Insulting Apes

In 2013 the highly regarded Australian Football League (AFL) player Adam Goodes was playing for his team, the Sydney Swans, when a 13 year old supporter of the opposing club yelled at him – “Ape!” Goodes, whose mother was of Adnyamathanha and Narungga (Australian Aboriginal nations) descent, heard the shout and pointed at the girl. She was escorted from the stadium.

In a display of reconciliation and courage from both Goodes and the young girl, the young girl apologised to Adam Goodes and Goodes called upon people to support her and not blame her. The President of the opposing club also apologised to Goodes and said that the young girl did not know that what she had said was a racial slur.

Following this incident Adam Goodes was often booed by supporters of the team the Swans were playing at the time. Owing to the stress of the booing and the attention he was receiving, Goodes retired from the game in 2015. All 18 AFL clubs (including Goodes’ own “Swannies”) issued an unreserved apology to Goodes for the racism he was subjected to.

The use of the word “Ape” as a racial insult has its origins in the 19^th century with the Theory of Evolution. Many people including other scientists, interpreted evolution to mean that human beings were the pinnacle of the tree of life. Some went further to assert that those of European heritage were superior to those from other nations, particularly humans from Africa. This prejudiced view enabled the trans-Atlantic slave trade to gain pseudo-scientific credibility. The view espoused at the time was that “white” people were ‘closer to the angels’ (who were depicted dressed all in white), and that “black and brown” people were ‘closer to the apes’ (arrayed in black or brown fur). People with black or brown skin were labelled as savages, primitive, and of lesser status and worth to people with whitish skin.

To call someone “Ape” had, and still has, clear racist overtones.

“Ape” is not the only racist slur that depicts people with black or brown skin as being ‘closer to the apes.’ We also hear (inter alia) the terms “monkey” and “knuckle-dragger.” The latter of these phrases has come to take on the additional slur that someone is unintelligent and/or unsophisticated. Lately, the term “knuckle-dragger” has been used as an insult to the perceived lack of intelligence of anyone, whether of black, brown, white, or other coloured skin.

What all these insults and slurs have in common is that they all refer to animals from the Hominidae family. This family includes orangutangs, gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos. Note that monkeys are not members of this family, although many people think they are.

There is one further species that is a member of the Hominidae family. It is us – Homo sapiens. We are part of the Great Ape family.

Consequently, the use of the terms “Ape,” “Monkey,” or “Knuckle-dragger” as insults is also an insult to those apes. The use displays human exceptionalism at its worst.

Human exceptionalism (a.k.a. anthropocentrism or human supremacy) is the belief that humans are distinct from, and superior to, all other forms of life on this planet. The primatologist Christine Webb states that, ‘human exceptionalism is at the root of the ecological crisis.’¹ It could also be argued, through the use of insulting words such as ape, monkey, and knuckle-dragger, that human exceptionalism is also at the root of the interpersonal and social crisis.

Use of these words as insults displays an appalling lack of biological knowledge.

When the word “Ape!” was yelled at Adam Goodes, we cannot pretend that it was shouted at him to indicate that he, along with every other member of Homo sapiens, was a member of the family of Great Apes.

No! It was shouted as a racial slur and an insult.

It wasn’t shouted to bring into question, or to criticise, human exceptionalism.

It was shouted because of human exceptionalism.

Note:

1. Christine Webb, The Arrogant Ape, Avery, New York, 2025

Arriving at Compassion

In 1971 the British symphonic rock group, The Moody Blues, released their seventh album – Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. The band’s guitarist, Justin Hayward, described it as a ‘a kind of searching, seeking record.’ There are songs on the album that ask questions of themselves as band members, and also of the world around them.

One of those songs that asks questions of the world around them is the John Lodge penned One More Time To Live.¹ The lyrics of the song begin with the lines, ‘Look out of my window/See the world passing by.’ The impression given is that this is a song in which the writer observes the world outside them and tries to make sense of the desolation, annihilation, and pollution they see. The solution this observer finds is to go on an inner journey and find the riches within.

Another way of hearing the lyrics may be as a commentary on the history of the world from the beginning of time through to the present moment. When this song was written the knowledge of environmental damage was only just beginning to be recognised. The world’s first environmental political party was not formed until the following year. The song was highly prescient then and remains relevant today.

In the song Justin Hayward (the vocalist) recites a total of 21 words, all with a ‘…tion’ or ‘…sion’ suffix.

The words begin with Desolation, the state in which the Universe emerged from, followed by Creation and Evolution.

This new world then descends towards environmental destruction, presumably with the appearance of Homo sapiens, and Hayward sorrowfully sings of Pollution, Saturation, Population (growth), and Annihilation.

Next, we hear of how humanity attempts to fix this mess. Humanity tries Revolution (which fails to fix it) resulting in Confusion and Illusion. The Conclusion to this is Starvation, Degradation, and Humiliation.

But this Conclusion is not the future that the songwriter John Lodge wishes to see. So we hear Justin Hayward inspiring us towards Contemplation and Inspiration. If we take this inner journey, then there may be a chance that we realise an inner Elation which can be our Salvation.

Via the process of Communication, the Moody Blues finally arrive at…

Compassion…

which is the Solution.

John Lodge, Justin Hayward, and the other band members were correct more than half a century ago, and they are no less so today.

Compassion is the Solution. Compassion towards ourselves, compassion towards other humans, compassions to other life forms, and compassion towards Mother Earth.

Note:

1. A beautiful Youtube clip of this song can be heard here.

Caged In - Part 2

Last week’s blog considered whether drug addiction (as well as other addictions) was, in part, triggered by urbanisation. This week the possibility that our brains are changed (for the worse) and that violence is intensified under caged conditions.

When animals are kept in cages they will suffer from zoochosis – a psychotic condition whereby animals display uncharacteristic behaviours, such as monotonous, obsessive, and/or repetitive actions that serve no purpose. Polar bears will swim in circles for hours, lions and tigers will pace back-and-forth nonstop, and elephants will sway to-and-fro. These are all signs of zoochosis.

In some animals, zoochosis can result in self-harm, and in big cats especially, the harm may be taken out on others of their species. In the wild, big cats are normally solitary and territorial by nature. Put into cages conflict and violence can escalate quickly and dangerously.

Zoochosis has been studied and shows that the brains of animals are changed (for the worse) when kept in captivity. A 2024 article¹ notes the following:

‘The chronic stress of living in captivity without any control over their environment leads to learned helplessness, a trauma response that affects the hippocampus, which handles memory functions, and the amygdala, which processes emotions. As a result, a captive animal’s memory and emotions are irregular, and some animals have been shown to become emotionally unpredictable. Prolonged stress also disrupts the balance of serotonin and dopamine in an animal’s brain, which can lead to repetitive and often damaging behaviour.’

Just as we saw last week, human response to being caged in is comparable to the response of caged animals; humans are animals after all!

Neurological research shows that ‘…urbanization represents an evolutionary mismatch between contemporary brains and the neural systems of our human ancestors, an increased vulnerability for psychiatric illness may represent an escalating medical threat as urban populations are projected to rise in future years.’²

So it is then: the brains of we humans too, are changed for the worse when in caged conditions.

Does this changed brain result in greater violence? It appears it might.

A 2012 article on the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP) website³ urgently claims that ‘Cities have increasingly become the battlefield of recent conflicts as they serve as the seats of power and gateways to resources.’

Alarmingly, the correlation between violence and urbanisation may not be contained within one or two generations. Transgenerational effects of violence and its related trauma (including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – PTSD) has been shown to exacerbate the harmful effects of caged living.

Breaking the cycle of violence and its associated PTSD may not be easy, especially as we humans continue to cage ourselves in.

Can we re-wild ourselves in time, before we descend into total inter-tribal, inter-generational, and inter-cultural warfare?

Only through re-wiring our brains and cutting the bars of our cages it would seem.

Notes:

1. https://www.worldanimalprotection.us/latest/blogs/heres-how-captivity-affects-mammals-brains/  Accessed 12 April 2026

2. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4774049/  Accessed 12 April 2026

3. https://alnap.org/help-library/resources/rapid-urbanization-and-the-growing-threat-of-violence-and-conflict-a-21st-century/ Accessed 12 April 2026

Caged In (Part 1)

In the late 1970s the Canadian psychologist, Bruce Alexander (and others), conducted a number of famous experiments with rats. Known as the Rat Park experiments these experiments organised rats into four distinct groups, each with eight rats in a group. Each group consisted of rats weaned on their 22^nd day of life.

Group CC were kept in laboratory cages until the age of 80 days, i.e. 58 days.

Group PP were housed in Rat Park: an area 200 times larger than a laboratory cage, and provided with food, balls, and wheels for play, and plenty of space to mate.

Group CP were initially located in laboratory cages and then transferred to Rat Park at 65 days old (i.e. 43 days later).

Group PC started off in Rat Park and then moved to laboratory cages at 65 days old.

Each group had a choice of two drinking dispensers. One dispenser contained sweetened morphine, and the other plain tap water.

So, what happened? What did the rats in each group drink?

The caged rats (Groups CC and PC) took to the sweetened morphine immediately, drinking it nineteen times more often than those in the other two groups (Groups PP and PC). The rats in these other two groups (PP and PC) did try the water with morphine in it occasionally but showed a distinct preference for the tap water.

The difference between the groups was not the choices they had. It was not their cultural background. It was not their family history.

The difference was that caged rats opted for the sweetened morphine at a significantly higher degree than those not caged.

Are We Human Rats?

A question quickly forms when we learn of this research. Might the same be going on in human society? Is drug addiction a symptom of being caged in?

Research indicates a correlation. Research reported in May 2025 noted that: ‘Urban environmental risk factors of economic disparity, marginalization and barriers in accessing healthcare and negative individual characteristics of low education, low income and comorbid diagnosis of mental illness significantly increased risk of drug use.’¹

In 2023 (the year of most recent data) 316 million people worldwide (6% of the population aged 15-64) had used drugs in the previous year. The incidence of drug use had increased over the previous decade, outstripping the increase in population (indicating that per capita use had swelled), with the synthetic drug market having expanded rapidly.

As an example of this increase, consider the production of cocaine. In 2014 the global production of this drug was 869 tonnes, by 2023 the production of cocaine had more than quadrupled to 3,708 tonnes.

Some researchers and psychologists go further than simply urbanisation, suggesting that civilisation itself is a factor in addiction. And not just drug addiction, but most addictions; gambling, sex, alcohol, shopping and consumption, and technology to name a few. The eco-psychologist, Chellis Glendinning, writes of this brilliantly in her 1994 book My Name Is Chellis & I’m in Recovery from Western Civilization.²

For Glendinning and others, the cage we are in may not be a physical one, we may not be able to see it or touch it. But, it is there, nevertheless. And, like the rats in cages, we opt for addictive substances or experiences.

It is a sobering thought, isn’t it? Our addictions may be a natural (albeit unhealthily so) response to being caged in.

As we know, too, the manufacture, transport, and trafficking of illicit drugs have an association with violence. Next weeks blog (Part 2) will consider whether (as with drugs) there is a correlation between violence and being caged in.

Notes:

1. https://journals.lww.com/co-psychiatry/fulltext/2025/05000/drug_addiction_and_impact_of_urbanization__a.13.aspx  Accessed 7 April 2026

2. Chellis Glendinning, My Name Is Chellis & I’m in Recovery from Western Civilization, Shambhala Publications, Boston, Massachusetts, 1994.