Ideas change everything

Why monkeys (and humans) are wired for fairness

1,541,495 plays|

Sarah Brosnan |

TED Salon: UNDP

• December 2020

Fairness matters ... to both people and primates. Sharing priceless footage of capuchin monkeys responding to perceived injustice, primatologist Sarah Brosnan explores why humans and monkeys evolved to care about equality -- and emphasizes the connection between a healthy, cooperative society and everyone getting their fair share.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

Fairness matters ... to both people and primates. Sharing priceless footage of capuchin monkeys responding to perceived injustice, primatologist Sarah Brosnan explores why humans and monkeys evolved to care about equality -- and emphasizes the connection between a healthy, cooperative society and everyone getting their fair share.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

This talk was presented at a TED Salon event given in partnership with UNDP. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TED Salons.

Support primate conservation through the American Society of Primatologists’ conservation fund.

About the speaker

See speaker profile

Sarah Brosnan studies how and why animals make decisions.

About TED Salon

TED Salons welcome an intimate audience for an afternoon or evening of highly-curated TED Talks revolving around a globally relevant theme. A condensed version of a TED flagship conference, they are distinct in their brevity, opportunities for conversation, and heightened interaction between the speaker and audience.

Read more about TED Salons

This talk was presented at a TED Salon event given in partnership with UNDP. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TED Salons.

Support primate conservation through the American Society of Primatologists’ conservation fund.