Natural Selections: Selfish Altruists, Honest Liars, and Other Realities of Evolution
by David P. Barash
List Price:
Our Price: $14.79
You Save: $10.21 (41%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: David P. BarashEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-01
ISBN: 1934137057
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press
Book Reviews of Natural Selections: Selfish Altruists, Honest Liars, and Other Realities of Evolution
Book Review: A matter-of-fact accounting that does not excuse or justify immoral behavior
Summary: 5 Stars
Professor of psychology and proponent of sociobiology David P. Barash presents Natural Selections, a matter-of-fact look at how human biology and evolution affect human behavior, and what this has to say about both practical and ethical dilemmas in today's world. Written in plain terms accessible to lay readers and an extra dollop of wit, Natural Selections discusses why human violence is an overwhelmingly male phenomenon (humans were almost certainly polygamous earlier in their evolution, which prompted physical strength and violent traits among males striving for domination), why something being "natural" is by no means a synonym for it being "good" (or "bad", for that matter), why racism remains a pervasive social problem (it benefits one's genes to favor one's kin-group, and those of a different race are clearly unlikely to belong to one's kin-group), and much more. A matter-of-fact accounting that does not excuse or justify immoral behavior, but rather seeks to understand its sociobiological origins, on the premise that science and knowledge of the problem's roots, not ignorance, are a necessary first ingredient to making the world a better place. Highly recommended.
Professional & Technical Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Quirkology
Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasiveby Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, Robert B. Cialdini
Free Press; Published: 2008-06-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.45
Price in other shops:
Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behaviorby Ori Brafman, Rom Brafman
Doubleday Business; Published: 2008-06-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.23
Price in other shops:
Stumbling on Happinessby Daniel Gilbert
Vintage; Published: 2007-03-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.61
Price in other shops:
Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Scienceby Charles Wheelan
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 2003-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.09
Price in other shops:
The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmasby Robert Frank
Basic Books; Published: 2008-04-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.24
Price in other shops:
Did You Spot the Gorilla? : How to Recognise the Hidden Opportunities in Your Lifeby Richard Wiseman
Arrow Books, Limited; Published: 2004; Paperback; Book
Best price: $28.05
Natural Selections: Selfish Altruists, Honest Liars, and Other Realities of Evolutionby David P. Barash
Bellevue Literary Press; Published: 2007-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.98
Price in other shops:
Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mindby Gary Marcus
Houghton Mifflin Co; Published: 2008-04-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.18
Price in other shops:
A Mind of its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceivesby Cordelia Fine
W. W. Norton; Published: 2006-07-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Diseaseby Sharon Moalem, Jonathan Prince
William Morrow; Published: 2007-02-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.60
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Madame Bovary's Ovaries: A Darwinian Look at Literatureby David P. Barash, Nanelle R. Barash
Dell; Published: 2008-03-25; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.45
Price in other shops:
Relics of Eden: The Powerful Evidence of Evolution in Human DNAby Daniel J. Fairbanks
Prometheus Books; Published: 2007-12-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops:
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisionsby Dan Ariely
HarperCollins; Published: 2008-02-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.75
Price in other shops:
Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Uniqueby Michael S. Gazzaniga
Ecco; Published: 2008-07-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.75
Price in other shops:
The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Natureby Steven Pinker
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2008-08-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.98
Price in other shops:
King Solomon's Ring: New Light on Animals' Waysby Konrad Lorenz
Plume; Published: 1997-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops:
Curious Naturalistsby Niko Tinbergen
University of Massachusetts Press; Published: 1984-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.95
Revolutionary Biology: The New, Gene-Centered View of Lifeby David Barash
Transaction Publishers; Published: 2003-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.04
Price in other shops:
The Survival Game: How Game Theory Explains the Biology of Cooperation and Competitionby David P. Barash
Holt Paperbacks; Published: 2004-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.93
Price in other shops:
The Myth of Monogamy: Fidelity and Infidelity in Animals and Peopleby David P. Barash, Judith Eve Lipton
Holt Paperbacks; Published: 2002-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.18
Price in other shops: