This video was shared by the Rainforest Action Network. It made me think of great apes: orang-utans, gorillas, chimpanzees.
Jared Diamond described in his first book “The Third Chimpanzee” that chimpanzees have more resemblance to humans than to gorillas. The genetic codes we share with chimpanzees do not only affect our physical traits, but also our behaviour. We share the same ‘us’ versus ‘them’ point of view. Xenophobia drives the common chimpanzees to kill others that are not part of their group. The difference between ‘us’ and ‘them’ is.. we can kill much more effectively. Our technology allow us to do so.
This view of interaction between us and other less technically-advanced species (or even human populations) on Earth prompted Diamond to be pessimistic in the notion of finding an intelligent extraterrestrial form. He reminded the readers that when we discovered chimpanzees (who are intelligent, but less so than us), our response had not been to sit down and talk to them.
"Any advanced extraterrestrials who discovered us would surely treat us in the same way we treat chimpanzees, or technically less advanvced human cultures. Fortunately for us, the silence from outer space is deafening.” (The Third Chimpanzee, Jared Diamond)