Monkey See Monkey Connect Summary

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In his scientific essay, “Monkey see, Monkey Do, Monkey Connect,’’ Frans de Waal argues that primates need one another for survival skills and imitate their surroundings to fit in just like chameleons blending in with their habitat. Unconscious synchronization plays a big role in this as primates copy each other's bodily movement without even knowing. Frans de Waal provides examples of yawning, laughing and humans making mouth chewing movements while spoon feeding their baby, in order to show that imitation happens naturally and us primates need one another for survival and bonding. Which shows us that as primates we are much more connected than expected. At the beginning of the essay, de waal discusses yawning being contagious and an example …show more content…

This evidence connects to my claim by showing us primates are an example of unconscious synchronization when it comes to yawning. In the middle of the essay, de waal transitions to laughter and how everyone loves laughing and can't resist joining us in laughing. De waal states, “What intrigues me most about laughing is how it spreads, it is impossible not to laugh when everybody else is.” The words “what intrigues me most about laughing is how it spreads” suggest that laughing is very contagious and we can not resist joining in on a conversation about laughing near us, and is important because de waal talks about how laughing is just as contagious as yawning. This evidence shows that us primates love laughing because of how joyful it is, to the point there have been laughing churches and laughing therapies based on healing the power of laughter. This evidence connects to my claim by showing how primates imitate their surroundings to fit in, in this case De Waal shows how us primates bond and have a strong connection socializing when it comes to laughing because it is something everyone loves to do and can't resist joining

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