The killer ape theory or killer ape hypothesis is the theory that war and interpersonal aggression was the driving force behind human evolution. It was originated by Raymond Dart in the 1950s; later it was developed further in African Genesis by Robert Ardrey in 1961.
According to the killer ape theory, the ancestors of humans were distinguished from other primate species by their greater aggressiveness. Furthermore, according to the theory, this aggression remains within humanity, which retains many murderous instincts.
The theory gained notoriety for suggesting that the urge to do violence was a fundamental part of human psychology, The hunting hypothesis is often associated with the theory, because of similarities and because Robert Ardrey has developed both.
Read more about Killer Ape Theory: Definition, Reception, References in Fiction
Famous quotes containing the words killer, ape and/or theory:
“I see the killer in him
and he turns on an oven,
an oven, an oven, an oven
and on a pie plate he sticks
in my Yellow Star....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“What is the ape to man? A laughing-stock or a painful embarrassment. And just that shall man be for the superman: a laughing-stock or a painful embarrassment.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Every theory is a self-fulfilling prophecy that orders experience into the framework it provides.”
—Ruth Hubbard (b. 1924)