I remember once watching a documentary on a roving band of chimpanzees, and thinking how human they looked. I was shocked when they attacked another band of chimpanzees and killed them all. However, I quickly overcame my shock. They were quite human indeed...
Even monkeys (those that are not apes) exhibit behavior that so powerfully human. One campus where I studied had many (curb the joke). This allowed enough opportunities to observe them.
What moved me most, apart from their usual monkey business, is their display of quiet private tenderness towards their partner. That took me by surprise.
Everyone has some personal experiences that they would remember because it changed their perspective or added one when non existed. This would be one of them for me.
A family friend of ours was researcher in medical biology. His daily work included draining blood from rhesus monkeys for testing. I remember as a kid that he gave up his line of work. At that time it had struck me as an odd thing to do because he was doing so well. When I saw the behavior of these monkeys from up close, I got a better appreciation of why.
