Good Monkey Vs Evil Monkey

Via Arts and Letters, an interesting article about bonobo monkeys. The conventional wisdom is that while chimpanzees are violent, warlike and patriarchal, bonobos are gentle, matriarchal and highly sexual.

Of course the truth is not so clean and tidy, but it's still an interesting insight into human psychology to see the way people have projected these yin and yang personalities onto a bunch of unsuspecting monkeys, one group embodying the altruistic, nurturing side of human nature and the other the destructive, warlike (but also industrious and creative) side.