Blueprint

The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society

By: Nicholas A. Christakis

Narrated by: Nicholas A. Christakis

Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Drawing on advances in social science, evolutionary biology, genetics, neuroscience, and network science, Blueprint shows how and why evolution has placed us on a humane path - and how we are united by our common humanity.

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.

In Blueprint, Nicholas A. Christakis introduces the compelling idea that our genes affect not only our bodies and behaviors, but also the ways in which we make societies, ones that are surprisingly similar worldwide. With many vivid examples - including diverse historical and contemporary cultures, communities formed in the wake of shipwrecks, commune dwellers seeking utopia, online groups thrown together by design or involving artificially intelligent bots, and even the tender and complex social arrangements of elephants and dolphins that so resemble our own - Christakis shows that, despite a human history replete with violence, we cannot escape our social blueprint for goodness.

In a world of increasing political and economic polarization, it's tempting to ignore the positive role of our evolutionary past. But by exploring the ancient roots of goodness in civilization, Blueprint shows that our genes have shaped societies for our welfare and that, in a feedback loop stretching back many thousands of years, societies have shaped, and are still shaping, our genes today.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Nicholas A. Christakis (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Phenomenal and Enjoyable Book!

Blueprint is phenomenal, enjoyable, and a must-read for anyone interested in human nature. It's fun to read and accessible to anyone, whether layman or academic. With outstanding breadth and scope, Christakis combines works from evolutionary biology, anthropology, history, medicine, and more (including original research) to create a unified theory that bridges genetics and culture, while sending a strong positive message about our future as a society. The audio book, read by the author, is also excellent.

An optimist view of the human condition grounded in science

Christakis pulls together up to date knowledge of natural and social sciences without disparaging either into a very optimistic view of our future. This is something that I needed in face of what is going on around the world today. I do hope the social blueprint that he describes will right us before we destroy ourselves and our beautiful planet with us.

This book contains very important information

The specifics of one's DNA profiles is the "What's your sign?" of this decade. The evolution of our shared cultural evolution is the really important topic. If you don't know why cultural evolution is so much more interesting than your personal SNPs, I recommend this book as a place to start.

Great read on human evolution and interactions

This audio book has great examples of evolution in general. The animal, human and technology samples brings this book to life. And after hearing this book it made me aware of our immediate evolution happening around us today with artificial intelligence and virtual realities and how they relate to human evolution and reality and what might our next evolution be (humans in a world with artificial intelligence). I recommend this book to anybody interested in evolution and how biological and environmental factors affect evolution in general.

incitful listen

makes you reevaluate why you make the decisions you do. I highly suggest reading this book.

well worth the time

Great presentation of behavioral
science concepts, thought provoking and really helps understand complex concepts. well worth the time

A welcome alternative view.

A nice contradiction to Desmond Morris's"The Naked Ape"
much more positive in both it's premises and conclusions. A worthwhile read.

A fascinating listen end-to-end

Super interesting and fascinating with a great narrator. The book never gets boring, you will struggle putting it down

fantastic, but does not deserve its title

This is a great book, but it is not a utopian manifesto by any means. I was disappointed to hear so little about how to design a better society, but very much enjoyed what it did have to say.

Refreshing view of humanity

A great reminder that our success as a species comes from our ability to cooperate, and in the end we actually do a really good job at it.