William Allman

The sub-title of the book is "How Evolution has Shaped Modern Life--From Sex, Violence, and Language to Emotions, Morals, and Communities." His goal in this book is to pull together all of the science and simply discover the origins of why we behave in certain way. The hook for me was his statement that "our species' remarkable evolutionary success is due to a trait that most of us take for granted but that is rare among other animals on the planet: We make friends." Our ability to cooperate is what has kept us moving along the evolutionary path, and I found that concept so startlingly simple and so different from what everyone else focuses on. The book is extremely well-researched and very easy to read.… (meer)

Insightful and comprehensive analysis of the evolutionary underpinings of the contemporary human. Basis is that progress has catapulted us into a completely different world, while evolutionary adaptations have not had the opportunity to take place as quickly. Evidence includes tests where people perform identical logical tests differently under different contexts. Brain development includes more instinctive behavior than previously conceded (flight or fight; identification of natural enemies, ability to think probabilistically via intuition vs hard numbers, etc. Social aspect of the brain includes understanding hierarchies, navigating social climbing, forming groups and enemies. Concepts of love include beauty aspects that indicate health and strength -- much gender issue can be explained by differences between male and female roles. Language roots are in the brain and independently evolved.… (meer)