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The Ape that Understood the Universe: How the Mind and Culture Evolve, by Steve Stewart-Williams
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Review
"A strength of the book is its writing style. The book is written with verve. It's playful, lighthearted, crisp, fast-paced, and yet accurate and concise. A reader can distill the basic foundations and examples of evolutionary psychology and cultural evolutionary theory here while enjoying the ride (read)... I would recommend the book over older popular treatments of evolutionary psychology or, say, Dawkins's 1976 classic The Selfish Gene." -Peter Gray, Human Nature"As a writer and editor of evolutionary psychology books, I am always keen to get my hands on the competition as it appears. My response to Stewart-Williams's book was 'Damn, this is good!' Frankly, whether you are advocate or detractor you should acquaint yourself with this book - love it or loathe it you will learn a lot from reading it. And you will find that reading to be a captivating, page-turning, voyage of discovery. Stewart-Williams is not only an experienced evolutionary psychologist but also a talented and insightful writer with a memorable turn of phrase... a twenty-first century successor to The Selfish Gene." -Lance Workman, The Psychologist"In The Ape that Understood the Universe, evolutionary psychologist Steve Stewart-Williams provides a masterful account of how the mind and culture evolve. Stewart-Williams is an exceptionally good writer, a witty and learned guide through challenging but exciting terrain that includes psychology, biology, anthropology, philosophy, and animal behavior. The Ape that Understood the Universe is a rare accomplishment: equal parts intellectual exhilaration and beautifully crafted narrative. Read this book for its literary grace, and learn along the way why you are an ape that can understand the universe." -Todd Shackelford, Oakland University"A great introduction to human nature - whether you're a member of our species or an alien scientist puzzled by this planet's dominant life-form. Stewart-Williams shows how genes and memes entwine to explain our deepest concerns and our highest aspirations. This fun, easy-going, science-savvy book will make you smarter about your emotions, your relationships, and your society." -Geoffrey Miller, author of The Mating Mind, Spent, and Mate"This is a highly imaginative (and solidly informed) book about the nature of human nature - who we really are. Stewart-Williams has a firm grip on the latest data in evolutionary psychology and cultural evolution, all elegantly woven into a fine narrative packed with provocative (and astute) ideas. It's an insightful, accurate and refreshingly amusing read." -Helen Fisher, author of Anatomy of Love and Why Him? Why Her?
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Book Description
The Ape that Understood the Universe is the story of the strangest animal in the world: the human animal. Looking at our species through the eyes of an alien scientist, the book is framed as answer to the alien's questions about how our minds and culture evolved.
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Product details
Hardcover: 378 pages
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (September 13, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1108425046
ISBN-13: 978-1108425049
Product Dimensions:
6.1 x 1 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.4 out of 5 stars
15 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#39,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The most exciting chapter in this book is the last where we learn that in 1976 a scientific genius named Richard Dawkins discovered that human beings have this thing called a “brain†and that this brain can generate “ideas†and other things, such as music and pictures. Naturally a new name was required to summarize this revolutionary new discovery so Dawkins called the products of the mind a “meme†and his study one of “memetics.†We then learn that these “ideas†or other memes can take on a life of their own, not because there is anything valuable about them, but just because they are so darned crafty about taking advantage of or febrile brains. For example, we hear over and over again about those annoying “earworms†which can take over our minds when we hear a catchy tune, although not so much about the evil people who create these ear worms, evildoers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Ludwig Beethoven. There is nothing really great about what they produced, they just were oh so tricky about creating such really good “earworms†that all of our gosh darned subsequent minds just can’t help but want to hear over and over, for century after century. To quote this good author: “is music a parasite that evolved to survive in the ecological niche of the human brain? Maybe so.†In short, these “earworms†are just “informational parasites†and thus “music parasitizes the brain.†Up until the last chapter I would have said that this was an interesting book that effectively summarized how evolution impacted human behavior and society, but certainly such daft “insights†as this in the last chapter made me want to re-think that conclusion.
Highly recommended for anyone looking to be introduced or reminded of how the far-reaching modern explanatory power of natural selection, evolutionary psychology, and memetics inform our understanding of ourselves and our culture. More accessible than its small font might imply, more rigorous and meticulously referenced than a superficial overview. Peppered by humor and well chosen quotations, this would be a great book for an intellectually curious young adult looking for a masterful modern summary of how the more narrowly-focused ideas they've learned in the classroom - genetics, evolution, anthropology - inform the vast understanding of human nature and culture.
This book is a very easy read. If you’re a laymen such as I, you’ll have no difficulty grasping the concepts Dr. Stewart-Williams introduces. Evolutionary psychology appears to be the original and science based gender studies. It explains why males and females act the way we do. It is the firewall against the loud post-modern campus cult of grievance studies culture. By incorporating natural observations cross-culturally and across the species, this discipline’s theories are hard to refute on a number of subjects related to what it is to be human. Dr. Stewart-Williams novel way of giving us a bird’s eye view of ourselves is entertaining and his simple language and interesting examples held my attention. I had several “eureka†moments reading this book and I highly recommend it.
This book follows the path charted by Richard Dawkins' "The Selfish Gene" and Robert Wright's "The Moral Animal". The book covers a lot of the same material exploring evolutionary psychology with elaborate examples. Where it primarily differs from the two is in the evolutionary explanation of human behaviors (including differences between the sexes) contrasted with the 'Blank Slate' position taken by by several sociologists - the claim that human behavior including gender differences are purely a function of culture. Stewart-Williams makes a compelling argument for why the 'culture only' theory cannot be a satisfying explanation for many of the most common ubiquitous behaviors and gender differences and where an evolutionary approach is the only reasonable explanation.It's commendable how Stewart-Williams treads on the subject of gender differences - a landmine esp. in the current socio-political environment: he's uncompromising on his passionate advocacy of the evolutionary drivers of differences but balances this with the abundant caution needed to prevent readers from drawing incorrect conclusions and worse, using it as evidence to perpetuate social inequality and nullify hard won gains on that front.The final chapter on Memetics is also new territory (not covered in detail in the other two books), but lacks the readability of the rest of the book.While several reviewers find the "Alien assessment" construct instructive it didn't work for me: I was left bewildered and could not get past the assumption that a super intelligent alien would either not be a product of natural selection itself or unaware of the concept.Overall a worthwhile read - to use an idea from the book, demonstrates sufficient inclusive fitness to survive on my rather small bookshelf at the expense of some other hapless book that will now be donated to the local library.
Considering the complexity of the subject it was beautifully organized. The writer is obviously a very effective teacher, who is not afraid to use humor judiciously sprinkled throughout the book to make his points. .Has many references to other scientists in related fields. I highly recommend this book even though it may be slow going at times, but worth the effort. The best exposition of memetics I've read so far.
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