Culture

Author: Jonathan Balcombe
Publisher: MacMillan
(4.5/5)


   Second Nature is an engaging and inspiring must-read for everyone, from animal lovers to anthropocentric sceptics. The author, Jonathan Balcombe, is a biologist with a great body of knowledge about animal behaviour extracted from both scientific research and observations of people involved in the study of animals. The main aim of his book is to close the gap between humans and animals by means of powerful persuasion that the creatures we share our planet with (or, at least, the vertebrates) are sentient beings, capable of feeling pain and fear, but most importantly capable of taking pleasure in living their lives. 
   The book is filled with a myriad of examples, at times quite incredible, of animal virtue, selflessness, various emotions, and of animals having the mental flexibility to solve problems. Have you heard of chickens that make the same choices as humans when it comes to picking the most aesthetically appealing human face? Or of a dolphin who copies the body language of his keeper in order to show dissatisfaction? Chimps can have a lasting sense of gratitude and defeat humans at short-term memory and spatial memory tasks; bats, dolphins, and elephants (along with other animals) practice midwifery, childcare assistance and the sharing of food with unrelated group members; male fish alter their aggressive behaviour depending on who’s watching and some fish can apparently distinguish between genres of music. This is just a spoonful of the extraordinary examples of animal behaviour described in this book. 
   Personally I’ve already for some time been inclined to think of animals as intelligent in their own right, sentient beings with lives worth living. So when this book fell into my hands I was only too happy to find another somebody who shares this view, not to mention someone who writes compelling accounts to support it. I found Balcombe’s arguments insightful and his prose easy to read and follow. I suppose in any book review one is expected to include some criticism, but I can hardly think of any! The subject addressed is just too good and relevant to be picking on things. But if I were to be picky, well, it wouldn’t hurt if Balcombe was a bit tougher on the reader audience at times – that is my only complaint – because the problem of animal subordination is much too big and urgent to be softening the fact that we humans need awaken from that old, egocentric illusion of divinely-conferred superiority.