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tessaays's review
3.0
Though parts of this book have REALLY not aged well, that’s not why I’m giving it three stars. A really interesting premise, let down by a complete lack of direction. Rather than working out what he was actually trying to SAY in this book, Diamond appears to have looked at a few large piles of interesting research papers on his desk and thought “I could write a book with a chapter on each of these topics and see what happens”. There is absolutely no continuity to the ideas. Also, a few of his hypotheses are frankly bizarre. The entire chapter devoted to understanding why humans consume “toxic chemicals” (he means drugs and alcohol.. not sure that the evidence is totally in his favour there also) seems to have completely overlooked the fact that a) in many cases they are addictive (yes, he really only mentions this once in the entire chapter) and b) that they are pleasurable - we consume them for the same reason that we don’t all exist on soylent. Sure they provide no “survival” benefit, but neither does any food that goes beyond caloric requirements. What a hand-wringing waste of a chapter.
Having said all this - it got better towards the end, and some chapters were super interesting (always in isolation though). I think I will still read Guns, Germs and Steel, but mostly to see whether it’s any more coherent than this one.
Having said all this - it got better towards the end, and some chapters were super interesting (always in isolation though). I think I will still read Guns, Germs and Steel, but mostly to see whether it’s any more coherent than this one.
epadafunk's review
4.0
Took me over two years from start to finish, with lots of long pauses along the way, but I finally finished this book.
ronsos's review
4.0
Fascinating stuff from Jared Diamond. He covers a lot more ground than in the other books of his I've read: Collapse and Guns, Germs, and Steel. The book covers 4 mains areas: Human Origins, Sex, Rise of Civilization, and Fall of Civilization. He has written books that cover each of the last 3 in more detail. So much has be written on human origins that you can easily get it elsewhere.
I appreciated the fact that even though I already read G,G,S and Collapse I didn't feel that he was just recycling the same material. The basic theories are outlined in this book but I still learned a lot of new information and I feel that they are complementary enough that this book is worth reading in addition.
If you are new to Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel is essential reading, but don't skip The Third Chimpanzee for fear that it is a rehash. Great stuff.
I appreciated the fact that even though I already read G,G,S and Collapse I didn't feel that he was just recycling the same material. The basic theories are outlined in this book but I still learned a lot of new information and I feel that they are complementary enough that this book is worth reading in addition.
If you are new to Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel is essential reading, but don't skip The Third Chimpanzee for fear that it is a rehash. Great stuff.
unsecuredstation's review
4.0
A very fascinating book. Did the modern humans ever meet the Neanderthals? If so, what was their behavior towards each other like? This book explains a lot and goes through a lot; evolution and history of humans and other species on Earth. Several themes included and many lessons to learn. You know that context of how we as modern 21st century humans fit into history? This offers quite a good part of that context of how things came to be what they are. It was published in 1990 so I'm sure there's more that has been discovered and that this area of science has advanced a bit more since this was out. Some of the mind boggling things you'll find out in this book is how murderous and genocidal modern humans have been. Though similar behavior was seen and has been documented in prehistoric humans as well as among apes and chimps, the capability, the magnitude, and the severity of such actions multiply many folds in modern times. You'll also discover some ways that make the modern humans unique, including being the only species to ever have the power to destroy itself completely as well as annihilate life on earth overnight (ie, nuclear weapons, among others). 5/5.
miguelf's review against another edition
4.0
If one has recently read Guns, Germs and Steel and also Collapse from Jared Diamond, one will instantly recognize a lot of the themes that both books cover here in The Third Chimpanzee. One will then realize that The 3rd Chimp was published years before both of these more well-known books, so it will come as no surprise that a lot of these themes were more fleshed out in each subsequent book. As it is, The 3rd Chimp covers a lot of ground, from early human evolution to broad coverage of a lot of topics in Anthropology to Diamonds well founded concerns about habitat & species destruction at the hands of homo sapiens. It’s a good book throughout but if you’ve already come across his more well-known books it might not be an essential read.
anuwolf's review
5.0
Let me start off by saying Jared Diamond is my hero, he’s an amazing geographer and I’ve loved all of the books I’ve read that were written by him. His other books focus on the aspects of humans and their environment and their nature to destroy. This one focuses on how we evolved from chimpanzees and what our major differences are. In a nutshell, agriculture, language, relationships, menopause, awareness of our mortality, exploration, overhunting and destruction, and civilization are major aspects that set as apart from the apes. It’s an interesting to concept to study ourselves. Similarities with apes include genocide, xenophobia, tools, >98% of our DNA, and hunting. Evolutionary theory is interesting – and it’s humbling to see we as a species are still evolving and might be wiped out by our great(x1000) grandchildren.
gregplatt77's review
5.0
Unfortunately, this book has some glaring problems with logical fallacies. Some circular reasoning, some straw men, the MAUP, assumptions about the completeness of data, a few others.
In spite of that, there really is a lot of very interesting and worthwhile elements to this book. Diamond certainly doesn't shy away from presenting ideas and data that have been generally withheld due to unpopularity of ideas (e.g. the effects of sexual selection).
Incredible book, despite some flaws.
In spite of that, there really is a lot of very interesting and worthwhile elements to this book. Diamond certainly doesn't shy away from presenting ideas and data that have been generally withheld due to unpopularity of ideas (e.g. the effects of sexual selection).
Incredible book, despite some flaws.