The Human Instinct
How We Evolved to Have Reason, Consciousness, and Free Will
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
From one of America’s best-known biologists, a revolutionary new way of thinking about evolution that shows “why, in light of our origins, humans are still special” (Edward J. Larson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Evolution).
Once we had a special place in the hierarchy of life on Earth—a place confirmed by the literature and traditions of every human tribe. But then the theory of evolution arrived to shake the tree of human understanding to its roots. To many of the most passionate advocates for Darwin’s theory, we are just one species among multitudes, no more significant than any other. Even our minds are not our own, they tell us, but living machines programmed for nothing but survival and reproduction.
In The Human Instinct, Brown University biologist Kenneth R. Miller “confronts both lay and professional misconceptions about evolution” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), showing that while evolution explains how our bodies and brains were shaped, that heritage does not limit or predetermine human behavior. In fact, Miller argues in this “highly recommended” (Forbes) work that it is only thanks to evolution that we have the power to shape our destiny.
Equal parts natural science and philosophy, The Human Instinct makes an “absorbing, lucid, and engaging…case that it was evolution that gave us our humanity” (Ursula Goodenough, professor of biology at Washington University in St. Louis).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Miller (Only a Theory), professor of biology at Brown University, confronts both lay and professional misconceptions about evolution from both scientific and philosophical perspectives. He begins his fascinating work with a brief but cogent summary of the basics of human evolution, focusing on current data detailing highlights in the fossil record, genomic patterns attesting to the similarities found across a wide array of species, and the chromosomal relationships between humans and other primates. The conclusion he draws is clear and firm: "The intellectual burden of denying human evolution in the face of so many lines of evidence would be far too great for any fair-minded person to sustain." Miller builds on this perspective as he addresses three controversial topics: evolutionary psychology, the nature and evolution of consciousness, and the existence of free will. He finds a middle ground between those who believe that evolution should explain every individual behavior and those who criticize evolution for not providing ready-made answers to vexing problems. Miller succeeds in his aims to correct misconceptions while showing that, instead of fostering a sense of pointlessness, learning about human evolution can produce a sense of "joy that we are approaching a genuine understanding of the world in which we live."
