The Third Chimpanzee

The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal

By: Jared Diamond

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

The Development of an Extraordinary Species....

We human beings share 98 percent of our genes with chimpanzees. Yet humans are the dominant species on the planet - having founded civilizations and religions, developed intricate and diverse forms of communication, learned science, built cities, and created breathtaking works of art - while chimps remain animals concerned primarily with the basic necessities of survival. What is it about that two percent difference in DNA that has created such a divergence between evolutionary cousins?

In this fascinating, provocative, passionate, funny, endlessly entertaining work, renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning author and scientist Jared Diamond explores how the extraordinary human animal, in a remarkably short time, developed the capacity to rule the world...and the means to irrevocably destroy it.

©2006 Jared Diamond (P)2012 Random House Audio

Great Detail

A great book with extraordinary detail. He does go off on some tangents and he revisits a lot of the material in Guns, germs and steel, but it's great info.

Outstanding

Such a great book. Important read for anyone wanting to understand where we came from

Second time I’ve read/listened

Broad range of topics, Well covered good information and interesting ideas certainly worth the time to listen to it or read it

Up to the usual high standard

Jared Diamond is one of my favourite writers, and in 'Guns Germs and Steel' and then 'Collapse' he transformed my views of the history and future of civilisation, respectively.

This is an earlier book (1991), containing themes to be expanded in both of his later books, in addition to the main topic; how modern man emerged from being just another animal.

Because the book is 20 years old, you always worry that some more recent evidence may have arisen to strengthen or weaken his arguments, but if you can ignore this relatively minor qualm, and you enjoy popular science, then this is an absolutely fantastic listen.

A primer to Diamond's other works?

This broad ranging book reads to me like a an overview of Jared Diamond's other books, covering each of his pet topics: Our similarity to chimps, a circumstantial (rather than racist) explanation for the success of European conquerors, the breadcrumb trail that is Proto-Indo-European linguistics, Papua New Guinea anecdotes, bird taxonomy, man's long history of environmental degradation and species eradication.
Mr. Diamond seems less assured as a writer here, and there are some rather daft tangents, (warning, at one point, of the existential danger of searching for alien life.) but overall it is a fun and enlightening book and may be a helpful primer anyone not steeled for the epic slog through Guns, Germs, and Steel or Collapse.

new favourite book

I think this book should be read by all high school students. everyone actually.

Review

Great subject and synthesis coupled to excellent insights based in part on first hand field experience by Jared Diamond. However, at times the writing is too extensive leaving the impression that the subject could have been dealt with as effectively in a more succinct fashion.

Fantastic listen

Another fantastic book by Jared Diamond, but chronologically it is one of his earlier books and several chapters in this one one are definitely the inspirations for his future books - particularly "Guns, Germs & Steep" and "Collapse" - so this is the nucleus of some amazing follow-up books!

Here, he makes a very thorough (albeit slightly dated - this book WAS written in 1991 after all) analysis on evolution of our species and how genetically similar we are to our two closest living 'cousins', the common & pygmy chimps. I found this section of the book the most fascinating and interesting. The book goes on to how societies developed, proposing a very interesting thought at some point about whether we as humans were better off as hunter-gatherers than when we developed agriculture, society and so on (well, perhaps we wouldn't be prosecuting or exterminating people different than us, but I personally quite appreciate that we developed writing and I can read/listen to books like this). Other parts of the book then continue on to make the arguments which he has fleshed out in follow up books (why Eurasians society/language conquered the 'new world', and how some older societies collapsed) , before ending the book on chapters related to how we are really causing the destruction of our own future due to illogical actions.

Either way, if you are a fan of Jared's other books obviously I do not need to recommend this book. But I also highly recommend it especially if you liked the more 'up-to-date' (albeit in my opinion, not as well researched) 'Sapiens' by Yuval Noah Harari.

Not his best, but good still

Any additional comments?

This book anticipates some of the great ideas developed further in his Guns, Germs, and Steel. But in part 3, chapter 11, I think his explanation of the animal precursors of drug abuse and its links to displays of fitness are way off.

Exceptional piece from an intellectual omnivore.

This is but one of many fantastic books that reveal Jared Diamond's omnivorous intellect. Like the others, he has a message, and that message is conveyed through researched arguments and tempered by his own experiences. The message is: We stand at the edge of change, one way leading to disaster of a scale that could mean destruction of the human species, but there is hope.

Hope lies in recognising our special past and understanding how it has led us to where the human animal is now. By understanding this past, learning lessons from those who have come before us, we can understand where our choices will lead our species and the only planet we inhabit.

Topics include what makes us unique among animals and what, after careful investigation, reveals to be not unique. Language, sex, art, culture, agriculture, natural selection, sexual selection; the list is a smorgasbord of informative research.

Not a good book for those with closed minds, nor for those who are blinkered by dogma or literal translations of holy texts. However, for those of us who are willing to listen, willing to challenge old ideas, this book illustrates the many disciplines that, when woven together, show us hope for the future.

Shapiro's voice bring these topics to life, enhancing the character found in Jared's work, revealing the importance of the author's words and his heartfelt appeal to us all.