Dogs and bonobos can help humans build a more peaceful society, say Duke researchers

Understanding the evolution of some of nature’s friendliest animals — dogs, bonobos and humans — is the key to creating a more inclusive and peaceful society, two Duke University scientists say.

Dogs and Homo sapiens are among the most biologically successful species alive because of their friendliness, or willingness to cooperate, researchers Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods write in their new book, “Survival of the Friendliest: Understanding Our Origins and Rediscovering Our Common Humanity.” But humans also have a dark side that threatens their success, they add.

“In nature, friendliness wins big, and humans are an example of that,” Hare said in an interview with The News & Observer. “When we use the evidence we have from animals and how friendlier animals are more successful, we started to look at our own species and say, ‘That’s how we evolved and beat out other extinct (species of) humans.’”

People should learn from bonobos — a great ape and, with chimpanzees, humans’ closest relatives —and other friendly animals to see the humanity in every person and that violence is never the answer, write Hare and Woods

“Cross-group friendships reduce any feeling of threat that can lead those friendlier parts of our mind to shut down,” said Hare, a professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke and member of the university’s Center for Cognitive Neuroscience.

Hare defines friendliness as a willingness to help others or be near other individuals. He and Woods said politicians should apply this theory to help break down divisions in the government.

“As an example, in Washington D.C., ... I would ask for free lunches for congressional staffers ... if they would go to lunch with someone who’s from another party, another staffer from another representative.,” he said. “Those build friendship.”

The evolution of humans and other animals

Woods and Hare, who are married, have studied bonobos, dogs and other animals for years. Their 2013 book “The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think” examines canine intellect. Woods, a writer and director of the Duke Puppy Kindergarten, wrote “Bonobo Handshake” in 2010 about her and Hare’s work with bonobos in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Homo sapiens are the last human species still alive, Hare said, because their cooperative skills allowed them to build on their ancestors’ innovations. The last of the other four human species, the Neanderthals, died out around 50,000 years ago.

Homo sapiens became more friendly at least 80,000 years ago when they “self-domesticated,” meaning the most tolerant individuals with the most serotonin reproduced, became more social and acquired softened features like smaller faces and skulls and more colorful eyes, Hare and Woods write. Serotonin is a chemical that increases people’s feelings of well-being and happiness.

The friendliest wolves, Hare and Woods write, evolved into dogs because they weren’t afraid to live among human hunter-gatherers during the Ice Age. Humans learned to trust the friendly wolves, and these dogs slowly acquired new traits — including larger brains, floppy ears, and an understanding of human gestures — all because they wanted to eat nutrient-rich human feces.

“Our waste would have been irresistible to any wolf who was calm and brave enough to approach our camps. These wolves would have been at a reproductive advantage,” Hare and Woods write. “Their descendants now number in the tens of millions and live with us on every continent, while the few remaining wild wolf populations, sadly, live under constant threat of extinction.”

When friendliness falls short

Today’s humans thrived because their friendly nature allowed them to exist in large groups, but that friendliness shuts off when Homo sapiens encounter people outside their groups.

Like chimpanzees, an aggressive cousin of bonobos, humans have a tendency to be cruel to outsiders., Hare and Woods write, citing President Donald Trump’s dehumanizing rhetoric in the 2016 presidential campaign during which he likened certain people to animals.

“Trump had an uncanny intuition for groups his constituents would consider outsiders and was adept at framing these outsiders as threatening,” they write. “He advocated torture, the death penalty and deportation for refugees from war-torn countries.”

Hare and Woods said it is important to “encourage those who, regardless of political party, insist on the humanity of others” and to “shun leaders who dehumanize others.”

Humans should look to dogs to learn how to embrace people they consider outsiders, Hare and Woods write.

“No one who has ever loved a dog would question the dog’s ability to think, suffer or love,” they write. “Friendship is the world’s greatest equalizer.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 5:45 AM with the headline "Dogs and bonobos can help humans build a more peaceful society, say Duke researchers."