After dedicating years studying chimpanzee actions, Jane Goodall became an authority on the hostile behavior of dominant males. In a newly published interview documented shortly before her death, the famous primatologist disclosed her unconventional solution for handling particular figures she viewed as showing similar qualities: transporting them on a one-way journey into space.
This extraordinary perspective into Goodall's thinking emerges from the Netflix production "Famous Last Words", which was captured in March and kept secret until after her recent death at the age of 91.
"I know persons I don't like, and I want to put them on one of Musk's spaceships and dispatch them to the celestial body he's certain he'll find," remarked Goodall during her conversation with her interlocutor.
When inquired whether Elon Musk, known for his disputed actions and associations, would be included, Goodall responded positively.
"Yes, definitely. He would be the leader. You can imagine the people I would place on that vessel. In addition to Musk would be Donald Trump and various Trump's real supporters," she declared.
"And then I would put Vladimir Putin in there, and I would place Xi Jinping. I would definitely include the Israeli leader on that journey and his far-right government. Put them all on that spaceship and launch them."
This wasn't the earlier occasion that Goodall, an advocate of ecological preservation, had shared negative views about the political figure specifically.
In a earlier conversation, she had noted that he displayed "comparable kind of behavior as a dominant primate demonstrates when he's competing for supremacy with a rival. They're upright, they strut, they present themselves as much larger and combative than they really are in order to daunt their competitors."
During her posthumous documentary, Goodall further explained her understanding of alpha personalities.
"We see, notably, two categories of alpha. The first achieves dominance all by aggression, and since they're powerful and they battle, they don't last for extended periods. Others do it by using their brains, like a younger individual will just confront a more dominant one if his friend, often his brother, is supporting him. And you know, they endure significantly longer," she clarified.
The renowned scientist also analyzed the "politicization" of behavior, and what her extensive studies had revealed to her about aggressive behaviors shown by groups of humans and apes when confronted with something they viewed as dangerous, although no threat actually existed.
"Primates see an unfamiliar individual from a neighboring community, and they become very stimulated, and the hair stands out, and they stretch and make physical contact, and they show these faces of hostility and apprehension, and it catches, and the rest adopt that emotion that a single individual has had, and they all become hostile," she explained.
"It spreads rapidly," she noted. "Various exhibitions that grow violent, it permeates the group. Everyone desires to become and join in and become aggressive. They're protecting their domain or competing for dominance."
When inquired if she thought comparable dynamics were present in human beings, Goodall answered: "Probably, sometimes yes. But I truly believe that the majority of individuals are good."
"My biggest hope is educating the upcoming generation of caring individuals, roots and shoots. But are we allowing enough time? It's unclear. It's a really grim time."
Goodall, a London native prior to the beginning of the the global conflict, equated the fight against the difficulties of contemporary politics to Britain standing up the Third Reich, and the "determined resistance" shown by the British leader.
"However, this isn't to say you avoid having periods of sadness, but subsequently you recover and say, 'OK, I won't allow to allow their success'," she stated.
"It resembles the Prime Minister during the conflict, his renowned address, we'll fight them on the beaches, we shall battle them along the roads and metropolitan centers, subsequently he remarked to a friend and reportedly stated, 'and we'll fight them using the fragments of broken bottles as that's the only thing we've bloody well got'."
In her final address, Goodall offered motivational statements for those combating political oppression and the environmental crisis.
"At present, when the world is dark, there still is optimism. Don't lose hope. If you lose hope, you become unresponsive and take no action," she advised.
"Should you want to protect the existing splendor in this world – if you want to preserve Earth for subsequent eras, your descendants, their offspring – then think about the choices you implement each day. Because, multiplied a million, innumerable instances, modest choices will generate great change."
Tech enthusiast and digital strategist with over a decade of experience in driving innovation and business solutions.