Bits, Bursts & Bongos

By Per Hakansson

#17 - The Human Zoo

The Human Zoo is a wonderful perspective on the urban animal by the now 86-year old world renowned zoologist and thought-leader Desmond Morris. I’ve previously read The Human Animal and Amazing Baby and loved both. Really loved like this guy rocks hard.

If you believe that our world was created by a mythological God living in the clouds then this is as ”evil” as it gets. But if you believe in evolution, biology and science then you’ll embrace this book with both arms and get amazing insights into the human species.

“I’ve sometimes been accused of degrading mankind, of insulting human dignity, of making man beastly. This surprised me because I like animals, and I feel proud to call myself one. I’ve never looked down upon them, so to call human beings animals is not, to me, degrading. It’s simply being honest: putting us in our place as part of the scheme of nature on the planet Earth.”

– Desmond Morris, Closing statement of episode 1, The Human Animal