Seven Deadly Sins
The Biology of Being Human
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Seven Deadly Sins will explore the underlying nature of the seven deadly sins, their neuroscientific and psychological basis, and their origin in our genes.
Gluttony. Greed. Sloth. Pride. Envy. Lust. Anger. These are The Seven Deadly Sins, the vices of humankind that define immorality. But do these sins really represent moral failings, or are they simply important and useful biological functions that humans need to survive? Instead of being acts of immorality, are they really just a result of how our bodies, our psyches, and our brains in particular, are wired? In Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human, Guy Leschziner, a professor of neurology, dares to turn much of what society thinks of as morality on its head and to ask these controversial questions.
Leschziner takes readers on an exploration of the Seven Deadly Sins as he looks at their neuroscientific and psychological bases, their origin in our genes, and, crucially, how certain medical disorders may give rise to them. He introduces us to patients whose physical and psychological conditions have given rise to behaviours that have for centuries been labelled as “sin” and how these behaviours might actually be evolutionary imperatives that preserve the tribe and ensure the wellbeing of our societies. In Seven Deadly Sins, a book certain to cause debate and raise controversy, Guy Leschziner, a writer who has explored the mysteries of our sleeping brains and the odd crossed wires of our five senses, asks whether these traits truly represent sin, or simply reflect our intrinsic drive to survive and thrive.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Humanity's "less savoury tendencies" drive "our survival and success," according to this stimulating treatise from neurologist Leschziner (The Nocturnal Brain). Unpacking this theory through the lens of Dante's seven deadly sins, the author considers how "gluttony" and its "visible signature," obesity, aided human survival by providing extra energy stores in times of famine; how pride "mak us feel that our achievements are under our own control, hence pushing us to persevere"; and how wrath can serve as a valuable "motivator, a drive to continue striving to reach one's objective." According to Leschziner, such personality traits are rooted in a complex constellation of genetic and environmental factors generally outside of one's control. His argument raises complicated questions about free will that he explores in a thought-provoking discussion of whether traditional binaries of good and evil should be used to evaluate moral decision-making if one's choices stem from immutable biological drives (though he stops short of embracing a fully deterministic view). Vivid patient anecdotes appear throughout, including the story of a woman with a syndrome that causes uncontrollable hunger, which Leschziner utilizes to illustrate the complex factors that underlie appetite, making weight loss "rarely so simple" as deciding to eat less and move more. Replete with fascinating forays into neurology, morality, and pathology, this is a captivating glimpse at the mysteries of the mind.
