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becom
e a master of the art of intimidation. What's more, he has become a
primate politician, currying favor among the masses--the lower-ranking
males and the powerful lady leaders of the female cliques--and carefully
building alliances with other strong males.
But chimpanzee leaders, like human power-brokers, eventually grow
old and weak. In their younger days when a potential rival showed up to
challenge them, they reared back on their hind legs and made a dramatic
show of brawn and agility. But when strength and swiftness fade, the aging
leaders use another tactic. Like my dog, they pretend they do not see.
A rival may swagger toward the reigning monarch determined to
assert his claims. The muscular youngster jumps up and down. He makes
terrifying noises by pounding on any resonant object in sight. He swings
huge branches intimidatingly through the air. But the weakened elder deals
with this pecking order challenge in a strange way. He turns his head and
pretends to be utterly absorbed in examining a banana peel.65
For a time, the aging leader who refuses to see his rivals retains his top
position. His old system of alliances props him up. But if the youngster has
played his cards right, he has quietly built up coalitions of his own and
gained the favor of the populace. Then the challenger's public humiliations
of his elder may one day prove decisive. Eventually, the older statesman will
be forced to yield his position, and the young turk will become the new head
chimp.66
Human superorganisms go through similar pecking order con-
frontations. They gather allies. They curry support among the common
people. They make theatrical shows of strength and power. And when they
sense that they may lose, they follow the path of the chimp and the dog.
They undergo perceptual shutdown.
In 1931, the Japanese lunged toward a higher position in the hierarchy
of nations. They invaded Manchuria, treating the local inhabitants in a
manner that was bloody and barbaric. But no one tried to stop them. Six
years later, the Japanese made an even more ambitious move. They landed
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