Wired Word Lesson of the Week

The Wired Word

Topic for Sunday, October 19, 2025:

Famed Primatologist Jane Goodall Dead at 91: Our lesson uses the death of environmental activist Jane Goodall, the world's greatest expert on chimpanzee behavior, to explore what it means to be human and how we fit into the Creator's design for the natural world.

In the News

Individuals are encouraged to read the news below related to this topic before the October 19th bible study to be prepared for an engaging conversation:

The Jane Goodall Institute announced its founder, Jane Goodall, the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, died of natural causes on October 1 while in California for one of the 300 speeches she gave most years even into her ninth decade. The 91-year-old animal welfare advocate is survived by her son, Hugo, and three grandchildren.

In 1957, paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey recruited Goodall to conduct the first intensive study of wild chimpanzees in their natural habitat in Gombe, Tanzania. Goodall noted the complex structure of the primate world, noting their distinct personalities,
intelligence, sense of humor and wide range of emotions, from happiness, love, empathy, kindness and tenderness, to anger, sorrow, fear, depression and hostility. The primatologist witnessed the chimps hunting, grooming, playing, fighting, showing affection, adopting other chimpanzees, and comforting each other. Her reports of a chimpanzee she named David Greybeard making a tool from twigs to fish termites from a nest mesmerized the scientific community, which had previously held the view that tool-making was a skill only humans possessed. 

When Leakey learned of her discovery, he responded with this telegram: 

NOW WE MUST REDEFINE TOOL STOP 

REDEFINE MAN STOP 

OR ACCEPT CHIMPANZEES AS HUMAN

"What the chimps have taught me over the years is they're so like us. They've blurred the line between humans and animals," Goodall said. Her discoveries nudged the public, including the scientific community, to reexamine how we understand who we are as a species. 

In 1986, Goodall attended a conference of chimpanzee researchers where she was devastated by reports of how wild habitat destruction was negatively impacting chimpanzee populations.

"I arrived at the conference as a scientist. I left as an activist," she remarked. Determined to do everything in her power to protect and preserve the environment, she became a kind of "global educator-at-large."

"The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves," the zoologist said.

"In the rainforest [is] ... where I felt that deep, spiritual connection to the natural world, and also came to understand the interconnectedness of all living things in this tapestry of life where each species, no matter how insignificant, plays a probably vital role in the whole pattern."

Goodall remarked that indigenous people and those who practice various religions often see animals as our brothers and sisters, as those who should be cared for by humans, and who provide humans with various benefits as well. She realized that working for animal welfare went hand in hand with addressing human needs as well.

In a 2020 interview with Krista Tippett, Goodall remarked about our ability "to ask questions like, Who am I? Why am I here? What is the purpose of it all? Is there a purpose? Is there a spiritual guiding force out there? ... there is no way that what's happened is just chance. What that intelligence behind the universe is -- what it is, who it is; probably what it is -- I haven't the
faintest idea, but I'm absolutely sure that there is something. And seeking for that something is part of being human."

In a video interview recorded shortly before Goodall's death, released only after her passing, she shared the final message she felt compelled to give the world, which included these words: "each and every one of you has a role to play. ... your life matters, and you are here for a reason, ... every single day you live, you make a difference in the world, and you get to choose the difference that you make. ... Don't lose hope. ... And if you want to save what is still beautiful in this world, if you want to save the planet for the future generations, your grandchildren, their grandchildren, then think about the actions you take each day, because multiplied a million, a billion times, even small actions will make for great change."

More on this story can be found at these links:

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