Our chimpanzee mind

Abstract

Some might consider the title of this piece preposterous. Bishop Wilberforce would no doubt have shaken his fist at it, just as he disputed Huxley's championing of darwinian continuity. But the title of this essay is no more outrageous than one entitled 'The chimpanzee's bird brain', for there has been extensive evolutionary conservation of many neural and psychological functions across species. We share with chimpanzees some--but not all--mental functions, some of which are shared with other species as well. As the publication of the chimpanzee genome reveals, we also share a good deal of our DNA. Unfortunately, we are virtually in the dark when it comes to understanding how genes build minds. If comparative genomics is to enlighten our understanding of human origins, it must be accompanied by an equally rich description of animal psychology, both in terms of its underlying neural signatures and the evolutionary processes that led to convergence and divergence with other species.