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Introduction

One explanation of morality is Conventionalism, which declares ethics is merely a matter of following established rules. But, how are the rules made?

It now appears conventional behavior is very deeply rooted in primates. ScienceNOW reports a new study of chimpanzees which finds

"... primates can learn an arbitrary behavior and pass it along to their groupmates.

"... this is the first controlled study that shows chimps can follow conventions that don't involve tools, [Kristin] Bonnie says.

"The experiment is "getting closer to the heart of cultural phenomena where you're only doing something because it's the local way of doing it," says study co-author Andrew Whiten ..."

Here is a portion of Gretchen Vogel's summary:

The behavior in question involved objects that chimps would normally deem useless. Graduate student Kristin Bonnie of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and her colleagues provided two groups of chimpanzees with either a bucket with a hole cut in the side or a container with a large tube sticking out of the top. Out of sight of the other group members, the researchers trained one high-ranking female from each group to deposit tokens into either the bucket or the tube. The team then sat back and watched to see if that trained behavior would spread.

Indeed, the other animals quickly realized that the trained group member was receiving treats--apple or banana slices--for picking up the tokens and placing them in a container. Although treats were available for chimps that used either receptacle, each group followed their leader and used just one of the two options. There was only one exception: A low-ranking female in one group figured out she could get rewards for using the second container, but none of her group members followed her lead.

I think there are two very interesting facts in the foregoing: (1) a human female Graduate Student made this discovery and (2) a low ranking female chimpanzee figured out how to get rewards from both methods. A third fact, not mentioned in the summary, is that Dr. Frans de Waal is closely associated with the Yerkes Primate Center in Atlanta, Georgia. This sort of experiment is in line with de Waal's views about primates, society and morality.

de Waal makes a claim in which I concur that chimpanzees are masters of politics. In de Waal's sense, politics is not only about making decisions, but also about enforcing them. Bonnie's observations of chimpanzees support the notion that chimpanzees are very good at following the leader, which implies some sort of mechanism of social control. Just as with humans, the vast majority of chimpanzees are impelled to do what they are told; i.e., they are "psychologically" predisposed to obey. In addition, de Waal documents chimpanzees using punishment to enforce customs. So, most of the time, chimpanzees live in orderly, authoritarian societies. That sort of behavior is at the root of Aristotle's saying, "Man is a social animal."

What I notice in Bonnie's report is that a low ranking chimp discovered how to get double rewards, and a low ranking human noticed that fact. It is not incidental that both primates are female, who are usually subordinated in human and chimp societies. It is only those at the fringes, those least under control, who have the independence of mind to do things differently. This supports my view that the human intelligentsia are often people at the fringes of society. It also supports my view that intelligence and politics are often opposed, at least with respect to enforcement. The conflict between free thinking individuals and social control is of necessity an ongoing story in every society, especially when backward-looking Conservatives are in charge.

What Bonnie's observation reveals are parallels of gender difference, political power and intelligence in two primate societies. This report not only explicates what being a social animal means, but gives us a valuable insight into the nature of intelligence as something outside group control.

Introduction
One explanation of morality is Conventionalism, which declares ethics is merely a matter of following established rules. But, how are the rules made? It now appears conventional behavior is very deeply rooted in primates. ScienceNOW reports a new study of chimpanzees which finds "... primates can learn an arbitrary behavior and pass it along to their groupmates. "... this is the first controlled study that shows chimps can follow conventions that don't involve tools, [Kristin] Bonnie says. "The experiment is "getting closer to the heart of cultural phenomena where you're only doing something because it's the local way of doing it," says study co-author Andrew Whiten ..."

Primates Follow The Leader