Pithecophobia

[[File:Adult female and infant wild chimpanzees feeding on Ficus sur.jpeg|thumb|right|165px|Mother and baby]]
{{psychology}}

'''Pithecophobia''' (from the Greek πίθηκος ''pithekos'', "ape, monkey" as in the genus name ''[[Australopithecus]]''; and φόβος, ''phobos'', "fear", as in [[phobia]]) is basically the fear of [[ape]]s, or at least the uncomfortable feelings surrounding the idea of apes and [[common descent]].

Take a wild guess as to whether this phobic aversion has been ''actively cultivated'' in the [[religious]] mindset.

==Really?==
Two years after the [[Scopes trial]] (commonly known as the "Scopes Monkey Trial"), {{wpl|William K. Gregory}} coined the word "pithecophobia" in a 1927 issue of ''Science'' magazine's letters section, describing it as:<ref>William K. Gregory, "Two Views of the Origin of Man", ''Science'' volume 65 number 1695 (June 24, 1927), pages 601-605.</ref>

{{cquote|…a new kind of phobia which is now widely prevalent among the [[American]] public. …pithecophobia, or the dread of apes — especially the dread of apes as relatives or ancestors. …this phobia has become almost pandemic…}}

The letter is fairly humorous in nature, stating how some sufferers can't mention the word "gorilla" without shuddering, and that they should be "inoculated" with [[Darwin|Darwinian]] theory ([[Richard Dawkins]] would be proud).

Despite the joking nature of the letter (a reference to the early battles for the acceptance of [[evolution]] like the Scopes trial), there are some serious messages in the idea that people might be disturbed by the thought of apes and by their close proximity to humans in [[genetics]] and [[Phenotype|appearance]].

==The uncanny valley==
It has long been remarked that the appearance and behaviour of other primates uncomfortably remind us of ourselves, from the 2<sup>nd</sup> century BCE [[Latin]] poet, [[Wikiquote:Ennius|Ennius]]: "The ape, vilest of beasts, how like to us."<ref>Quoted in Cicero, ''De Natura Deorum'', Book I, Ch. 35. In Latin, there is word play with ''simia'' ("ape") and ''similis'' ("similar").</ref> to the 18<sup>th</sup> century founder of [[Methodism]], John Wesley:<ref>John Wesley, ''A Survey of the Wisdom of God in the Creation; Or A Compendium of Natural Philosophy''. New York: Bangs and T. Mason, 1823, Part the Second, Chapter I, volume 1, pages 147-148.</ref>

{{quotebox|We now come to a numerous tribe, that seem to make approaches even to humanity; that bear an awkward resemblance to the human form, and discover the same faint efforts at intellectual sagacity.

Animals of the MONKEY class are furnished with hands instead of paws; their ears, [[eyes]], eye-lids, lips, and [[breasts]], are like those of mankind; their internal conformation also bears some distant likeness; and the whole offers a picture that may mortify the pride of such as make their persons the principal objects of their admiration.}}

Those with an interest in robotics or [[artificial intelligence]] might recognise that this is describing the "uncanny valley" — where people are more disturbed by non-human things that look ''sort of'' human than they are by non-human things that are totally human. Consider that no one seems fazed by the brilliantly realistic waxworks of Madame Tussauds, but a [[Japan]]ese [[sex]]-robot with its plastic skin and slowly blinking eyes is pure nightmare fuel (despite the lost souls making up the [[MGTOW]] community insisting otherwise<ref>''[[We Hunted the Mammoth]]'', "[http://www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/2015/05/05/the-mgtows-were-nestled-all-snug-in-their-beds-while-visions-of-sexbots-danced-in-their-heads/ The MGTOWs were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sexbots danced in their heads]"</ref>).

Pithecophobia may be the best explanation for the unpopularity of [[evolution]] — as ever since Darwin, evolution has popularly been identified with the [[How come there are still monkeys?|descent of humans from a non-human primate]], rather than a [[Scientific method|scientific process]] of "descent with modification", or "change in the frequencies of hereditary traits in a population"; and there is no known objective reason for doubting that evolution happens (and always has happened) in all forms of life as we know it.

[[File:Chimpanzee, Kibale, Uganda (15244558084).jpg|thumb|right|165px|Well I'll be a human's uncle!]]
In fairness, many primates (including [[human]]s) are highly aggressive, possessing sharp teeth. [[Chimpanzee]]s, {{wpl|Gorilla|gorillas|,}} and [[orangutan]]s are considerably stronger than humans, being capable of inflicting traumatic injuries, so many zoo keepers, 
big-game hunters,
 and medical researchers have every right to fear non-human primates, especially non-human simians.

==Bibliography==
*K. Christopher Beard, ''The Hunt for the Dawn Monkey: Unearthing the Origins of Monkeys, Apes, and Humans''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004, ISBN 0520233697 Chapter 11, "Paleoanthropology and Pithecophobia", especially pages 289-293.

==References==
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[[Category:Evolution]]

Categories: Evolution