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The Resource The accidental Homo sapiens : genetics, behavior, and free will, Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle

The accidental Homo sapiens : genetics, behavior, and free will, Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle

Creator
Author
Contributor
Summary
  • What happens now that human population has outpaced biological natural selection? Two leading scientists reveal how we became who we are--and what we might become
  • "When you think of evolution, the picture that most likely comes to mind is a straight-forward progression, the iconic illustration of a primate morphing into a proud, upright human being. But in reality, random events have played huge roles in determining the evolutionary histories of everything from lions to lobsters to humans. However, random genetic novelties are most likely to become fixed in small populations. It is mathematically unlikely that this will happen in large ones. With our enormous, close-packed, and seemingly inexorably expanding population, humanity has fallen under the influence of the famous (or infamous) "bell curve." Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle's revelatory new book explores what the future of our species could hold, while simultaneously revealing what we didn't become--and what we won't become. A cognitively unique species, and our actions fall on a bell curve as well. Individual people may be saintly or evil; generous or grasping; narrow-minded or visionary. But any attempt to characterize our species must embrace all of its members and so all of these antitheses. It is possible not just for the species, but for a single individual to be all of these things--even in the same day. We all fall somewhere within the giant hyperspace of the human condition that these curves describe. The Accidental Homo Sapiens shows readers that though humanity now exists on this bell curve, we are far from a stagnant species. Tattersall and DeSalle reveal how biological evolution in modern humans has given way to a cultural dynamic that is unlike anything else the Earth has ever witnessed, and that will keep life interesting--perhaps sometimes too interesting--for as long as we exist on this planet"--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
First Pegasus Books edition.
Extent
xviii, 222 pages
Note
  • "April 2019"--Title page verso
  • Source of cataloging data: WCP
Contents
  • Genes, evolution, and the bell curve
  • Science and behavior : trapped between simplicity and complexity
  • Emergence of the human cognitive style
  • Genes, people, and behavior
  • Human beings and choice
Isbn
9781643130262
Instance
Label
The accidental Homo sapiens : genetics, behavior, and free will
Title
The accidental Homo sapiens
Title remainder
genetics, behavior, and free will
Statement of responsibility
Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle
Creator
Contributor
Author
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
  • What happens now that human population has outpaced biological natural selection? Two leading scientists reveal how we became who we are--and what we might become
  • "When you think of evolution, the picture that most likely comes to mind is a straight-forward progression, the iconic illustration of a primate morphing into a proud, upright human being. But in reality, random events have played huge roles in determining the evolutionary histories of everything from lions to lobsters to humans. However, random genetic novelties are most likely to become fixed in small populations. It is mathematically unlikely that this will happen in large ones. With our enormous, close-packed, and seemingly inexorably expanding population, humanity has fallen under the influence of the famous (or infamous) "bell curve." Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle's revelatory new book explores what the future of our species could hold, while simultaneously revealing what we didn't become--and what we won't become. A cognitively unique species, and our actions fall on a bell curve as well. Individual people may be saintly or evil; generous or grasping; narrow-minded or visionary. But any attempt to characterize our species must embrace all of its members and so all of these antitheses. It is possible not just for the species, but for a single individual to be all of these things--even in the same day. We all fall somewhere within the giant hyperspace of the human condition that these curves describe. The Accidental Homo Sapiens shows readers that though humanity now exists on this bell curve, we are far from a stagnant species. Tattersall and DeSalle reveal how biological evolution in modern humans has given way to a cultural dynamic that is unlike anything else the Earth has ever witnessed, and that will keep life interesting--perhaps sometimes too interesting--for as long as we exist on this planet"--
Assigning source
Amazon.com
Cataloging source
YDX
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Tattersall, Ian
Dewey number
155.7
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
LC call number
BF698.95
LC item number
.T38 2019
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
DeSalle, Rob
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Evolutionary psychology
  • Evolutionary genetics
  • Human evolution
  • Behavior evolution
  • Cognition and culture
  • Evolution (Biology)
Label
The accidental Homo sapiens : genetics, behavior, and free will, Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Note
  • "April 2019"--Title page verso
  • Source of cataloging data: WCP
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-212) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Genes, evolution, and the bell curve -- Science and behavior : trapped between simplicity and complexity -- Emergence of the human cognitive style -- Genes, people, and behavior -- Human beings and choice
Control code
on1041879201
Dimensions
24 cm
Edition
First Pegasus Books edition.
Extent
xviii, 222 pages
Isbn
9781643130262
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)1041879201
Label
The accidental Homo sapiens : genetics, behavior, and free will, Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle
Publication
Copyright
Note
  • "April 2019"--Title page verso
  • Source of cataloging data: WCP
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-212) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Genes, evolution, and the bell curve -- Science and behavior : trapped between simplicity and complexity -- Emergence of the human cognitive style -- Genes, people, and behavior -- Human beings and choice
Control code
on1041879201
Dimensions
24 cm
Edition
First Pegasus Books edition.
Extent
xviii, 222 pages
Isbn
9781643130262
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)1041879201

Subject

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