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    Human Natures: Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect
    Unavailable
    Human Natures: Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect
    Unavailable
    Human Natures: Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect
    Ebook1,330 pages28 hours

    Human Natures: Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect

    By Paul R. Ehrlich

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The Bell Curve, The Moral Animal, The Selfish Gene -- these and a hof 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 mof 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 entity, but is as diverse as humanity itself, and that changes in culture and other environmental variations play as much of a role in human evolution as genetic changes. We simply don't have enough genes to specify behavior at the level that is often asserted.
    Never has knowledge of our evolutionary past been more important to our future. Developing intelligstrategies for antibiotic use, pest control, biodiversity protection -- and even for establishing more equitable social arrangements -- all depend on understanding evolution and how it works. Using personal anecdote, vivid example, and stimulating narrative, Ehrlich guides us through the thicket of controversies over what science can and cannot say about the influence of our evolutionary past on everything from race to religion, from sexual orientation to economic development.
    A major work of synthesis and scholarship, Human Natures gives us the fruit of a lifetime's thought and research on evolution and environmby a modern master of scientific understanding. Ehrlich's innovative vision lights the way to a fresh view of human nature and evolution, bringing insight and clarity to urgquestions of where we are as a species, and where we may be headed.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIsland Press
    Release dateMar 6, 2013
    ISBN9781597262668
    Unavailable
    Human Natures: Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect
    Author

    Paul R. Ehrlich

    Paul R. Ehrlich is Bing Professor Emeritus of Population Studies in the Department of Biology of Stanford University, and is president of Stanford's Center for Conservation Biology.

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    Reviews for Human Natures

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    • 5/5
      One of the odder things about me is that I used to believe that dinosaurs still roamed the earth.As in RIGHT NOW. And that there was a vast scientific conspiracy to keep this irrefutable fact under wraps.This belief was essentially the outcome of two factors in my childhood/adolescence: 1) I was an extremely fundamentalist Christian. 2) I also had a burning interest in science. I wanted to know why things were the way they were.These two factors aren't really mutually exclusive. In fact, I came upon many people in my congregation, and in similar congregations, who also nurtured an interest in science. A popular activity at church campouts were astronomy courses. Biology -- minus evolution, of course -- was a popular major choice among my churchgoing friends.But, the fact is that "mainstream" or "secular" science doesn't really jibe with the literalist Christian worldview: astronomists eventually must deal with the Big Bang and biologists inevitably bump into Darwin.Enter the various science workshops for fundamentalists, aimed at addressing those issues in a way that fits in with a literal-Biblical worldview. It was in one of these workshops that a "respected" scientist explained away dinosaur fossils and carbon-dating by telling us that there was scientific proof that dinosaurs still existed. In Sri Lanka.By my sophomore year in college, though, I began to have doubts about my worldview. I was reading more than Christian fiction. I was taking biology courses from professors who were unapologetic about evolution -- unlike the biology teachers in high school, whose teachings on the subject were regulated. I couldn't study an "alternate" form of species biology any longer, and brought face to face with Darwin, I was finally convinced.So began my fascination with evolution in general and human evolution in particular. I've become quite a connoisseur of the genre. Paul Ehrlich's Human Natures: Genes, Cultures & The Human Prospect is so far my favorite book on this topic.Ehrlich's book covers the standard genetic evolution of our species, but he does so while simultaneously examining our "cultural evolution": the distinctly human behaviors that also have affected our current biological and behavioral selves. The result is a book that tells us humanity is not the sum result of its genes; instead, the decisions we make about how we relate to one another, how we organize ourselves, and how we go about living our lives have much more influence on the future of the species.Ehrlich's book is very accessible for the novice scientist, without sacrificing hard facts and references. His interdisciplinary approach seems to me a far more accurate rendering of human nature than the many reductionist human evolution tomes out there -- and I've read and enjoyed plenty of those.Ehrlich's theory is also so appealing for the optimistic view it has on humanity's future -- though we have made mistakes in the past, we are not beholden to these behaviors. We are not bound to pettiness, violence and waste because of unalterable genetics. Instead, we can make decisions to alter our future course. Among the many human evolution primers out there, Ehrlich's narrative of humanity's journey is exceptionally written and researched, leaving the reader with the unshakable feeling that Ehrlich is certainly on to something.