The Human Zoo

We often compare the urban lifestyle to that of a jungle. We're wrong. It's not to a jungle that we ought to compare it, but, to a zoo.

Desmond Morris exposes here why by tackling our city-dwellers' behaviours, that he puts in perspective against that of our fellow animals when caged in zoos. The other great apes, our closest kins, are on that point an enlightening mirror...

Cities might be a good thing indeed when it comes to reduce the problems associated to life in the wild and a natural environment (access to food, health care...), like zoos are for animals, then, but such a life in such a habitat also comes with a price. Such price, in fact, comes from, well, the fact that cities are, like zoos, unnatural! These are artificial show more enclosures, where we are compelled to live alongside each other, and to lead lives going from one extreme to the next (hectic activities or, on the contrary, unhealthy boredom).

Is it any surprising, asks the author, that such dysfunctional environments lead to no less dysfunctional behaviours? Violence becomes endemic, both against others (including our own offspring) and others; diseases of all sorts are developing (stress, obesity...); and even our sexuality isn't spared (masturbation, fetichism, homosexuality...), all kinds of comportments that we witness only in caged animals.

Desmond Morris, simply yet brilliantly, exposes how modifying our environment leads to a modifying of our behaviours, a fact that should leave us to ponder on how and why we modify it in the first place! Here's a striking read, offering a different view upon urban life (without condemning nor denouncing it) and the malaise that comes with it. Very, very interesting. show less

A look at human behavior as animal in zoo. As human evolved, they left their natural habitat, and ended up in big cities. Combined with population size increase, current conditions are similar to animals in a crowded zoo. Given this context, this book provides a zoologists perspective to human behavior.

Overall, in content, this book is quite similar to The Naked Ape. Similar to previous book, The Naked Ape, from author Desmond Morris, this book also come across as strongly opinionated in certain respect. Sex is a common recurring topic in this book, at least it is mentioned lot more often compared to book The Naked Ape. I plan to read next book Intimate Behavior, fully prepared that next book may mention Sex even more often. :-)

This show more book should be read, it provides a very different perspective to city dwellers. But, avoid believing each and every thing written in the book. show less

In The Naked Ape, Desmond Morris took a brutally objective look at the human animal -- his sexual habits, his aggressions, his affections and emotions. Now, in The Human Zoo, he presents an authoritative, fiercely frank and brilliantly entertaining study of the society the naked ape has created for himself; and examines the neurotic, unstable behaviour that has resulted from man's unnatural confinement in crowded cities -- murders, sexual deviations and psychological disorders.
If man is to survive, and turn his environment into a magnificent game park, he must learn the new, and sometimes difficult, rules of the human zoo.

Cool. Now I can look at humans like the animals they are, caged animals to be precise.
This book is copium for incels.

Fair condition. Cover has edge wear, creasing, and small tear. Writing in ink inside front cover. Pages clean.

Dans l'étendue de sa domination sur la planète, l'homme perd souvent de vue qu'il se définit essentiellement comme un animal doué de raison classé parmi les mammifères de l'ordre des pri-mates à côté des lémuriens et des singes. Diffère-t-il d'ailleurs tellement de ces derniers ? Dans Le Singe nu, le zoologiste Des-mond Morris a très brillamment démontré que non. Singes nus nous sommes, frères bavards du babouin. L'étude de notre comportement en tant qu'individus a entraîné Desmond Morris à examiner notre vie sociale selon la même méthode critique de naturaliste observant une espèce animale quelconque dans son milieu naturel. A ceci près que la proliféra-tion humaine et la multiplication des villes ont show more pratiquement sup-primé la nature pour ne laisser que des conditions artificielles comparables à celles d'un zoo. Le paradoxe du monde moderne est, en effet, de contraindre à vivre dans un cadre ultra -perfectionné des « animaux » qui restent soumis aux impératifs biologiques des temps primitifs. L'homme captif de sa technique saura-t-il supporter cette dis-torsion, pourra-t-il rendre vivable le zoo humain ? Il a su déjà merveilleusement s'adapter, Desmond Morris l'expose avec une ironie et une maestria scientifique qui rendent son livre aussi divertissant qu'instructif. show less

Da jeg gik i gymnasiet lånte jeg en version af denne bog på Viborg Bibliotek og den blev så en af de første populærvidenskabelige bøger jeg læste af den slags, - hvad slags den så er. Jeg husker den som en bog med en for mig meget original tankegang og fortolkning af det moderne menneskets adfærd.