Justin of Flavia Neapolis
New member
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2017
- Messages
- 869
Faux-nobo: "Naked Bonobo" demolishes myth of sexy, egalitarian bonobos - Incredulous
Apparently, there's a lot of misinformation going around about the bonobo species. We all believed (or want to believe) the "egalitarian bonobo" myth. This is a book review for: The Naked Bonobo: Lynn Saxon: 9781523945511: Amazon.com: Books (not available on audio )
Apparently, there's a lot of misinformation going around about the bonobo species. We all believed (or want to believe) the "egalitarian bonobo" myth. This is a book review for: The Naked Bonobo: Lynn Saxon: 9781523945511: Amazon.com: Books (not available on audio )
Usually debunkings of pseudoscience and sensational claims are mundane, if satisfying. It usually sounds like “GMOs are fine†or “The psychic is a fraud.†Not this time. The truth about bonobos is more shocking, salacious, and captivating than the lies are. I knew that “Bonobo†was going to concern itself with correcting popular bonobo myths, but there were still many surprises. It’s one of the page-turniest debunkings I have ever read. As fascinating as the material is, Saxon delivers it with a steady grace and restrained humor that keeps it light, but not too light.
“The Naked Bonobo†is dissent done right: civil, competent, and constructive. While mildly cheeky with the “wannabe†framing device, the work is quite even-handed in its tone and charitable to those that it critiques. It contains no insults or recriminations. It foists no strawpersons, working to honestly represent the other side and to identify shared values and common ground where possible.
Saxon’s review of the literature is, by all indications, diligent and conscientious. She sent manuscripts to subject matter experts for feedback. She is quick to caution against hasty conclusions when the evidence is scant or ambiguous. She reminds the reader several times that we yet know very little about bonobos and must wait before getting too attached to notions about what they are like.
I would recommend “The Naked Bonobo†to anyone who cares at all about these apes. But it also stands as a skeptical exemplar that is instructive on how to debunk with integrity and class.
"When the chimpanzee fell from grace as the peaceful vegetarian, who would have thought that lurking in the shadows was another hairy cousin, and a much better one at that."
“The Naked Bonobo†opens with this line. Saxon is retelling the history of the bonobo rise to stardom, but this is also a reminder that early ideas about chimpanzees often turned out to be woefully mistaken. What we know, or think that we know, can turn out to be wrong. That’s why it’s always a bad idea to base a moral value or a political goal on a conception of the facts. It can blow up in your face when that conception proves wrong. It can create a caustic ideology hostile to the truth and to academic inquiry. There is nothing sexy or egalitarian about that.