerous books, which include “The Primate Mind” and “Evolved Morality,” have drawn parallels between animal behavior and perceived human morality.
“Chimpanzee Politics” compared power struggles between chimpanzees with that of human politicians. The term “alpha male” was used to describe leaders that would enforce the power dynamic within a group, though de Waal said popular culture oversimplified the term when applying it to human behavior.
“People have the impression that alpha male just means being a bully and ordering people around,” de Waal said. “Alpha males become leaders through diplomatic efforts, and it is rare they become alpha just by their physical strength.”
“The alpha male breaks up fights, consoles victims of aggression and a has a lot of different roles,” he said.
Still, de Waal said political grandstanding often resembles animal behavior, citing some of last year’s preliminary presidential debates.
“It was very chimp-like, because they were posturing, making anatomical connections, insulting each other,” de Waal said.
His studies on empathy in chimps have also led to how people perceive emotional capabilities within the animal kingdom.
“It’s something we see in all mammals and even some bird studies,” de Waal said.
While anyone with a loyal dog wouldn’t be surprised by emotional awareness in animals, de Waal said there are some who still push back on the idea of animals being capable of complex human behaviors.
“I think it helps placing us in a biological context, especially when it comes to positive behavior,” de Waal said. “As soon as humans do bad things, like kill each other, we call them animals. As soon as we do good things, that’s our humanity. But in both the positive and the negative, we are animals.”
“Moral tendencies are not just intellectual,” he said.
Continued research on animal intelligence has had a major cultural impact in recent years, particularly in the treatment of animals in captivity, de Waal said.
“Circuses are disappearing, killer whales in captivity are disappearing, there are all these movements where slowly and steadily we take animals more seriously and how we treat them,” he said. “It may have implications for the farm industry – those are much bigger numbers of animals than the research labs and the zoos.”