--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The distinctiveness that we have so…" description: "\"“The distinctiveness that we have so assiduously ascribed to ourselves as humans is, in reality, an accident of history. Imagine, for instance, how muc..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40a/sue-savage-rumbaugh-43053_apes_the-distinctiveness-that-we-have-so-assi_2140827.png" --- # The distinctiveness that we have so assiduously ascribed… ![“The distinctiveness that we have so assiduously ascribed to ourselves as humans is, in reality, an accident of history. Imagine, for instance, how much more distinct we could have claimed our species to be had all the great apes become extinct before we began pondering our position in the world of…” quote by Sue Savage-Rumbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40a/sue-savage-rumbaugh-43053_apes_the-distinctiveness-that-we-have-so-assi_2140827.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40a/sue-savage-rumbaugh-43053_apes_the-distinctiveness-that-we-have-so-assi_2140827.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40a/sue-savage-rumbaugh-43053_apes_the-distinctiveness-that-we-have-so-assi_2140827.png) > ““The distinctiveness that we have so assiduously ascribed to ourselves as humans is, in reality, an accident of history. Imagine, for instance, how much more distinct we could have claimed our species to be had all the great apes become extinct before we began pondering our position in the world of nature. If vervet monkeys were our closet relatives, humans would indeed appear to stand separate. Equally, if the species of hominid that links us to our common ancestor with the African apes had not become extinct, the gap between us and chimpanzees would be closed all the way. Gradations between human and ape would be present at every step, and our revered distinctiveness would vanish. It is simply a contingent fact of history that certain species did become extinct during the past five million years, leaving us to compare ourselves with the African apes as our closest living relatives. And it is a sobering fact of current history that the comparison between humans and apes may soon become virtually artificial, as each species of ape faces extinction in its natural populations. If this happens, it means we will lose the opportunity to learn about ourselves from our nearest living relatives, just at the time that we have indeed recognized them as our relatives. It also means that we will have frittered away our one remaining chance to allow our sibling species to live the way of life for which they, and we, co-evolved across the millennia.”” [Sue Savage-Rumbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human uniqueness is a contingent historical accident; loss of ape relatives would erase our sense of distinctiveness. **In simple terms:** Our special status is accidental and could disappear. Key Takeaway Preserve other species to understand ourselves. Themes evolution species interdependence conservation identity Mood concerned thoughtful Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - conservation programs - educational outreach - research on primates - policy advocacy Key Concepts anthropology extinction risk phylogenetics Questions to Reflect On - What would change if we lost our closest relatives? - How can we protect species that teach us about ourselves? A Different Perspective Human self‑importance may blind us to ecological responsibilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Way of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-of-life/) ## Related quotes > [ He \["the male"\] is trapped in a twilight zone halfway between humans and apes, and is far worse off than apes, because he is,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-solanas/he-the-male-is-trapped-in-a-twilight-zone-halfway-between-humans-and/) [Valerie Solanas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-solanas/) > [“One way to try to answer the question “What makes us human?” is to ask “What makes us different from great apes?” or, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/one-way-to-try-to-answer-the-question-what-makes-us-human-is-to-ask/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [There is no reason to teach an ape to become human. There are many reasons to teach some apes and some humans to transition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/there-is-no-reason-to-teach-an-ape-to-become-human-there-are-many/) [Sue Savage-Rumbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/) > [I thought if I could understand why apes get mean and horrible and aggressive when they grow up, maybe I could understand why people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/i-thought-if-i-could-understand-why-apes-get-mean-and-horrible-and/) [Sue Savage-Rumbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/) > [I'm in the role of helping these apes negotiate the human role. I'm just a temporary intermediary in what I think will be eventual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/i-m-in-the-role-of-helping-these-apes-negotiate-the-human-role-i-m/) [Sue Savage-Rumbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [Is man an ape or an angel? Now I am on the side of the angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/is-man-an-ape-or-an-angel-now-i-am-on-the-side-of-the-angels/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [The idea that war should be conducted within a moral framework may seem like a quaint medieval practice, but as speech separates humans from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-idea-that-war-should-be-conducted-within-a-moral-framework-may/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Battle For The Planet Of The Apes', was just a film for kids and didn't have any deep meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-lee-thompson/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-was-just-a-film-for-kids-and-didn-t/) J. Lee Thompson > [And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/and-the-devil-did-grin-for-his-darling-sin-is-pride-that-apes-humility/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/as-nature-made-every-man-with-a-nose-and-eyes-of-his-own-she-gave-him/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/television-s-perfect-you-turn-a-few-knobs-a-few-of-those-mechanical/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) ## More by Sue Savage-Rumbaugh > [I'm in the role of helping these apes negotiate the human role. I'm just a temporary intermediary in what I think will be eventual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/i-m-in-the-role-of-helping-these-apes-negotiate-the-human-role-i-m/) [Sue Savage-Rumbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/) > [We do not realize how deeply our starting assumptions affect the way we go about looking for and interpreting the data we collect. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/we-do-not-realize-how-deeply-our-starting-assumptions-affect-the-way/) [Sue Savage-Rumbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/) > [I thought if I could understand why apes get mean and horrible and aggressive when they grow up, maybe I could understand why people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/i-thought-if-i-could-understand-why-apes-get-mean-and-horrible-and/) [Sue Savage-Rumbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/) > [ We have a lot to learn from \[bonobos\], because they're a very egalitarian society and they're a very empathetic society. Sexual behavior is not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/we-have-a-lot-to-learn-from-bonobos-because-they-re-a-very/) [Sue Savage-Rumbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/) > [“Engagement, and its relationship to the accumulation and processing of information, is a little-studied phenomenon, representing as it does, individual skills rather than those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/engagement-and-its-relationship-to-the-accumulation-and-processing-of/) [Sue Savage-Rumbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/) > [“With the man/animal boundary so deep a part of the Western psyche, it is little wonder that many resist its dismantling on both a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/with-the-man-animal-boundary-so-deep-a-part-of-the-western-psyche-it/) [Sue Savage-Rumbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/) > [There is no reason to teach an ape to become human. There are many reasons to teach some apes and some humans to transition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/there-is-no-reason-to-teach-an-ape-to-become-human-there-are-many/) [Sue Savage-Rumbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/) > [“To fail to try to understand the world from the point of view of the lion or the bat is to admit that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/to-fail-to-try-to-understand-the-world-from-the-point-of-view-of-the/) [Sue Savage-Rumbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/) [Explore all 9 Sue Savage-Rumbaugh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/) ## More Apes quotes > [Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/television-s-perfect-you-turn-a-few-knobs-a-few-of-those-mechanical/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/as-nature-made-every-man-with-a-nose-and-eyes-of-his-own-she-gave-him/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/and-the-devil-did-grin-for-his-darling-sin-is-pride-that-apes-humility/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Battle For The Planet Of The Apes', was just a film for kids and didn't have any deep meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-lee-thompson/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-was-just-a-film-for-kids-and-didn-t/) J. Lee Thompson > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The idea that war should be conducted within a moral framework may seem like a quaint medieval practice, but as speech separates humans from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-idea-that-war-should-be-conducted-within-a-moral-framework-may/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is man an ape or an angel? Now I am on the side of the angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/is-man-an-ape-or-an-angel-now-i-am-on-the-side-of-the-angels/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [I think the problem we have as apes is we're asking far bigger questions than we could possibly process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-think-the-problem-we-have-as-apes-is-we-re-asking-far-bigger/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realise-that-we-are-apes/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Lower your gaze because you become less of a human every time you stare at a woman and you stare at her like she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/lower-your-gaze-because-you-become-less-of-a-human-every-time-you/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [It was their individuality combined with the shyness of their behavior that remained the most captivating impression of this first encounter with the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-fossey/it-was-their-individuality-combined-with-the-shyness-of-their/) [Dian Fossey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-fossey/) > [Apes had it worked out. No ape would philosophize, "The mountain is, and is not." They would think, "The banana is. I will eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/apes-had-it-worked-out-no-ape-would-philosophize-the-mountain-is-and/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Browse all 444 Apes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The distinctiveness that we have so assiduously ascribed to ourselves as humans is, in reality, an accident of history. Imagine, for instance, how much more distinct we could have claimed our species to be had all the great apes become extinct before we began pondering our position in the world of nature. If vervet monkeys were our closet relatives, humans would indeed appear to stand separate. Equally, if the species of hominid that links us to our common ancestor with the African apes had not become extinct, the gap between us and chimpanzees would be closed all the way. Gradations between human and ape would be present at every step, and our revered distinctiveness would vanish. It is simply a contingent fact of history that certain species did become extinct during the past five million years, leaving us to compare ourselves with the African apes as our closest living relatives. And it is a sobering fact of current history that the comparison between humans and apes may soon become virtually artificial, as each species of ape faces extinction in its natural populations. If this happens, it means we will lose the opportunity to learn about ourselves from our nearest living relatives, just at the time that we have indeed recognized them as our relatives. It also means that we will have frittered away our one remaining chance to allow our sibling species to live the way of life for which they, and we, co-evolved across the millennia.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sue Savage-Rumbaugh" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/the-distinctiveness-that-we-have-so-assiduously-ascribed-to-ourselves/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Apes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/the-distinctiveness-that-we-have-so-assiduously-ascribed-to-ourselves/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40a/sue-savage-rumbaugh-43053_apes_the-distinctiveness-that-we-have-so-assi_2140827.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40a/sue-savage-rumbaugh-43053_apes_the-distinctiveness-that-we-have-so-assi_2140827.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40a/sue-savage-rumbaugh-43053_apes_the-distinctiveness-that-we-have-so-assi_2140827.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The distinctiveness that we have so assiduously ascribed to ourselves as humans is, in reality, an accident…” — Sue Savage-Rumbaugh", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Sue Savage-Rumbaugh", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-savage-rumbaugh/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The distinctiveness that we have so...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/the-distinctiveness-that-we-have-so-assiduously-ascribed-to-ourselves/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-savage-rumbaugh/the-distinctiveness-that-we-have-so-assiduously-ascribed-to-ourselves/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```