Apes Quote by Jane Goodall
“It has actually been suggested that warfare may have been the principle evolutionary pressure that created the huge gap between the human brain and that of our closest living relatives, the anthropoid apes. Whole groups of hominids with inferior brains could not win wars and were therefore exterminated.”
About This Quote
Source Interview: Nature Talk, 2021
Human brains may have expanded due to the selective pressures of warfare, where larger cognition gave a survival edge.
In simple terms: War may have driven brain growth.
Key Takeaway
Consider how conflict shapes evolution.
Themes
evolution
warfare
neuroscience
Mood
reflective
inquisitive
Type
scientific
educational
When to use this quote
- historical analysis
- educational curricula
- public discourse
Key Concepts
natural selection
cognitive development
survival advantage
Questions to Reflect On
- What other forces could have spurred brain evolution?
- Can we separate war’s influence from other pressures?
A Different Perspective
Violence as a driver can obscure cooperative benefits of intelligence.
![“Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this [step by step, from humans to apes to monkeys to lemurs] - leading us insensibly from the crown and summit of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a step, as it seems, to the…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0b/thomas-huxley-1183_animal_perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us_3051.jpg)
