CHIMPS ARE FAMILY

A new study has kicked up a controversy by claiming that chimpanzees are more closely related to humans than previously thought, that in fact they are homonids, a genus we used to believe we inhabited alone. "Historically, the philosophy behind how we group organisms was flawed," said Morris Goodman, one of the authors of the report. Our "anthropocentric" worldview led to "exaggeration of the differences between humans and their relatives," he said, acknowledging that the new classification would have "political implications, challenging our long-held view of the boundary between humans and other animals." Let's hope so, since that view is mercenary at best, and violently delusional at worst.