TED Talk

1) Title: Frans de Waal: Moral behavior in animals
2) The speaker is a man born in Den Bosch by the name of Frans de Waal. He is inspired by a painter named Hieronymus Bosch. He is also quite fond of Chimpanzee's and has wrote a book called 'Chimpanzee Politics'
3) Frans de Waal believes there is an evolved mortality in animals of empathy & consolation, prosocial tendencies, and reciprocity & fairness. This suggestion has been through a series of tests which are video taped and played throughout the presentation. The tests include primates such as elephants, chimpanzees, apes, and other monkeys. The experiments indicate that the primates do indeed have a sense of all these traits. Some scientists have disagreed with this conclusion but Frans de Waal is set on his beliefs. The point of this talk though is to compare how similar characteristics we have to primates; And how they have quite a complex understanding as we do. Though they might not be advanced as us now. But there is not telling how far they will come to us in the future. They already have displayed how they can work together, reconcile after a fight, and show empathy. These creatures really are quite intelligent.
4) I thought the talk was really interesting. I'm amazed at how understanding these primates are. They really should get more credit than they receive. It's shocking to see the traits we share with them. Even more shocking to see how sometimes they are far more fair and caring than us. They are brilliant creatures that have a far more advanced understanding than just the will to survive. The presentation was very informational yet interesting at the same time. Well done Frans de Waal.