Let’s face it: Most of us are species-centric. When a disturbing incident compels us to contemplate the mysteries of human behavior, we tend to compare one individual, family, or culture to another. Monkeys generally do not enter into the conversation.
This is understandable but limiting. If you doubt it, check out the surprisingly amusing, remarkably revealing writings of Robert Sapolsky, the MacArthur “genius” UCSB Arts & Lectures is bringing to Campbell Hall for a talk Tuesday night.
Sapolsky, a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University and author of the wide-ranging 2017 book Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, spent much of his career in Kenya, researching primates — especially baboons.