Everyday Survival

Why Smart People Do Stupid Things

By: Laurence Gonzales

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Laurence Gonzales turns his talent for gripping narrative, knowledge of the way our minds and bodies work, and bottomless curiosity about the world to the topic of how we can best use the lessons of our evolutionary history to overcome the hazards of everyday life.

He finds that natural laws profoundly affect our actions, and he reveals the hidden causes and costs of our behavior, whether as individuals or as a species, whose decisions may be leading to darker times.

Whether you are climbing a mountain or the corporate ladder, Everyday Survival will change the way you view your choices in our complex, dangerous, and quickly changing world.

©2008 Laurence Gonzales (P)2008 BBC Audio

A Deep Dive

This was the third or fourth time I've listened to this book. Mr Gonzalez analyzes the reasons that intelligent, experienced people make stupid mistakes. Then he goes on to analyze the root causes of experience, intelligence, and life itself!

new key words: Second Law of Thermodynamics, Philosophy, Santa Fe Institute, Alvin

Didn’t care for the accents. Good book.

I really didn’t care for the accents the performer utilized in this reading. They were distracting and made the story hard to hear and/or hard to understand in those spots at times. I am a native English speaker. Overall I would still recommend this book.

The Gonzales Masterclass

I'm a big Gonzales fan, and *highly* recommend his books in general. This edition should come after the other survival books as it really requires a dedicated and engaged reader to push through the arcana. Consider this the "Deep Cuts" of Laurence's work, with an outstanding epilogue.

A Much Needed Assessment

This is a fantastic book that combines storytelling with archeology, neuroscience, technology, environmentalism and biology. Gonzales isa gifted writer that deserves to be on par with todays top public intellectuals.

Preachy environmentalism, not much survival.

Mr. Gonzales’ previous book, Deep Survival, is among my all-time favorites. I loved it so much that I jumped right into this one, and I was quite disappointed. It rambles on about history, chemistry, psychology, and sociology while making weak connections between these things and survival. More than once I wondered what the heck whatever he was on about had to do with the subject. Additionally, he makes little effort to obscure a deep message of secular environmentalism while disregarding and even disrespecting any concept of religion. Well written, as expected, but lengthy and, in my opinion, quite off-track on many of his conclusions.

A reread that really holds up over the years

Still a great read after all these years, and I'm glad it does. I highly recommend to anyone looking for something different, and with regards to the mind, how it relates to our world, and how they shape one another.

interesting yet at the same time boring

his first book deep survival was an interesting read. I tried to read this book and put it down. Thus, I started listening to this book and got through it. I still don't know what this book was about. just randomly borimg.

Interesting idea poor execution

I read and really liked the author’s other book Deep Survival earlier in the year and figured I would give this book a try too. The author has a lot of interesting subject matter but it’s not very cohesive and feels like a conglomeration of odds and ends cast off from his other work. I also get the sense that the author is writing about topics such as earth history, meta physics, and evolutionary biology that he doesn’t understand all that well in comparison to the survival material in his other book. Anyway, I’m rooting for a future proper follow up to Deep Survival from this author.

Challenges Long-held Beliefs

this was the third book of Lawrence Gonzalez's that I've read. As with his others this one was equally engaging and interesting. He writes with subtle humor and covers topics in depth and breadth. After reading this one in particular, I was especially challenged to question some long-held scientific beliefs.

a must read!

not at all what I expected but it was far better than anything I'd expected!