This finding resonated with me, given what I know about the politics and preemptive tactics of chimpanzees. Chimp status is based on alliances, in which males support one another. Reigning alpha males protect their power by a divide-and-rule strategy, and they particularly hate it when one of their rivals cozies up to one of their own supporters. They try to forestall hostile collusions. Moreover, not unlike presidential candidates who hold babies up in the air as soon as the cameras are rolling, male chimps vying for power develop a sudden interest in infants, which they hold and tickle in order to curry favor with the females.68 Female support can make a huge difference in rivalries among males, so making a good impression on them is important. Given the tactical shrewdness of chimpanzees, it is a great advance that computer games now help us put these remarkable skills to the test.
We have no good reason to focus solely on chimpanzees, though. They often serve as a starting point, but “chimpocentrism” is a mere extension of anthropocentrism.69 Why not focus on other species that lend themselves to explore specific aspects of cognition? We could focus on a small number of organisms as test cases. We already do so in medicine and general biology. Geneticists exploit fruit flies and zebra fish, and students of neural development have gotten much mileage out of research on nematode worms. Not everyone realizes that science works this way, which is why scientists were dumbfounded by the complaint of former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin that tax dollars were going to useless projects such as “fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not.”70 It may sound silly to some, but the humble Drosophila has long been our main workhorse in genetics, yielding insight in the relation between chromosomes and genes. A small set of animals produces basic knowledge applicable to many other species, including ourselves. The same applies to cognitive research, such as the way rats and pigeons have shaped our view of memory. I imagine a future in which we explore a range of capacities in specific organisms on the assumption of generalizability. We may end up studying technical skills in New Caledonian crows and capuchin monkeys, conformity in guppies, empathy in canids, object categorization in parrots, and so on.
Yet all this requires that we circumvent the fragile human ego and treat cognition like any other biological phenomenon. If cognition’s basic features derive from gradual descent with modification, then notions of leaps, bounds, and sparks are out of order. Instead of a gap, we face a gently sloping beach created by the steady pounding of millions of waves. Even if human intellect is higher up on the beach, it was shaped by the same forces battering the same shore.
6 SOCIAL SKILLS
The old male faced a choice worthy of a politician. Every day Yeroen was being groomed by two rivaling males, each one eager to gain his backing. He seemed to enjoy the attention. Being groomed by the mighty alpha male, the one who had deposed him a year earlier, was utterly relaxing because no one would dare disturb them. But being groomed by the second, younger male was tricky. Their get-togethers greatly upset alpha, who regarded them as plots against himself and tried to disrupt them. Alpha would put up all his hair and hoot and display around, banging doors and hitting females, until the other two males became so nervous that they’d break up and leave the scene. Separating them was the only way to calm down alpha. Since male chimps never cease to jockey for position and are always making and breaking pacts, innocent grooming sessions don’t really exist. Every single one carries political implications.
The current alpha male enjoyed massive popularity and support, including that of the old matriarch, Mama, leader of the females. If Yeroen had wanted an easy life, he would have opted to play sidekick to this male. He wouldn’t have rocked the boat, and there would never have been any threat to his position. Aligning himself with the ambitious young male, on the other hand, was fraught with risk. However big and muscular this male might be, he had barely left his adolescence behind. He was an untried entity who carried so little authority that whenever he tried to break up a female fight, as top males are wont to do, he risked the wrath of both contestants. Ironically, this meant that he did resolve the discord, but at his own expense. Instead of screaming at one another, the females now supported one another in chasing the would-be arbitrator. Once they got him cornered, however, they were smart enough not to physically grapple with him, being all too familiar with his speed, strength, and canine teeth. He had become a player to be reckoned with.
The alpha male, in contrast, was so skilled at peacekeeping, so impartial in his interventions, and so protective of the underdog that he had become immensely beloved. He had brought peace and harmony to the group after a long period of upheaval. Females were always ready to groom him and let him play with their children. They were likely to resist anyone who dared challenge his reign.
Nonetheless, this is exactly what Yeroen went for when he sided with the young upstart. The two of them entered a long campaign to dethrone the established leader that took a great toll in tensions and injuries. Whenever the young male would position himself at some distance from the alpha male, provoking him with increasingly loud hooting, Yeroen would go sit right behind the challenger, wrap his arms around his middle, and softly hoot along. This way there was no doubt about his allegiance. Mama and her female friends did resist this revolt, occasionally resulting in massive pursuits of both troublemakers, but the combination of the young male’s brawn and Yeroen’s brain was too much. From the start, it was obvious that Yeroen was not out to claim the alpha position for himself but was content to let his partner do the dirty work. They never backed down, and after several months of daily confrontations, the young male became the new alpha.
The two of them ruled for years, with Yeroen acting like a Dick Cheney or a Ted Kennedy, a power behind the throne; he remained so influential that as soon as his support began to waver, the throne wobbled. This happened occasionally after conflicts over sexually attractive females. The new alpha quickly learned that in order to keep Yeroen on his side, he’d need to grant him privileges. Most of the time Yeroen was allowed to mate with females, something the young alpha did not tolerate from any other male.
Why did Yeroen throw his support behind this parvenu instead of joining the established power? It is informative to look at studies of human coalition formation, in which players win games through cooperation, and to study the balance-of-power theories about international pacts. The basic principle here is the “strength is weakness” paradox, according to which the most powerful player is often the least attractive political ally because this player doesn’t really need others, hence takes them for granted and treats them like dirt. In Yeroen’s case, the established alpha male was too mighty for his own good. By joining him, Yeroen would have gained little, because all this male truly needed was his neutrality. The smarter strategy was to pick a partner who couldn’t win without him. By throwing his weight behind the young male, Yeroen became the kingmaker. He regained both prestige and fresh mating opportunities.