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A GORILLA SPEAKS
OUT
AGAINST EVOLUTION
by
Keith W. Stump
Remarkable studies are revealing heretofore unknown characteristics and abilities
of monkeys and apes. But can we gain a deeper understanding of
the mysteries of our own abilities and natures by studying our anthropoid
"cousins"? Where do the answers really lie-in biology or in religion?
S
INCE ITS
re–
lease in
1968, the
science-fiction
film
Planet of
the Apes
has en–
joyed worldwide
acclaim.
Based on
La
Planete des singes
by the noted
French author
Pierre Boulle, the
film poses an in–
triguing scientific
hypothesis t h at
has captu red the
i magi nations of
mi llions of movie–
goers.
The film 's action
takes place on a
planet called Soror,
in the Betelgeuse
star system. Soror is a planet vir–
tually identical with our Earth–
but with one important excep–
tion.
On Soror-as the story goes–
evolution has favored the simian
(ape) species instead of humans.
On this bizarre world, it is the
men
who are naked, savage and
speechless. The
apes,
on the other
May 1981
hand, are clothed, civilized and
articulate.
This civilization of apes is
divided into three "races"–
chimpanzees, gorillas and orangu–
tans. The chimpanzees .are the
great thinkers and intellectuals;
the gorillas the organizers, direc–
tors, hunters and laborers; the
orangutans the scientists.
Humans generally
1ive i n the wild,
behaving as brute
beasts. A few have
been captured and
placed in zoos for
the amusement of
visiting ape children.
Humans are also
used extensively by
the apes for scien–
tific experimenta–
tion in research lab–
oratories.
Absurd?
More than a decade
has passed si nce
P/anet of the Apes
was first screened.
1
n that decade, re-
.... markable stud ies
~
have been carried
i
out that have placed
~
a whole new light on
i
the film's hypothe-
sis-initially consid–
ered simply an int riguing, though
absurd, proposition.
Today, sorne scientists are
beginning to seriously question
whether the film's plot is really as
absurd as initially thought!
Studies with nonhuman pri–
mates- monkeys and apes-are
demonstrating remarkable and
heretofore unrealized potentials
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