For a long time, non-human primates were thought of as aggressive creatures dominated by brutish, and sometimes violent, males.
This may have encouraged humans to believe that we exhibited the best of primate nature… which is certainly debatable, even with the aforementioned criteria.
But with increased knowledge of apes such as the bonobo, we’re beginning to understand the spectrum of primate nature, and our place within it. Further, experts are posing questions about the role of competition in evolution, and whether or not it really is the thing to create more “successful” communities.
Check out this article on the gentle, affectionate muriquis monkey. Perhaps we should accept the chimp in ourselves, but strive to bring out the muriquis.