Feb 20 2009
Indirect Aggression and Dominance
Like the majority of animals, chimpanzees solve more disputes by threat than by actual fighting.
- Jane Goodall (36)Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground, and it will burn and not be quenched. (Jeremiah 7:20)
Primate alphas rarely rely on actual aggression. Instead, they employ bluff and threat. These could be seen as derivatives and extensions of real physical attack. Rather than actual hitting, a raised arm will do. Eyes and emotions register the impact from a distance. Instead of shoving, trees are shaken, muscles flexed. Additionally, third parties can be the target of acts meant to send a message to others. In a sense, this is symbolic aggression and an advertisement about one’s ability to dominate. You.
Chimpanzees males throw objects, primarily sticks and stones, to “enhance” their charging displays.(37) Their aim is not to break bones, but to send a message: pay attention to me or you could get hurt.
Could get hurt. If. But if you bow down to me and obey, you will be spared my wrath.
As is obvious from my “Almighty Alpha” project, I believe the god of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament god, reflects apish concerns for dominance. If he had skin, my bet is the Bible god would be covered with fur.
Yet the Bible’s Yahweh, Lord, God, whatever you want to call him, is not alone. Many other gods had similar concerns and motives. You are my people, you serve me, and you shall obey my wishes. Or else. The “or else” frequently consisted of serious consequences in this world. (Jesus may have distilled aggression even further by putting punishment in the next. And to a place the guilty (of not bowing down) would suffer, but not directly by his hand.)
For example, in pre-biblical Mesopotamia there were a number of gods that were said to bring plagues and famines upon people when displeased.(38) Behave, or else. Sound familiar?
If not, allow me to refresh your memory.
So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. (Exodus 3:20)
Notice that the performance is not to them but among them.
He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark. (Job 36:32)
There are multiple mentions of the divine generation of terrifying lightning in the Bible. Yet how many characters get hit? Is the god’s aim off? Or are his actions akin to a chimpanzee tossing stones in the air?
Who maketh winds his messengers; Flames of fire his ministers. (Psalms 104:4)
Storms, plagues, famine, war, and calamity in general–these are ministers of the invisible alpha. He is sending a message. You better watch out.
Noted primatologist de Waal wrote -
Chimpanzees are every bit as formal as the Japanese in their greeting ceremonies. The alpha male makes an impressive display, going around with his hair on end, hitting anyone who doesn’t move out of the way in time. The display both draws attention to the male and impress his audience. One alpha male in the Mahale Mountains National Park in Tanzania developed the habit of dislodging enormous boulders so he could roll them down a dry riverbed, producing a thunderous noise. One can imagine the awe with which the others watched a spectacle that they couldn’t match. The performer would then sit down, waiting for his audience to approach. And they did, at first reluctantly, but then in droves, bowing-known as “bobbing”-and groveling, noisily proclaiming their respect with panting grunts. Dominant males seem to keep track of these greetings, because during their > next round of display they sometimes single out parties who failed to acknowledge them for ‘special treatment’ to make sure that next time they won’t forget to greet.
(39)
I find the analogy striking. Does it prove anything? Not by a long shot. But it is suggestive.
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(36) Goodall, J. The Chimpanzees of the Gombe: Patterns of Behavior, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1986, p. 314
(37) Goodall, J., My Friends the Wild Chimpanzees, National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., 1967.
(38) Wilkinson, R.H., The Complete Gods and Godesses of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson, NY, 2003
(39) de Waal, F. Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are, New York, Riverhead Books, 2005, p. 58
