-
A Better Ape
- The Evolution of the Moral Mind and How It Made Us Human
- Narrated by: Chris Henry Coffey
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
A Better Ape
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Humanly Possible
- Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry, and Hope
- By: Sarah Bakewell
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
Humanism is an expansive tradition of thought that places shared humanity, cultural vibrancy, and moral responsibility at the center of our lives. For centuries, this worldview has inspired people to make their choices by principles of freethinking, intellectual inquiry, fellow feeling, and optimism. In this sweeping new history, Sarah Bakewell, herself a lifelong humanist, illuminates the very personal, individual, and, well, human matter of humanism and takes listeners on a grand intellectual adventure.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A glimmer of hope
- By RAY MONTECALVO on 04-14-23
By: Sarah Bakewell
-
Parfit
- A Philosopher and His Mission to Save Morality
- By: David Edmonds
- Narrated by: Zeb Soanes
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 32
Derek Parfit (1942–2017) is the most famous philosopher most people have never heard of. Widely regarded as one of the greatest moral thinkers of the past hundred years, Parfit was anything but a public intellectual. Yet his ideas have shaped the way philosophers think about things that affect us all: equality, altruism, what we owe to future generations, and even what it means to be a person. In Parfit, David Edmonds presents the first biography of an intriguing, obsessive, and eccentric genius.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it
- By Anna Karenina on 07-05-23
By: David Edmonds
-
1491
- New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
- By: Charles C. Mann
- Narrated by: Darrell Dennis
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,661
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,149
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,135
Traditionally, Americans learned in school that the ancestors of the people who inhabited the Western Hemisphere at the time of Columbus' landing had crossed the Bering Strait 12,000 years ago; existed mainly in small nomadic bands; and lived so lightly on the land that the Americas were, for all practical purposes, still a vast wilderness. But as Charles C. Mann now makes clear, archaeologists and anthropologists have spent the last 30 years proving these and many other long-held assumptions wrong.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Exposes Non-Academic Audience to The Debate Between Ideas of Pre-Colombian America's
- By Christopher on 01-19-17
By: Charles C. Mann
-
Power and Progress
- Our Thousand-Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity
- By: Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 45
A thousand years of history and contemporary evidence make one thing clear. Progress depends on the choices we make about technology. New ways of organizing production and communication can either serve the narrow interests of an elite or become the foundation for widespread prosperity. With their breakthrough economic theory and manifesto for a better society, Acemoglu and Johnson provide the vision needed to reshape how we innovate and who really gains from technological advances.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A different take on Technology’s impact
- By Ricardo Ernst on 07-23-23
By: Daron Acemoglu, and others
-
What We Owe the Future
- By: William MacAskill
- Narrated by: William MacAskill
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 754
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 652
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 644
In What We Owe The Future, philosopher William MacAskill argues for longtermism, that idea that positively influencing the distant future is a key moral priority of our time. It’s not enough to reverse climate change or avert the next pandemic. We must ensure that civilization would rebound if it collapsed, counter the end of moral progress, and prepare for a planet where the smartest beings are digital, not human. If we set humanity’s course right, our grandchildren’s grandchildren will thrive, knowing we did everything to give them a world of justice, hope, and beauty.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Empty philosophising
- By Oleksandr on 08-25-22
-
How the World Really Works
- The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going
- By: Vaclav Smil
- Narrated by: Stephen Perring
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 995
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 831
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 823
We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don’t know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check—because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Let me save you a credit: progress is hard
- By Dalton on 06-06-22
By: Vaclav Smil
-
Humanly Possible
- Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry, and Hope
- By: Sarah Bakewell
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
Humanism is an expansive tradition of thought that places shared humanity, cultural vibrancy, and moral responsibility at the center of our lives. For centuries, this worldview has inspired people to make their choices by principles of freethinking, intellectual inquiry, fellow feeling, and optimism. In this sweeping new history, Sarah Bakewell, herself a lifelong humanist, illuminates the very personal, individual, and, well, human matter of humanism and takes listeners on a grand intellectual adventure.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A glimmer of hope
- By RAY MONTECALVO on 04-14-23
By: Sarah Bakewell
-
Parfit
- A Philosopher and His Mission to Save Morality
- By: David Edmonds
- Narrated by: Zeb Soanes
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 32
Derek Parfit (1942–2017) is the most famous philosopher most people have never heard of. Widely regarded as one of the greatest moral thinkers of the past hundred years, Parfit was anything but a public intellectual. Yet his ideas have shaped the way philosophers think about things that affect us all: equality, altruism, what we owe to future generations, and even what it means to be a person. In Parfit, David Edmonds presents the first biography of an intriguing, obsessive, and eccentric genius.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it
- By Anna Karenina on 07-05-23
By: David Edmonds
-
1491
- New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
- By: Charles C. Mann
- Narrated by: Darrell Dennis
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,661
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,149
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,135
Traditionally, Americans learned in school that the ancestors of the people who inhabited the Western Hemisphere at the time of Columbus' landing had crossed the Bering Strait 12,000 years ago; existed mainly in small nomadic bands; and lived so lightly on the land that the Americas were, for all practical purposes, still a vast wilderness. But as Charles C. Mann now makes clear, archaeologists and anthropologists have spent the last 30 years proving these and many other long-held assumptions wrong.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Exposes Non-Academic Audience to The Debate Between Ideas of Pre-Colombian America's
- By Christopher on 01-19-17
By: Charles C. Mann
-
Power and Progress
- Our Thousand-Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity
- By: Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 45
A thousand years of history and contemporary evidence make one thing clear. Progress depends on the choices we make about technology. New ways of organizing production and communication can either serve the narrow interests of an elite or become the foundation for widespread prosperity. With their breakthrough economic theory and manifesto for a better society, Acemoglu and Johnson provide the vision needed to reshape how we innovate and who really gains from technological advances.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A different take on Technology’s impact
- By Ricardo Ernst on 07-23-23
By: Daron Acemoglu, and others
-
What We Owe the Future
- By: William MacAskill
- Narrated by: William MacAskill
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 754
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 652
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 644
In What We Owe The Future, philosopher William MacAskill argues for longtermism, that idea that positively influencing the distant future is a key moral priority of our time. It’s not enough to reverse climate change or avert the next pandemic. We must ensure that civilization would rebound if it collapsed, counter the end of moral progress, and prepare for a planet where the smartest beings are digital, not human. If we set humanity’s course right, our grandchildren’s grandchildren will thrive, knowing we did everything to give them a world of justice, hope, and beauty.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Empty philosophising
- By Oleksandr on 08-25-22
-
How the World Really Works
- The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going
- By: Vaclav Smil
- Narrated by: Stephen Perring
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 995
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 831
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 823
We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don’t know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check—because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Let me save you a credit: progress is hard
- By Dalton on 06-06-22
By: Vaclav Smil
-
The Rise and Reign of the Mammals
- A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us
- By: Steve Brusatte
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 462
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 383
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 384
We humans are the inheritors of a dynasty that has reigned over the planet for nearly 66 million years, through fiery cataclysm and ice ages: the mammals. Our lineage includes saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths, armadillos the size of a car, cave bears three times the weight of a grizzly, clever scurriers that outlasted Tyrannosaurus rex, and even other types of humans, like Neanderthals.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic Book
- By Peter Jensen on 09-08-22
By: Steve Brusatte
-
Psych
- The Story of the Human Mind
- By: Paul Bloom
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 82
How does the brain—a three-pound wrinkly mass—give rise to intelligence and conscious experience? Was Freud right that we are all plagued by forbidden sexual desires? What is the function of emotions such as disgust, gratitude, and shame? Renowned psychologist Paul Bloom answers these questions and many more in Psych, his riveting new book about the science of the mind.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not particularly interesting
- By michelle gourgeot on 07-10-23
By: Paul Bloom
-
Don't Trust Your Gut
- Using Data to Get What You Really Want in Life
- By: Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 298
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 243
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 241
Big decisions are hard. We consult friends and family, make sense of confusing “expert” advice online, maybe we read a self-help book to guide us. In the end, we usually just do what feels right, pursuing high stakes self-improvement—such as who we marry, how to date, where to live, what makes us happy—based solely on what our gut instinct tells us. But what if our gut is wrong? Biased, unpredictable, and misinformed, our gut, it turns out, is not all that reliable. And data can prove this.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
My Gut was right!
- By Crush60 on 06-06-22
-
Of Boys and Men
- Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It
- By: Richard V. Reeves
- Narrated by: Richard V. Reeves
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 772
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 662
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 651
The father of three sons, a journalist, and a Brookings Institution scholar, Richard V. Reeves has spent twenty-five years worrying about boys both at home and work. His new book, Of Boys and Men, tackles the complex and urgent crisis of boyhood and manhood. Reeves looks at the structural challenges that face boys and men and offers fresh and innovative solutions that turn the page on the corrosive narrative that plagues this issue. Of Boys and Men argues that helping the other half of society does not mean giving up on the ideal of gender equality.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Regretful of My Knee-jerk Reaction To This Title 😔
- By Hazel Winters on 10-13-22
-
How Emotions Are Made
- The Secret Life of the Brain
- By: Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,427
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,066
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,050
The science of emotion is in the midst of a revolution on par with the discovery of relativity in physics and natural selection in biology. Leading the charge is psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett, whose research overturns the long-standing belief that emotions are automatic, universal, and hardwired in different brain regions. Instead, Barrett shows, we construct each instance of emotion through a unique interplay of brain, body, and culture.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Emotions are not things!!!!!!
- By Gary on 03-14-17
-
Visual Thinking
- The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions
- By: Temple Grandin PhD
- Narrated by: Andrea Gallo, Temple Grandin PhD
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 144
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 118
A quarter of a century after her memoir, Thinking in Pictures, forever changed how the world understood autism, Temple Grandin—the “anthropologist from Mars,” as Oliver Sacks dubbed her—transforms our awareness of the different ways our brains are wired. Do you have a keen sense of direction, a love of puzzles, the ability to assemble IKEA furniture without crying? You are likely a visual thinker.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Too much focus on productivity and capitalist return; a lot of “I’m better” undertones
- By William on 01-02-23
-
The Righteous Mind
- Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
- By: Jonathan Haidt
- Narrated by: Jonathan Haidt
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12,511
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 10,826
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10,685
In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding. His starting point is moral intuition - the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Why Good People Are Divided - Good for whom?
- By K. Cunningham on 09-21-12
By: Jonathan Haidt
-
The Ape That Understood the Universe: How the Mind and Culture Evolve
- By: Steve Stewart-Williams
- Narrated by: Tom Lawrence
- Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 264
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 223
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 222
The Ape That Understood the Universe is the story of the strangest animal in the world: the human animal. It opens with a question: How would an alien scientist view our species? What would it make of our sex differences, our sexual behavior, our child-rearing patterns, our moral codes, our religions, our languages, and science? The book tackles these issues by drawing on ideas from two major schools of thought: evolutionary psychology and cultural evolutionary theory.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Seven Evolutionary Theories U Can't Say On Campus
- By Than on 09-18-20
-
What Is Life?
- How Chemistry Becomes Biology
- By: Addy Pross
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 642
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 561
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 559
Seventy years ago, Erwin Schrdinger posed a simple, yet profound, question: What is life?. How could the very existence of such extraordinary chemical systems be understood? This problem has puzzled biologists and physical scientists both before, and ever since. Living things are hugely complex and have unique properties, such as self-maintenance and apparently purposeful behaviour which we do not see in inert matter. So how does chemistry give rise to biology?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Profound & Life Changing...
- By Daegan Smith on 04-06-15
By: Addy Pross
-
The Blank Slate
- The Modern Denial of Human Nature
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,948
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,280
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,244
In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind, explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits, denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Don't bother. Outdated science & poor logic...
- By ejf211 on 03-31-10
By: Steven Pinker
-
Blueprint
- The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society
- By: Nicholas A. Christakis
- Narrated by: Nicholas A. Christakis
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 901
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 771
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 763
For too long, scientists have focused on the dark side of our biological heritage: our capacity for aggression, cruelty, prejudice, and self-interest. But natural selection has given us a suite of beneficial social features, including our capacity for love, friendship, cooperation, and learning. Beneath all our inventions - our tools, farms, machines, cities, nations - we carry with us innate proclivities to make a good society.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Many interesting thoughts
- By Jonas Blomberg Ghini on 06-01-19
-
Intellectuals and Race
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,260
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,004
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,986
Intellectuals and Race is a radical book in the original sense - one that goes to the root of the problem. The role of intellectuals in racial strife is explored in an international context that puts the American experience in a wholly new light. The book explores the incentives, the visions, and the rationales that drive intellectuals at the highest levels to conclusions that have often turned out to be counterproductive and even disastrous, not only for particular racial or ethnic groups but for societies as a whole.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Satisfying Indictment of the Intelligentsia
- By Andrew on 12-27-16
By: Thomas Sowell
Publisher's summary
Humans are moral creatures.
Among all life on Earth, we alone experience rich moral emotions, follow complex rules governing how we treat one another, and engage in moral dialogue. But how did human morality evolve? And can humans become morally evolved?
In A Better Ape, Victor Kumar and Richmond Campbell draw on the latest research in the biological and social sciences to explain the key role that morality has played in human evolution. They explore the moral traits that humans share with chimpanzees, how a more complex moral mind enabled Homo sapiens to arise and outcompete other human species, and the place of morality alongside historic revolutions in technology and social organization. Throughout the book, Kumar and Campbell argue that morality co-evolved with intelligence and complex sociality. Morality prevents societal collapse and enables complex knowledge.
After unearthing the ancient origins of human morality, Kumar and Campbell use evolutionary theory to deliver profound insights about how to advance moral progress and resist moral regress, such as reducing animal suffering on industrial farms; capitalizing on the recent revolution in gay rights to foster a nascent revolution in transgender rights; opposing intersectional inequality that impacts women and people of color in lower socioeconomic classes; and addressing major problems of global inequality, especially impending crises of injustice caused by anthropogenic climate change. Understanding how we evolved—and how we continue to evolve—can help us become a better ape.
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
Big Gods
- How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict
- By: Ara Norenzayan
- Narrated by: Paul Nixon
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
How did human societies scale up from small, tight-knit groups of hunter-gatherers to the large, anonymous, cooperative societies of today - even though anonymity is the enemy of cooperation? How did organized religions with "Big Gods" - the great monotheistic and polytheistic faiths - spread to colonize most minds in the world? In Big Gods, Ara Norenzayan makes the surprising and provocative argument that these fundamental puzzles about the origins of civilization are one and the same, and answer each other.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great read
- By paro on 02-27-24
By: Ara Norenzayan
-
A Troublesome Inheritance
- Genes, Race, and Human History
- By: Nicholas Wade
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 413
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 362
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 364
Drawing on startling new evidence from the mapping of the genome, an explosive new account of the genetic basis of race and its role in the human story. Human evolution, the consensus view insists, ended in prehistory. Inconveniently, as Nicholas Wade argues in A Troublesome Inheritance, the consensus view cannot be right. And in fact, we know that populations have changed in the past few thousand years - to be lactose tolerant, for example, and to survive at high altitudes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is NOT Racism!...
- By Douglas on 06-01-14
By: Nicholas Wade
-
Evolutionary Psychology: Bolinda Beginner Guides
- By: Robin Dunbar, John Lycett, Louise Barrett
- Narrated by: Miranda Nation
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Evolutionary Psychology is a uniquely accessible yet comprehensive guide to the study of the effects of evolutionary theory on human behaviour. Written specifically for the general listener and for entry-level students, it covers all the most important elements of this interdisciplinary subject, from the role of evolution in our selection of partner, to the influence of genetics on parenting. This audiobook draws widely on examples, case studies and background facts to convey a substantial amount of information.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Themeltingpotblogpost
- By Anonymous User on 10-14-17
By: Robin Dunbar, and others
-
Primates and Philosophers
- How Morality Evolved
- By: Frans de Waal
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
"It's the animal in us," we often hear when we've been bad. But why not when we're good? Primates and Philosophers tackles this question by exploring the biological foundations of one of humanity's most valued traits: morality.In this provocative book, primatologist Frans de Waal argues that modern-day evolutionary biology takes far too dim a view of the natural world, emphasizing our "selfish" genes.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Having Just Read...
- By Douglas on 12-14-13
By: Frans de Waal
-
Blueprint
- The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society
- By: Nicholas A. Christakis
- Narrated by: Nicholas A. Christakis
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 901
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 771
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 763
For too long, scientists have focused on the dark side of our biological heritage: our capacity for aggression, cruelty, prejudice, and self-interest. But natural selection has given us a suite of beneficial social features, including our capacity for love, friendship, cooperation, and learning. Beneath all our inventions - our tools, farms, machines, cities, nations - we carry with us innate proclivities to make a good society.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Many interesting thoughts
- By Jonas Blomberg Ghini on 06-01-19
-
The Blank Slate
- The Modern Denial of Human Nature
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,948
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,280
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,244
In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind, explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits, denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Don't bother. Outdated science & poor logic...
- By ejf211 on 03-31-10
By: Steven Pinker
-
Big Gods
- How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict
- By: Ara Norenzayan
- Narrated by: Paul Nixon
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
How did human societies scale up from small, tight-knit groups of hunter-gatherers to the large, anonymous, cooperative societies of today - even though anonymity is the enemy of cooperation? How did organized religions with "Big Gods" - the great monotheistic and polytheistic faiths - spread to colonize most minds in the world? In Big Gods, Ara Norenzayan makes the surprising and provocative argument that these fundamental puzzles about the origins of civilization are one and the same, and answer each other.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great read
- By paro on 02-27-24
By: Ara Norenzayan
-
A Troublesome Inheritance
- Genes, Race, and Human History
- By: Nicholas Wade
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 413
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 362
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 364
Drawing on startling new evidence from the mapping of the genome, an explosive new account of the genetic basis of race and its role in the human story. Human evolution, the consensus view insists, ended in prehistory. Inconveniently, as Nicholas Wade argues in A Troublesome Inheritance, the consensus view cannot be right. And in fact, we know that populations have changed in the past few thousand years - to be lactose tolerant, for example, and to survive at high altitudes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is NOT Racism!...
- By Douglas on 06-01-14
By: Nicholas Wade
-
Evolutionary Psychology: Bolinda Beginner Guides
- By: Robin Dunbar, John Lycett, Louise Barrett
- Narrated by: Miranda Nation
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Evolutionary Psychology is a uniquely accessible yet comprehensive guide to the study of the effects of evolutionary theory on human behaviour. Written specifically for the general listener and for entry-level students, it covers all the most important elements of this interdisciplinary subject, from the role of evolution in our selection of partner, to the influence of genetics on parenting. This audiobook draws widely on examples, case studies and background facts to convey a substantial amount of information.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Themeltingpotblogpost
- By Anonymous User on 10-14-17
By: Robin Dunbar, and others
-
Primates and Philosophers
- How Morality Evolved
- By: Frans de Waal
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
"It's the animal in us," we often hear when we've been bad. But why not when we're good? Primates and Philosophers tackles this question by exploring the biological foundations of one of humanity's most valued traits: morality.In this provocative book, primatologist Frans de Waal argues that modern-day evolutionary biology takes far too dim a view of the natural world, emphasizing our "selfish" genes.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Having Just Read...
- By Douglas on 12-14-13
By: Frans de Waal
-
Blueprint
- The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society
- By: Nicholas A. Christakis
- Narrated by: Nicholas A. Christakis
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 901
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 771
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 763
For too long, scientists have focused on the dark side of our biological heritage: our capacity for aggression, cruelty, prejudice, and self-interest. But natural selection has given us a suite of beneficial social features, including our capacity for love, friendship, cooperation, and learning. Beneath all our inventions - our tools, farms, machines, cities, nations - we carry with us innate proclivities to make a good society.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Many interesting thoughts
- By Jonas Blomberg Ghini on 06-01-19
-
The Blank Slate
- The Modern Denial of Human Nature
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,948
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,280
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,244
In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind, explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits, denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Don't bother. Outdated science & poor logic...
- By ejf211 on 03-31-10
By: Steven Pinker
-
The Science of Good and Evil
- Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule
- By: Michael Shermer
- Length: 2 hrs and 21 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 68
In The Science of Good and Evil, psychologist and science historian Michael Shermer explores how humans evolved from social primates into moral primates, how and why morality motivates the human animal, and how the foundation of moral principles can be built upon empirical evidence. Along the way he explains the implications of scientific findings for fate and free will, the existence of pure good and pure evil, and the development of early moral sentiments among the first humans.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Read by author
- By Gregory A. Townsend on 04-16-23
By: Michael Shermer
-
On Human Nature: Revised Edition
- By: Edward O. Wilson
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 323
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 251
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 249
This revised edition of Human Nature begins a new phase in the most important intellectual controversy of this generation: Is human behavior controlled by the species' biological heritage? Does this heritage limit human destiny?
With characteristic pungency and simplicity of style, the author of Sociobiology challenges old prejudices and current misconceptions about the nature-nurture debate.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Heralding Voice...
- By Douglas on 07-22-14
By: Edward O. Wilson
-
Our Political Nature
- The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us
- By: Avi Tuschman
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 17 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 79
Our Political Nature is the first book to reveal the hidden roots of our most deeply held moral values. It shows how political orientations across space and time arise from three clusters of measurable personality traits. These clusters entail opposing attitudes toward tribalism, inequality, and differing perceptions of human nature. Together, these traits are by far the most powerful cause of left-right voting, even leading people to regularly vote against their economic interests.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
A Trivial Version of Haidt's "The Righteous Mind"
- By Curt Doolittle on 10-29-13
By: Avi Tuschman
-
The Human Swarm
- How Our Societies Arise, Thrive, and Fall
- By: Mark W. Moffett
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 189
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 167
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 166
In this paradigm-shattering book, biologist Mark W. Moffett draws on findings in psychology, sociology, and anthropology to explain the social adaptations that bind societies. He explores how the tension between identity and anonymity defines how societies develop, function, and fail. Surpassing Guns, Germs, and Steel and Sapiens, The Human Swarm reveals how mankind created sprawling civilizations of unrivaled complexity - and what it will take to sustain them.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Worthless
- By Richard on 11-24-19
By: Mark W. Moffett
-
Moral Tribes
- Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them
- By: Joshua Greene
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 635
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 530
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 527
A pathbreaking neuroscientist reveals how our social instincts turn Me into Us, but turn Us against Them - and what we can do about it. The great dilemma of our shrinking world is simple: never before have those we disagree with been so present in our lives. The more globalization dissolves national borders, the more clearly we see that human beings are deeply divided on moral lines - about everything from tax codes to sexual practices to energy consumption - and that, when we really disagree, our emotions turn positively tribal.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good Science, Bad Philosophy
- By Jacob on 10-27-16
By: Joshua Greene
-
The WEIRDest People in the World
- How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous
- By: Joseph Henrich
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 448
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 354
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 349
In The WEIRDest People in the World, Joseph Henrich draws on cutting-edge research in anthropology, psychology, economics, and evolutionary biology to explore these questions and more. He illuminates the origins and evolution of family structures, marriage, and religion, and the profound impact these cultural transformations had on human psychology. Mapping these shifts through ancient history and late antiquity, Henrich reveals that the most fundamental institutions of kinship and marriage changed dramatically under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Lots of mispronounced words
- By Phillip Falk on 10-24-20
By: Joseph Henrich
-
Cool
- How the Brain's Hidden Quest for Cool Drives Our Economy and Shapes Our World
- By: Steven Quartz, Anette Asp
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 107
In Cool, the neuroscientist and philosopher Steven Quartz and the political scientist Anette Asp bring together the latest findings in brain science, economics, and evolutionary biology to form a provocative theory of consumerism, revealing how the brain's "social calculator" and an instinct to rebel are the crucial missing links in understanding the motivations behind our spending habits.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Some Useful Ideas
- By Carson on 07-20-17
By: Steven Quartz, and others
-
Moral Politics
- How Liberals and Conservatives Think, 3rd Edition
- By: George Lakoff
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
When Moral Politics was first published two decades ago, it redefined how Americans think and talk about politics through the lens of cognitive political psychology. Today, George Lakoff's classic text has become all the more relevant, as liberals and conservatives have come to hold even more vigorously opposed views of the world, with the underlying assumptions of their respective worldviews at the level of basic morality.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
extremely insightful. awful to get through.
- By Dave on 05-09-18
By: George Lakoff
-
Breaking the Spell
- Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 749
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 655
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 642
For all the thousands of books that have been written about religion, few until this one have attempted to examine it scientifically: to ask why - and how - it has shaped so many lives so strongly. Is religion a product of blind evolutionary instinct or rational choice? Is it truly the best way to live a moral life? Ranging through biology, history, and psychology, Daniel C. Dennett charts religion’s evolution from “wild” folk belief to “domesticated” dogma.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Reader Actually Enhances A Great Book!
- By Don Caliente on 07-14-14
-
The Mind of the Market
- Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics
- By: Michael Shermer
- Narrated by: Michael Shermer
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 97
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 56
The Mind of the Market will change the way we think about the economics of everyday life. Drawing on research from neuroeconomics, Michael Shermer explores what brain scans reveal about bargaining, snap purchases, and how trust is established in business. Utilizing experiments in behavioral economics, Shermer shows why people hang on to losing stocks and failing companies, why business negotiations often disintegrate into emotional tit-for-tat disputes, and why money does not make us happy.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good ideas overshadowed by obnoxious polemics
- By Philo on 09-15-13
By: Michael Shermer
-
Identity
- The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 748
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 637
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 625
In 2014, Francis Fukuyama wrote that American institutions were in decay, as the state was progressively captured by powerful interest groups. Two years later, his predictions were borne out by the rise to power of a series of political outsiders whose economic nationalism and authoritarian tendencies threatened to destabilize the entire international order. These populist nationalists seek direct charismatic connection to “the people”, who are usually defined in narrow identity terms that offer an irresistible call to an in-group and exclude large parts of the population as a whole.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Robotic narrator
- By Shahin on 09-19-18
By: Francis Fukuyama
-
Not for Profit
- Why Democracy Needs the Humanities
- By: Martha C. Nussbaum
- Narrated by: Tamara Marston
- Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
In this short and powerful book, celebrated philosopher Martha Nussbaum makes a passionate case for the importance of the liberal arts at all levels of education. Historically, the humanities have been central to education because they have been seen as essential for creating competent democratic citizens. But recently, Nussbaum argues, thinking about the aims of education has gone disturbingly awry in the United States and abroad.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not for Profit
- By elemarteacher on 07-21-17