The public avidly consumes accounts of real-life homicide cases, and murder fiction is more popular still. Nevertheless, we have only the most rudimentary scientific understanding of who is likely to kill whom and why. Martin Daly and Margo Wilson apply contemporary evolutionary theory to analysis of human motives and perceptions of self-interest, considering where and why individual interests conflict, using well-documented murder cases. This book attempts to understand normal social motives in murder as products of the process of evolution by natural selection. They note that the implications for psychology are many and profound, touching on such matters as parental affection and rejection, sibling rivalry, sex differences in interests and inclinations, social comparison and achievement motives, our sense of justice, lifespan developmental changes in attitudes, and the phenomenology of the self. This is the first volume of its kind to analyze homicides in the light of a theory of interpersonal conflict. Before this study, no one had compared an observed distribution of victim-killer relationships to "expected" distribution, nor asked about the patterns of killer-victim age disparities in familial killings. This evolutionary psychological approach affords a deeper view and understanding of homicidal violence.

    The average American spends over four hours a day watching television. Abstract art can sell for millions of dollars. Young children enjoy playing with imaginary friends and can be comforted by security blankets. People slow their cars to look at gory accidents, and go to movies that make them cry. In this fascinating and witty account, Paul Bloom examines the science behind these curious desires, attractions, and tastes, covering everything from the animal instincts of sex and food to the uniquely human taste for art, music, and stories. Drawing on insights from child development, philosophy, neuroscience, and behavioral economics, How Pleasure Works shows how certain universal habits of the human mind explain what we like and why we like it.

    He shows how many intellectuals have denied the existence of human nature by embracing three linked dogmas: the Blank Slate (the mind has no innate traits), the Noble Savage (people are born good and corrupted by society), and the Ghost in the Machine (each of us has a soul that makes choices free from biology). Each dogma carries a moral burden, so their defenders have engaged in desperate tactics to discredit the scientists who are now challenging them.Pinker injects calm and rationality into these debates by showing that equality, progress, responsibility, and purpose have nothing to fear from discoveries about a rich human nature. He disarms even the most menacing threats with clear thinking, common sense, and pertinent facts from science and history.Despite its popularity among intellectuals during much of the twentieth century, he argues, the doctrine of the Blank Slate may have done more harm than good. It denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces hardheaded analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of government, violence, parenting, and the arts.Pinker shows that an acknowledgement of human nature that is grounded in science and common sense, far from being dangerous, can complement insights about the human condition made by millennia of artists and philosophers. All this is done in the style that earned his previous books many prizes and worldwide acclaim: wit, lucidity, and insight into matters great and small.

    Wright unveils the genetic strategies behind everything from our sexual preferences to our office politics--as well as their implications for our moral codes and public policies. Illustrations.

    In Friendship, journalist Lydia Denworth visits the front lines of the science of friendship in search of its biological, psychological, and evolutionary foundations. Finding it to be as old as life on the African savannas, she also discovers that friendship is reflected in our brain waves, detectable in our genomes, and capable of strengthening our cardiovascular and immune systems. Its opposite, loneliness, can kill. As a result, social connection is finally being recognized as critical to our physical and emotional well-being.With warmth and compassion, Denworth weaves together past and present, field biology and cutting-edge neuroscience, to show how our bodies and minds are designed to make friends, the process by which social bonds develop, and how a drive for friendship underpins human (and nonhuman) society. With its refreshingly optimistic vision of the evolution of human nature, this book puts friendship at the center of our lives.

    These traits include obsessions with food and sex, addiction to pleasure, excessive rationality and a tendency to focus on the negative. A University of Chicago psychology professor, the author also believes we must free our minds of cultural illusions such as ethnocentric superiority or identification with one's possessions. He urges readers to find ways to reduce the oppression, exploitation and inequality that are woven into the fabric of society. Further, he wants us to control the direction of human evolution by pursuing challenging activities that lead to greater complexity while opposting chaos and conformity. Each chapter concludes with self-help questions and mental exercises designed to help readers apply the insights of this literate manifesto to their daily lives.

    This book engaged some of the hardest questions in the evolution debate, and it showed the ever-cautious Darwin at his boldest. If Darwin had one goal with Expression , it was to demonstrate the power of his theories for explaining the origin of our most cherished human qualities: morality and intellect. As Darwin explained, "He who admits, on general grounds, that the structure and habits of all animals have been gradually evolved, will look at the whole subject of Expression in a new and interesting light." Table Of Contents: Table of contents The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals Acknowledgements Chronology Introduction Further Reading Note on the Text The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals Appendix 1: Translation of French quotations Appendix 2: Darwin's 'Queries About Expression' Appendix 3: List of supplementary images Index

    : This book is meant for a great companionship of the original book or to simply get the gist of the original book. A summary from better.me, initiated to provide knowledge for people who crave development “Intolerance of others’ views (no matter how ignorant or incoherent they may be) is not simply wrong; in a world where there is no right or wrong, it is worse: it is a sign you are embarrassingly unsophisticated or, possibly, dangerous.” ― Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos What does the nervous system of the lowly lobster have to tell us about standing up straight (with our shoulders back) and about success in life? Why did ancient Egyptians worship the capacity to pay careful attention as the highest of gods? What dreadful paths do people tread when they become resentful, arrogant and vengeful? Dr. Peterson journeys broadly, discussing discipline, freedom, adventure and responsibility, distilling the world's wisdom into 12 practical and profound rules for life. 12 Rules for Life shatters the modern commonplaces of science, faith and human nature, while transforming and ennobling the mind and spirit of its readers. This book cost is an accessible knowledge base for a fair price and without any risks. If you believe that this summary did not help you, get a refund within 7 DAYS! Better.me summaries is a company that provides accessible knowledge to people who craves development. Summaries are made for three types of people: first, the ones who listened to the audiobook and wants to have a quick recap of the main points. Second, people who read the whole book and wants to deepen their learnings with a summarized version. Third, people who want to know if its worth it to buy the actual book and prefer to do a quick scan just to make sure. Three Types of People Buy from better.me summaries: People that have read the whole book and wanted to have a shorter version to deepen their knowledge People who listened to the audiobook and want to learn the content through another perspective People that want to know if it's worth it buying the proper book by making a TINY investment of MONEY and TIME

    The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution

    Gazzaniga has been called the “father of cognitive neuroscience.” In his remarkable book, Who’s in Charge?, he makes a powerful and provocative argument that counters the common wisdom that our lives are wholly determined by physical processes we cannot control. His well-reasoned case against the idea that we live in a “determined” world is fascinating and liberating, solidifying his place among the likes of Oliver Sacks, Antonio Damasio, V.S. Ramachandran, and other bestselling science authors exploring the mysteries of the human brain

    Drawing on experiments, surveys, and interviews conducted in thirty-seven countries on six continents, as well as insights from recent discoveries in biology, anthropology, and psychology, Buss discovers that the evolutionary origins of our sexual desires still shape our passions today. According to Buss, more men than women want to have sex with multiple partners. Furthermore, women who cheat on their husbands do so when they are most likely to conceive, but have sex with their spouses when they are least likely to conceive. These findings show that evolutionary tendencies to acquire better genes through different partners still lurk beneath modern sexual behavior. To counteract these desires to stray -- and to strengthen the bonds between partners -- jealousy evolved as an early detection system of infidelity in the ancient and mysterious ritual of mating.Buss takes us on a fascinating journey through many cultures, from pre-historic to the present, to show the profound evolutionary effect jealousy has had on all of us. Only with a healthy balance of jealousy and trust can we be certain of a mate's commitment, devotion, and true love.

    Even the founding myth of the Judeo-Christian tradition, the story of Adam and Eve, revolves around a lie. We have been talking, writing and singing about deception ever since Eve told God, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Our seemingly insatiable appetite for stories of deception spans the extremes of culture from King Lear to Little Red Riding Hood, retaining a grip on our imaginations despite endless repetition. These tales of deception are so enthralling because they speak to something fundamental in the human condition. The ever-present possibility of deceit is a crucial dimension of all human relationships, even the most central: our relationships with our very own selves.Now, for the first time, philosopher and evolutionary psychologist David Livingstone Smith elucidates the essential role that deception and self-deception have played in human--and animal--evolution and shows that the very structure of our minds has been shaped from our earliest beginnings by the need to deceive. Smith shows us that by examining the stories we tell, the falsehoods we weave, and the unconscious signals we send out, we can learn much about ourselves and how our minds work.Readers of Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker will find much to intrigue them in this fascinating book, which declares that our extraordinary ability to deceive others--and even our own selves--"lies" at the heart of our humanity.

    It's an evolutionary riddle that at long last makes sense in this intriguing book about what gossip has done for our talkative species. Psychologist Robin Dunbar looks at gossip as an instrument of social order and cohesion--much like the endless grooming with which our primate cousins tend to their social relationships.Apes and monkeys, humanity's closest kin, differ from other animals in the intensity of these relationships. All their grooming is not so much about hygiene as it is about cementing bonds, making friends, and influencing fellow primates. But for early humans, grooming as a way to social success posed a problem: given their large social groups of 150 or so, our earliest ancestors would have had to spend almost half their time grooming one another--an impossible burden. What Dunbar suggests--and his research, whether in the realm of primatology or in that of gossip, confirms--is that humans developed language to serve the same purpose, but far more efficiently. It seems there is nothing idle about chatter, which holds together a diverse, dynamic group--whether of hunter-gatherers, soldiers, or workmates.Anthropologists have long assumed that language developed in relationships among males during activities such as hunting. Dunbar's original and extremely interesting studies suggest otherwise: that language in fact evolved in response to our need to keep up to date with friends and family. We needed conversation to stay in touch, and we still need it in ways that will not be satisfied by teleconferencing, email, or any other communication technology. As Dunbar shows, the impersonal world of cyberspace will not fulfill our primordial need for face-to-face contact.From the nit-picking of chimpanzees to our chats at coffee break, from neuroscience to paleoanthropology, Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language offers a provocative view of what makes us human, what holds us together, and what sets us apart.

    For his own reasons he still remains anonymous, the hypnotic self-help elite must be ruffled! They don’t want this stuff getting out! The Rogue Hypnotist is a top UK clinical hypnotherapist and Advanced NLP expert. He has a very good success rate indeed with his client’s and he wants to share the tricks that work with you! He helps his client’s in 1 session only at a very reasonable rate. They leave with a big smile on their faces. Police officers, multimillionaire’s even TV celebs have sought his help; now he wants to help YOU! The sequel to ‘How to hypnotise anyone,’ the number 1 best seller on hypnosis on Amazon.com and .co.uk is here! ‘Mastering hypnotic language,’ awaits you!!! You can now take your hypnotic mastery up to the next level! In book 1 you learnt how to hypnotise anyone using words alone. Now you will learn how to use words with such precision that your total hypnotic power is assured! The Rogue Hypnotist is giving away almost for free all the ‘language patterns’ that work as opposed to all the junk being sold out that that won’t do anything to anyone. Learning hypnosis should be easy and fun! The hypnosis bag of magic tricks that you can expect to effortlessly learn and put into practise are… 1. The specific language that will induce trance and hypnosis in anyone. 2. Why words beginning in RE are hypnotic! 3. Why you SHOULD use PMR (Progressive Muscle Relaxation) with a script showing just how to do so. 4. How to dissociate the conscious and unconscious minds. Script provided! 5. What ‘colour feelings’ are and how to use them in hypnosis. 6. The secrets of ‘hidden code’ hypnosis. 7. How to use ‘hypnotic negations’ properly and why they work. 8. The amazing expose of how the unconscious reveals the truth through ‘reverse speech.’ 9. A powerful and much more advanced ‘hypnotic mind model,’ that will give you far greater understanding of how the mind works than 99% of mental health care professionals, helping you hypnotise anyone with flair. 10. What the best ‘temporal and spatial’ language predicates to use in hypnosis are. 11. Exactly how to use language to dig out specifics, to find the missing pieces and stop yourself being influenced against your will. 12. How to use hypnotic assumptions and nominalisations and which ones work best. 13. How to specifically and expertly use artfully vague hypnotic language. 14. What hyperbolic words and hypnotic poetry is. 15. The specifics of ‘hypnotic languaging.’ 16. A knowledge of associational networks and artful ambiguity. 17. The 100% fail proof formula to create your own hypnotic deepeners! It’s easier than you think! And you get a free bonus – ‘The Silly Deepener!’ 18. An embedded commands induction PLUS the specific ‘embeds’ that induce trance in any conversation. You will learn TRUE conversational hypnosis that works including how to describe a state to elicit it! 19. A step by step description of the precise way to create a ‘symbolic deepener’ with full script provided. 20. Your special BONUS – ‘The Unicorn Deepener’ and much, much more! The Rogue Hypnotist is practically giving this away so that YOU will have by end of the book more hypnotic ability than 99% of so-called hypnotists out there! That’s my promise to you.

    Miller) was hailed by the "Los Angeles Times" as "a rollicking bit of pop science that turns the lens of evolutionary psychology on issues of the day." That book answered such burning questions as why women tend to lust after males who already have mates and why newborns look more like Dad than Mom. Now Kanazawa tackles the nature of intelligence: what it is, what it does, what it is good for (if anything). Highly entertaining, smart (dare we say intelligent?), and daringly contrarian, "The Intelligence Paradox" will provide a deeper understanding of what intelligence is, and what it means for us in our lives.Asks why more intelligent individuals are not better (and are, in fact, often worse) than less intelligent individuals in solving some of the most important problems in life--such as finding a mate, raising children, and making friends Discusses why liberals are more intelligent than conservatives, why atheists are more intelligent than the religious, why more intelligent men value monogamy, why night owls are more intelligent than morning larks, and why homosexuals are more intelligent than heterosexuals Explores how the purpose for which general intelligence evolved--solving evolutionarily novel problems--allows us to explain why intelligent people have the particular values and preferences they haveChallenging common misconceptions about the nature of intelligence, this book offers surprising insights into the cutting-edge of science at the intersection of evolutionary psychology and intelligence research.