Human Natures Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect

About this book

The Bell Curve, The Moral Animal, The Selfish Gene – these and a host of other books and articles have made a seemingly overwhelming case that our genes determine our behavior. Now, in a new book that is sure to stir controversy, one of the world's leading evolutionary biologists shows why most of those claims of genetic destiny cannot be true, and explains how the arguments often stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of evolution itself.

"You can't change human nature," the saying goes. But you can, Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich shows us in Human Natures, and in fact, evolution is the story of those changing natures. He makes a compelling case that "human nature" is not a single, unitary enti

Contents

Contents
Preface
1. Evolution and Us
2. Tales From the Animal House
3. Our Natures and Theirs
4. Standing Up For Ourselves

Bare Bones and a Few Stones
6. Evolving Brains, Evolving Minds
7. From Grooming to Gossip?
8. Blood's a Rover
9. The Dominance of Culture
10. From Seeds to Civilization
11. Gods, Dive-Bombers, and Bureaucracy
12. Lessons From Our Natures
13. Evolution and Human Values

Notes
References
Acknowledgments
Index

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