Liars, Lovers, and Heroes

2003-09-23 Science

Author : Steven R. Quartz
Release : 2003-09-23
Genre : Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 490/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Liars, Lovers, and Heroes by : Steven R. Quartz

Download or read book Liars, Lovers, and Heroes written by Steven R. Quartz. This book was released on 2003-09-23. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book combines cutting-edge findings in neuroscience with examples from history and the headlines to introduce the new science of cultural biology, born of advances in brain imaging, computer modeling, and genetics. Doctors Quartz and Sejnowski show how both our noblest and darkest traits are rooted in brain systems so ancient that we share them with insects. They then demystify the dynamic engagement between brain and world that makes us something far beyond the sum of our parts. The authors show how our humanity unfolds in precise stages as brain and world engage on increasingly complex levels. Their discussion embraces shaping forces as ancient as climate change over millennia and events as recent as the terrorism and heroism of September 11, and offers intriguing answers to some of our most enduring questions, including why we live together, love, kill -- and sometimes lay down our lives for others.

Liars, Lovers, and Heroes

2010-12-14 Science

Author : Steven R. Quartz
Release : 2010-12-14
Genre : Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 669/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Liars, Lovers, and Heroes by : Steven R. Quartz

Download or read book Liars, Lovers, and Heroes written by Steven R. Quartz. This book was released on 2010-12-14. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This exciting, timely book combines cutting-edge findings in neuroscience with examples from history and recent headlines to offer new insights into who we are. Introducing the new science of cultural biology, born of advances in brain imaging, computer modeling, and genetics, Drs. Quartz and Sejnowski demystify the dynamic engagement between brain and world that makes us something far beyond the sum of our parts. The authors show how our humanity unfolds in precise stages as brain and world engage on increasingly complex levels. Their discussion embraces shaping forces as ancient as climate change over millennia and events as recent as the terrorism and heroism of September 11 and offers intriguing answers to some of our most enduring questions, including why we live together, love, kill -- and sometimes lay down our lives for others. The answers, it turns out, are surprising and paradoxical: many of the noblest aspects of human nature -- altruism, love, courage, and creativity -- are rooted in brain systems so ancient that we share them with insects, and these systems form the basis as well of some of our darkest destructive traits. The authors also overturn popular views of how brains develop. We're not the simple product of animal urges, "selfish" genes, or nature versus nurture. We survive by creating an ingenious web of ideas for making sense of our world -- a symbolic reality called culture. This we endow to later generations as our blueprint for survival. Using compelling examples from history and contemporary life, the authors show how engagement with the world excites brain chemistry, which drives further engagement, which encourages the development of cultural complexity. They also share provocative ideas on how human development may be affected by changes in our culture. Their insights, grounded in science and far-reaching in their implications, are riveting reading for anyone interested in our past, present, and future.

Nurturing Our Humanity

2019-07-05 Psychology

Author : Riane Eisler
Release : 2019-07-05
Genre : Psychology
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 74X/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Nurturing Our Humanity by : Riane Eisler

Download or read book Nurturing Our Humanity written by Riane Eisler. This book was released on 2019-07-05. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nurturing Our Humanity offers a new perspective on our personal and social options in today's world, showing how we can build societies that support our great human capacities for consciousness, caring, and creativity. It brings together findings--largely overlooked--from the natural and social sciences debunking the popular idea that we are hard-wired for selfishness, war, rape, and greed. Its groundbreaking new approach reveals connections between disturbing trends like climate change denial and regressions to strongman rule. Moving past right vs. left, religious vs. secular, Eastern vs. Western, and other familiar categories that do not include our formative parent-child and gender relations, it looks at where societies fall on the partnership-domination scale. On one end is the domination system that ranks man over man, man over woman, race over race, and man over nature. On the other end is the more peaceful, egalitarian, gender-balanced, and sustainable partnership system. Nurturing Our Humanity explores how behaviors, values, and socio-economic institutions develop differently in these two environments, documents how this impacts nothing less than how our brains develop, examines cultures from this new perspective (including societies that for millennia oriented toward partnership), and proposes actions supporting the contemporary movement in this more life-sustaining and enhancing direction. It shows how through today's ever more fearful, frenzied, and greed-driven technologies of destruction and exploitation, the domination system may lead us to an evolutionary dead end. A more equitable and sustainable way of life is biologically possible and culturally attainable: we can change our course.

Heroes and Lovers

2016-02 Fiction

Author : Wayne Zurl
Release : 2016-02
Genre : Fiction
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 44X/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Heroes and Lovers by : Wayne Zurl

Download or read book Heroes and Lovers written by Wayne Zurl. This book was released on 2016-02. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: TV reporter Rachel Williamson helps Chief Sam Jenkins with a classic fraud investigation. However, the case puts Rachel in jeopardy, and her abduction by a mentally disturbed man changes her life forever.Eventually Jenkins uncovers a significant clue and leads a team deep into the Smoky Mountains to rescue his friend. But once Rachel is safely home, they discover her problems are far from over.

Cool

2015-04-14 Science

Author : Steven Quartz
Release : 2015-04-14
Genre : Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 188/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Cool by : Steven Quartz

Download or read book Cool written by Steven Quartz. This book was released on 2015-04-14. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bold argument that our "quest for cool" shapes modern culture and the global economy Like it or not, we live in an age of conspicuous consumption. In a world of brand names, many of us judge ourselves and others by the products we own. Teenagers broadcast their brand allegiances over social media. Tourists flock to Rodeo Drive to have their pictures taken in front of luxury stores. Soccer moms switch from minivans to SUVs to hybrids, while hip beer connoisseurs flaunt their knack for distinguishing a Kölsch from a pilsner. How did this pervasive desire for "cool" emerge, and why is it so powerful today that it is a prime driver of the global economy? 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. Applying their theory to everything from grocery shopping to the near-religious devotion of Harley-Davidson fans, Quartz and Asp explore how the brain's ancient decision-making machinery guides consumer choice. Using these revolutionary insights, they show how we use products to advertise ourselves to others in an often unconscious pursuit of social esteem. Surprising at every turn, Cool will change the way you think about money, status, desire, and choice.

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