Mark Pagel
A unique trait of the human species is that our personalities, lifestyles, and worldviews are shaped by an accident of birthâ€”namely, the culture into which we are born. It is our cultures and not our genes that determine which foods we eat, which languages we speak, which people we love and marry, and which people we kill in war. But how did our species develop a mind that is hardwired for cultureâ€”and why?,Evolutionary biologist Mark Pagel tracks this intriguing question through the last 80,000 years of human evolution, revealing how an innate propensity to contribute and conform to the culture of our birth not only enabled human survival and progress in the past but also continues to influence our behavior today. Shedding light on our speciesâ€™ defining attributesâ€”from art, morality, and altruism to self-interest, deception, and prejudiceâ€”,Wired for Culture, offers surprising new insights into what it means to be human.
Science,Nonfiction,Psychology,Sociology,Cultural,History,Anthropology,Biology,Evolution,Biology,Neuroscience,Science,Biology
Wired for Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind