We Not Me
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Episode 45 - What can we learn from other animals?
Show Notes
When Dr Beki Hooper began to study rhesus macaques, she found less-than-flattering similarities between monkey behaviour and human team structure. In this fascinating discussion, Dr Beki takes us into the habitat of the rhesus macaque, giving us a first-hand glimpse into a hierarchy based on gender and tenure.
Takeaways from Dan and Pia
- Many of us have experience in organisations that feel like they were governed in the same way as groups of macaques.
- As humans, we should be able to break through these patriarchal, seniority-based structures.
- Humans have behaviour equivalent to monkey grooming and preening.
- Some of our relationships are built on who can advance us within our social structure.
- Additionally, the bonds we build through grooming allow us to gain more information which we can use to advance our social standing, and to keep us safe.
Links
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Meet the guests
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Dr Beki Hooper is a researcher at the University of Exeter, who specialises in understanding relationships both in non-humans and humans from an evolutionary and cognitive perspective. She is also interested in the intersection between science, philosophy and ethics. She has worked on various science outreach projects and thinks it’s really important that we work towards a more inclusive academia. Beki is also a published poet, whose work is often informed by the topics she researches. In her spare time, she can almost always be found playing outdoors (usually somewhere on Dartmoor).
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