In search of human nature / Mary E. Clark.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clark, Mary E.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human beings.

Physical Description:

xix, 556 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2002.

Summary:

What is wrong with the West's 'scientific' picture of what and who we are? Was Thomas Hobbes right to sum up human life as 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short'? In this magisterial new work, biologist Mary Clark delves deep into the roots of human nature, offering a timely re-evaluation of the basic attributes all humans share. In Search of Human Nature offers a wide-ranging and holistic view of human nature from all perspectives: biological, historical and sociological. Clark takes the most recent data from disparate fields -- paleontology, primatology, ethology, genetics, neurosciences, physiology, anthropology, linguistics, ecological psychology, archaeology, mythology, fine arts, history and conflict resolution -- and weaves them together with clarifying anecdotes and thought-provoking images to challenge outmoded Western beliefs with hopeful new insights. Beginning with the distortions intrinsic to analogizing human behaviour with that of 'intelligent' machines, Clark tackles an astonishing array of problems, from how environment and experience shape the brain to the ways we think about identity, meaning and conflict, to peaceful processes for healing and adaptive social change. Ending with modern-day examples of successfully changing communities, In Search of Human Nature offers a firmly grounded reason to be optimistic about humankind's future.

Contents:

Introduction: framing the problem 1

World views: constructed gestalts 2

The "Billiard Ball" Gestalt 6

The "Indra's Net" Gestalt 8

A summary comparison 11

Crises in the making 14

America's social crises 15

The global outlook 26

To change or be changed? 35

I Questioning the "scientized" image 39

Sex and survival: a caution about "just-so" stories 41

Evolution, scientism, and the battle for truth 46

"Science wars": excessive hubris and its backlashes 47

Backlash I The impossibility of absolute knowledge 48

Backlash II The distortion of complex subjects 49

Backlash III Popular rejection of meaninglessness 50

My philosophy of truth 52

What counts as knowledge? 52

Contrasting views of "human-nature-in-the-universe" 54

Human nature, with feelings 57

Ongoing complications due to our human propensities 59

The good news and the bad news 60

II Why we primates are not "game theorists" 65

Game theory and genetic determinism 67

What Darwin said 68

Game theory takes over behavioral evolution 70

Why game theory is inappropriate 72

What, then, is "primate nature"? 80

The ultra-Darwinians' primate psyche 82

History of the baboon model: a cautionary tale 84

Of course genes matter

but context matters more 87

Stress and social structure 88

The power of reconciliation 93

Other prosocial behaviors 94

III The selecting of Homo sapiens 98

Skeletons in the family bushes 101

The fossil data and their interpretations 103

"Man the Hunter" 104

"Man the Warrior" 105

Imagining the Pleistocene 108

A brief history of climate change 108

The Pleistocene dispersals 110

Possible imprints of the Pleistocene 120

Selection for bonded groups 121

Selection for multiple intelligences 123

IV Brain matters 126

Evolving propensities of the hominid brain 129

Anatomy of the evolved brain 131

The "layer theory" of brain functions 134

Doubts about layered brains 135

The holistic alternative 137

Why such a big brain? 138

How the brain works 140

Processing an experience: the automatic brain 140

Consciousness 144

V A thirst for meaning 160

What and where is "the mind"? 162

An ecological theory of mind 163

Events, episodes, and narratives 165

From displays to speeches 166

The languages of mime and song 168

The floodgates of speech 175

Categories, metaphor, and meaning 175

Culture as meaning 182

Navigation and culture 184

The mythic side of culture 188

VI How experience shapes the brain 192

The amazing plasticity of the developing human brain 194

Genes, behavior, and intelligence 200

Child-rearing in the Pleistocene

and after 202

The need for security 205

The need for experience 208

Brains under stress 213

Physical stressors 214

Psychological stressors 215

Some physiological and psychological changes after prolonged stress 216

On being "sane" in insane places 222

Healing 225

VII "Who am I?"

where biology and culture meet 229

Culture: a living non-thing 230

Identity: the core cultural task 233

Necessity for bonding 233

Necessity for autonomy 234

Necessity for meaning 235

What is sex all about? 237

An alternative "just-so" story 240

Cultures without "marriage" 240

Origins of marriage 243

Male identity and the problem of aggression 245

Cultures that rank identity and cultures that don't 250

Egalitarian societies 250

Hierarchical societies 253

Hierarchy and human nature 257

VIII History, the story of meanings through time 263

The nature of the "sacred" 264

The sacred and the profane 265

Aspects of the fanum 266

Conditions favoring fanaticism 270

Was there ever an Eden? 274

How small, egalitarian cultures "go wrong" 276

Trapped in time 276

Theories of causes of violence 278

Cities, "meanings," and the origins of patriarchy 284

The rise and fall of the "Great Mother" 285

The meaning of "civilization" 295

Religious correctives to abusive hierarchies 297

The dice of history 299

Europe: fast-forward 303

IX Humankind crosses the Rubicon, 1900-2000 305

The technologized megamachine 307

The nature of bottom-line mentality 311

Wrong assumptions have evil consequences 314

Reactions of nation-states to global rejection 317

The history of Germany 318

The history of Japan 323

Colonialism and after 326

Disillusion in the Heart of Africa 326

Damaged youth: a twentieth-century legacy 331

When war becomes a child's way of life 333

The depth of trauma 335

Lessons learned 336

X Conflict: control or reconciliation? 339

South Africa's story 346

A very brief history 346

The victims' stories 348

The perpetrators' stories 351

The leaders' stories 354

The "innocent" beneficiaries' stories 356

From control to reconciliation 357

Why coercive power never heals 358

Perceptions of justice 361

The road to peace 364

Rediscovering the biological necessity for dialogue 365

The need for "intervenors" 367

Steps toward reconciliation 368

XI The search for autonomy within community 373

Rigidity and flexibility 377

The coming revolution against megamachines 380

The search for autonomy within community 382

Behavior settings for building strong democracy 384

Schools are for becoming participants in society 386

Turning neighborhoods into communities 394

Places where people are taking charge 397

Mondragon cooperatives 397

Kerala: India's singular state 399

DSNI: an American neighborhood's story 401

Conclusion: we will discover "the roads to Ipswich" as we go 404.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 455-488) and index.

ISBN:

041528659X

0415286603

OCLC:

50064764