Rating: 
Summary: A depressing but very important work
Review: I read this book several years ago but I find myself constantly referring to it in conversations about politics and global events. The chilling examination of rape, genocide and infanticide practiced by male orangutans, chimpanzees, and gorillas (respectively) is depressingly resonant of our human penchant for violence, and suggests that we come by these behaviors "honestly" by way of a shared genetic heritage. Unfortunately, we don't seem to share as much behavior with our other close relatives, the bonobos, who make love, not war. More poignantly than anything else I have read, this book poses the question of whether humans can ever overcome their genetic predisposition for violence and create a more peaceful society. If the past decade of world events is any indication, the very depressing conclusion would seem to be in the negative. But there are always pockets of progress and glimmers of hope -- of all the great apes we are the most adaptable and unpredictable. By illuminating the biological imperatives underlying our most unattractive behaviors, the book adds to our self-knowledge and, we can dimly hope, may even help our flawed species alter its violent trajectory.
Rating:
Summary: A depressing but very important work
Review: I read this book several years ago but I find myself constantly referring to it in conversations about politics and global events. The chilling examination of rape, genocide and infanticide practiced by male orangutans, chimpanzees, and gorillas (respectively) is depressingly resonant of our human penchant for violence, and suggests that we come by these behaviors "honestly" by way of a shared genetic heritage. Unfortunately, we don't seem to share as much behavior with our other close relatives, the bonobos, who make love, not war. More poignantly than anything else I have read, this book poses the question of whether humans can ever overcome their genetic predisposition for violence and create a more peaceful society. If the past decade of world events is any indication, the very depressing conclusion would seem to be in the negative. But there are always pockets of progress and glimmers of hope -- of all the great apes we are the most adaptable and unpredictable. By illuminating the biological imperatives underlying our most unattractive behaviors, the book adds to our self-knowledge and, we can dimly hope, may even help our flawed species alter its violent trajectory.
Rating: 
Summary: Has now been refuted
Review: I would refer you all to a recent documentary in the BBC "Horizon" series investigating the whole "demonic male chimp" controversy, based on comparing the chimp colony at Gombe with others. Suffice to say, it told a disturbing story of inductive research, extensive intervention by the researchers themselves, affecting the apes' behaviour and ditching of evidence which refuted the "demonic" hypothesis. The alternative hypothesis presented was that the Gombe chimps are unusual, and their aggression owes more to overcrowding within a shrinking area of forest than to any natural "demonic" streak; other chimp colonies apparently show far lower levels of mutual aggression, if any at all. The scariest moment came not from learning that the legendary Frodo had killed and partially eaten a human baby, but from Dr Goodall's apparent coldness towards this incident. Had a tiger or crocodile done this, it would have been shot within days, but tigers and crocs don't have glamourous young women anthropomorphising them in bestselling books or on primetime TV.
Rating:
Summary: Has now been refuted
Review: I would refer you all to a recent documentary in the BBC "Horizon" series investigating the whole "demonic male chimp" controversy, based on comparing the chimp colony at Gombe with others. Suffice to say, it told a disturbing story of inductive research, extensive intervention by the researchers themselves, affecting the apes' behaviour and ditching of evidence which refuted the "demonic" hypothesis. The alternative hypothesis presented was that the Gombe chimps are unusual, and their aggression owes more to overcrowding within a shrinking area of forest than to any natural "demonic" streak; other chimp colonies apparently show far lower levels of mutual aggression, if any at all. The scariest moment came not from learning that the legendary Frodo had killed and partially eaten a human baby, but from Dr Goodall's apparent coldness towards this incident. Had a tiger or crocodile done this, it would have been shot within days, but tigers and crocs don't have glamourous young women anthropomorphising them in bestselling books or on primetime TV.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad...
Review: The authors of "Demonic Males" seek to show that ape violence, particularly chimpanzees, is related to human violence. Controversially, they focus on "primitive" human cultures and the forms that intercommunity violence takes as well as violence towards women and similar topics."Demonic Males" works better as a survey of ape behavior than it does as a sociobiological study. The authors themselves acknowledge that any attempt to relate genetics and behavior is inherently made on a path of matchsticks and those sections (particularly the first third) which suggest a connection between other ape behaviors and those of humans are quite weak. This book probably would have worked much better as a survey of violence in primate species with a Gould-like literary flair. The book works best when discussing the peculiarities of the bonobos and horrifies with tales of chimpanzee genocide. Why not stick to these topics instead of trying to widen the scope to humans? The argument and evidence are simply too flimsy. Their emphasis on Galton's Error (nature or nurture, but not an admixture) is much appreciated, but the nature connection with humans is poorly presented. It's a fine discussion of ape behavior, the authors' specialty, but a tenuous illustration of how it might relate to humans. Skip the chapters relating to humans' ideas of violence and primitive societies and learn about the darker (and sometimes lighter) sides of our forest cousins.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad...
Review: The authors of "Demonic Males" seek to show that ape violence, particularly chimpanzees, is related to human violence. Controversially, they focus on "primitive" human cultures and the forms that intercommunity violence takes as well as violence towards women and similar topics. "Demonic Males" works better as a survey of ape behavior than it does as a sociobiological study. The authors themselves acknowledge that any attempt to relate genetics and behavior is inherently made on a path of matchsticks and those sections (particularly the first third) which suggest a connection between other ape behaviors and those of humans are quite weak. This book probably would have worked much better as a survey of violence in primate species with a Gould-like literary flair. The book works best when discussing the peculiarities of the bonobos and horrifies with tales of chimpanzee genocide. Why not stick to these topics instead of trying to widen the scope to humans? The argument and evidence are simply too flimsy. Their emphasis on Galton's Error (nature or nurture, but not an admixture) is much appreciated, but the nature connection with humans is poorly presented. It's a fine discussion of ape behavior, the authors' specialty, but a tenuous illustration of how it might relate to humans. Skip the chapters relating to humans' ideas of violence and primitive societies and learn about the darker (and sometimes lighter) sides of our forest cousins.
Rating:
Summary: eye-opening
Review: The daughter of a friend of mine is a PhD student of Wrangham's at Harvard, which is how I was introduced to this book (I borrowed their autographed copy). _Demonic Males_ is easy to read and fascinating, dispelling the myth that apes in the wild are peaceful; in fact they rape, kill each other for no reason, and have turf wars just like humans. One exception, Wrangham points out, is the incredible bonobo, a species of ape which evolved differently and enjoys a peaceful societal communion. The most interesting aspect of the book to me involved evolution: Wrangham describes how there was a cataclysmic event in Africa which caused chimps to split off into two separate groups. One of those groups, because they had to become land-dwellers, eventually evolved into hominids. An amazing book which helps the reader to understand that we are biologically disposed to war; unfortunately, because of this it is also rather depressing.
Rating:
Summary: eye-opening
Review: The daughter of a friend of mine is a PhD student of Wrangham's at Harvard, which is how I was introduced to this book (I borrowed their autographed copy). _Demonic Males_ is easy to read and fascinating, dispelling the myth that apes in the wild are peaceful; in fact they rape, kill each other for no reason, and have turf wars just like humans. One exception, Wrangham points out, is the incredible bonobo, a species of ape which evolved differently and enjoys a peaceful societal communion. The most interesting aspect of the book to me involved evolution: Wrangham describes how there was a cataclysmic event in Africa which caused chimps to split off into two separate groups. One of those groups, because they had to become land-dwellers, eventually evolved into hominids. An amazing book which helps the reader to understand that we are biologically disposed to war; unfortunately, because of this it is also rather depressing.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Facts and Details Mixed With P.C. Manure
Review: The worth of Mr. Wrangham's book (who I assume is responsible for its content, and Peterson for its prose) lies in chapters describing ape societies, and in his dismissal of romanticized visions of non-violent tribalism-NOT in his social critique equating male chimp and male human behaviors as near equivalent. Building a direct parallel between humans and chimps-especially bonobo chimps-is a vogue among pessimistic social critics, who no doubt will find in Mr. Wrangham's work confirmation for what they already (dogmatically) believe to be true. The truth is, in countries not in social turmoil, human males are overwhelmingly peaceful. In the United States, for example, murder is rare, despite popular perception that it is not: FBI stats for 2000 say it's about 1.1% of all violent crime. By far the largest percentage of violence is assault at 63.9%--but most of us go through life never touched by it after our teenage years (if then). Most Western men don't beat their mates chimpanzee style. In the West daily human aggression means cutting another off on the freeway. Furthermore, violence seems to be a problem of youth--the commonest arrest age for murder is 18, the next is 19. Recidivism rates approach 80% in some instances; many of the same people commit crimes over-and-over, which skews and inflates stats even more. The chance of non-criminal males being violent decreases substantially with age and economic success. Wrangham is correct in asserting that men commit most violent crimes around the world. He never notes that most males never commit such a crime in their lives. Human males are NOT chimps nor are they demonic. College students are often given this text to read. Here's hoping they do it critically. Skip Wrangham's axe grinding over patricarchy and the innate evil of men. He's a male-bashing prof from Harvard U. His social assertions are highly questionable and just plain wrong, and have no place in what should have been an intellectually honest book-which I believe this is not.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written and fascinating
Review: This book is a valuable piece of analysis (albeit popular-based) on the evolutionary biology involved with aggression from one of the top figures in the field of biological anthropology. Seeing as that Wrangham is an anthropologist, this work is much more valuable than a strict work of biology because he integrates and addresses, with the biology, themes from literature, philosophy, and critical theory. For the most part, this is a solid piece of work that is extremely enjoyable to read. For one that tends to enjoy reading mostly philosophy and theory, I certainly was pleased with DEMONIC MALES. DEMONIC MALES is about a whole lot more than "just" violence/aggression. It provides a general introduction to the evolutionary thinking involved with biological anthropology and evolutionary psychology. However, I do disagree with him on much of his analysis/'refutation' of critical theory. Nevertheless, the viewpoints and the evidence presented in this book are important for anyone that works or studies in the social studies and even the humanities. Human evolutionary heritage does have a major impact on our current behavior, even if it is not as simple as strict biological determinism. The claim of "male-bashing" is simply absurd. And, finally, Richard Wrangham is great. I am currently taking his "Evolution of Human Nature" course at Harvard. He's spent a great deal of his life working at various African sites studying the chimpanzee, and in this book he takes on the bonobo (a seemingly paradoxical great-ape, since it shows little aggression). Wrangham is very knowledgeable in the field, and his engaging personality shines through his work.
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