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There's also the 1,5h documentary Rise of the Warrior Apes which is sort of a "prequel" to Chimp Empire. It was filmed over a period of 20 years in the same location and documents how the researches originally came upon this unusual chimpanzee tribe. The production values are not nearly as polished as in Chimp Empire but in my opinion it was still an interesting watch if you find this kind of stuff fascinating. The researchers themselves talk a lot in this.

by culi1 days ago|

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For those of us who are unlikely to make time to watch a 4-part documentary, are there any particular lessons about social/political dynamics that you learned that stuck out to you or felt particularly prescient?

by stuxnet791 days ago|

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> For those of us who are unlikely to make time to watch a 4-part documentary, are there any particular lessons about social/political dynamics that you learned that stuck out to you or felt particularly prescient?

I watched the entire 4-part documentary and loved it. In general the series gives you a raw look into the a-b-c's of primate politics. Chimps just like us and the rest of our ape cousins are preoccupied with hierarchy, status and accumulation of resources which guides every single action they take from birth until death.

What is different about Chimp Empire is that it is presented in a much more compelling way relative to the standard (dry) academic literature or popular science texts (i.e. Chimpanzee Politics by Frans De Waal).

Even after finishing the documentary I've found myself connecting events in the series with current geopolitcal issues. One event in the show that stuck out to me was a battle between two rival camps over a single fruit tree. Gaining control over that tree was a critical factor in determining the survival of the two rival groups. To us, post neolithic age and industrial revolution, it's an amusing watch. But to chimps, a single fruit tree in their territory is everything. It is life and death. While there's a difference in scale, the same underlying motivations - in my mind - currently explain what is going in the middle east and eastern europe.

Also, the documentary is great case study in how, loneliness and introversion can be absolutely lethal in the wild. The politics in each Chimp community can get quite toxic but participation isn't really optional. You either play the game or quite literally die.

If you really want a good intellectual exercise, I recommend watching Chimp Empire in its entirety and then The Expanse right after. Try to tell me they are not the same show :P

by ccozan1 days ago|

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To be honest, we are fighting now over a 30kms wide strait ... also critical in a certain policitcal survival of sorts.

by bee_rider23 hours ago|

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In the chimps’ defense, they don’t have the technical ability to make the fruit tree obsolete, or tactical framework to identify it as a chokepoint.

by towledev1 days ago|

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Was the fruit tree important for its fruit? Surely there are other fruit sources, no?

by Shitty-kitty18 hours ago|

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It's a forest, not an orchard, and most species fruit only once a year. The most important is the strangler fig tree as it produces fruit multiple times a year.

by gopher_space1 days ago|

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A clear demonstration of the value of knowledge.

by codersfocus1 days ago|

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There's a post that says illness killed some important leaders (who were friends) on both sides of the camp. Once these leaders died, the two groups realized they didn't have anything in common with each other so they're fighting.

by dyauspitr1 days ago|

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Might as well be human.

by theultdev1 days ago|

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I'm on the other end. Finally some content to watch before bed.

Love quiet documentary type things in that scenario.

Bonus if there's a lot of episodes.

by shimman1 days ago|

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Might have to do this, better than rewatching the same rotation of sitcoms.

by obsidianbases11 days ago|

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Morgan Freeman narrates some good ones on netflix. Works better/faster than melatonin

by lotsofpulp1 days ago|

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There are far too many documentaries that omit or slant information for documentaries as a category to be considered informational. Especially ones on Netflix.

by perfmode1 days ago|

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Loved this series. It was tragic. The cycle of violence, trauma, isolation, male performance.

by pavel_lishin1 days ago|

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I haven't seen Chimp Empire, but it reminds me of the story of the Baboons where the alpha males died, and the entire society changed: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/teacher...

(It also features a very amusing photo at the top that makes it look like the subject is the biologist Robert Sapolsky.)

by coliveira1 days ago|

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This is reality TV with animals. Like any reality TV show, the events and reactions are manipulated. I wouldn't put any credibility on this.