Presentator, Journalist
"About sexual urges, aggression, the sense of God, and many other human drives. It changed the way I see the world. Deep down, we are dressed-up apes."
In the year 2000, I may have experienced the most fascinating chapter of my life as a current affairs journalist. I decided to step away from the relentless treadmill of the news. Because, although I had spent years reporting on war, conflict, abuse of power, and all the other misery humanity brings upon itself, a pressing question emerged: what drives our species? And with all my journalistic and analytical skills, had I truly understood even a fraction of it?
In Het Gevoel van de Poel (The Feeling of the Pool), I had the opportunity to create a scientific series about human motivations. In it, I tested my own experiences against the insights of behavioral scientists. Once again, writer Justus van Oel was my creative companion.
Het Gevoel van de Poel became a true learning experience for me. About aggression and group behavior. About the roots of faith and the human sense of God. About sexual urges and the eroticizing effect of power. About instinct and consciousness, reason and emotion. About leadership and charisma. In Europe, Canada, the United States, and India, I met leading scientists in their fields.
It changed the way I see the world. Deep down, we are dressed-up apes. I will never again wonder whether humans are inherently good or evil. We are both. So am I. At our core, we are social animals—easily manipulated and indoctrinated, and depending on the circumstances, capable of anything. Of love and murder. Of war and peace.
The highest ideal is called civilization. That is the never-ending lesson. Though, in truth, even civilization is a form of (necessary) indoctrination.
