Solving Modern Problems with a Stone-Age Brain: Human Evolution and the Seven Fundamental Motives

Solving Modern Problems with a Stone-Age Brain: Human Evolution and the Seven Fundamental Motives PDF Author: Douglas T. Kenrick
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
ISBN: 9781433834783
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Sharing stories and advice rooted in the science of evolutionary psychology, father and son authors Doug Kenrick and David Lundberg-Kendrick pinpoint the dangers of stone-age problem solving for our lives today, and present a new, systematic way to survive and be happy in the modern world. Over millennia, we humans have evolved a set of motivational systems to help us solve the seven basic problems of existence: surviving, protecting ourselves from attackers, forming friendships, winning respect, attracting mates, hanging onto mates, and caring for our families. We seek the same goals in the 21st century. However, the saber-tooth tigers and rival tribes that once threatened us have been replaced by marketers peddling sugar-laden foods, pundits fanning the culture war flames, and payday loan companies scamming those who can least afford it. Through a series of engaging narratives and science-based life tips, this book helps us see past our electronics and lattes and gain helpful insights into achieving the life we want.

Solving Modern Problems With a Stone-Age Brain

Solving Modern Problems With a Stone-Age Brain PDF Author: Douglas T. Kenrick
Publisher: American Psychological Association
ISBN: 1433834790
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Like our ancestors, we must do our best to survive, form friendships, win respect, attract mates, and care for our families. In the 21st century, however, the threats to our survival are sometimes hidden. This book presents evolutionary science-based advice for fending off our modern attackers and learning how to be happy in the modern world.

The Rational Animal

The Rational Animal PDF Author: Douglas T Kenrick
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465040977
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Why do three out of four professional football players go bankrupt? How can illiterate jungle dwellers pass a test that tricks Harvard philosophers? And why do billionaires work so hard -- only to give their hard-earned money away? When it comes to making decisions, the classic view is that humans are eminently rational. But growing evidence suggests instead that our choices are often irrational, biased, and occasionally even moronic. Which view is right -- or is there another possibility? In this animated tour of the inner workings of the mind, psychologist Douglas T. Kenrick and business professor Vladas Griskevicius challenge the prevailing views of decision making, and present a new alternative grounded in evolutionary science. By connecting our modern behaviors to their ancestral roots, they reveal that underneath our seemingly foolish tendencies is an exceptionally wise system of decision making. From investing money to choosing a job, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, our choices are driven by deep-seated evolutionary goals. Because each of us has multiple evolutionary goals, though, new research reveals something radical -- there's more than one "you" making decisions. Although it feels as if there is just one single "self" inside your head, your mind actually contains several different subselves, each one steering you in a different direction when it takes its turn at the controls. The Rational Animal will transform the way you think about decision making. And along the way, you'll discover the intimate connections between ovulating strippers, Wall Street financiers, testosterone-crazed skateboarders, Steve Jobs, Elvis Presley, and you.

Our Political Nature

Our Political Nature PDF Author: Avi Tuschman
Publisher:
ISBN: 1616148233
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 546

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Book Description
By blending serious research with relevant contemporary examples, Our Political Nature casts important light onto the ideological clashes that so dangerously divide and imperil our world today. It shows how political orientations arise from three clusters of measurable personality traits that entail opposing attitudes toward tribalism, inequality, and differing perceptions of human nature. Together, these traits are by far the most powerful cause of left-right voting, even leading people to regularly vote against their economic interests. Our political personalities also influence our likely choice of a mate, and shape society's larger reproductive patterns. This book tells the evolutionary stories of these crucial personality traits, which stem from epic biological conflicts. Based on dozens of exciting new insights from primatology, genetics, neuroscience, and anthropology, this groundbreaking work brings core concepts to life through current news stories and personalities.

Sex, Power, and Partisanship

Sex, Power, and Partisanship PDF Author: Hector A. Garcia
Publisher:
ISBN: 1633885143
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
An evolutionary psychologist traces the roots of political divisions back to our primate ancestors and male-dominated social hierarchies. Through the lens of evolutionary science, this book offers a novel perspective on why we hold our political ideas, and why they are so often in conflict. Drawing on examples from across the animal kingdom, clinical psychologist Hector A. Garcia reveals how even the most complex political processes can be influenced by our basic drives to survive and reproduce--including the policies we back, whether we are liberal or conservative, and whether we are inspired or repelled by the words of a president. The author demonstrates how our political orientations derive from an ancestral history of violent male competition, surprisingly influencing how we respond to issues as wide-ranging as affirmative action, women's rights, social welfare, abortion, foreign policy, and even global warming. Critically, the author shows us how our instinctive political tribalism can keep us from achieving stable, functioning societies, and offers solutions for rising above our ancestral past.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind PDF Author: Julian Jaynes
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547527543
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 580

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Book Description
National Book Award Finalist: “This man’s ideas may be the most influential, not to say controversial, of the second half of the twentieth century.”—Columbus Dispatch At the heart of this classic, seminal book is Julian Jaynes's still-controversial thesis that human consciousness did not begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only three thousand years ago and is still developing. The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually every aspect of our psychology, our history and culture, our religion—and indeed our future. “Don’t be put off by the academic title of Julian Jaynes’s The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Its prose is always lucid and often lyrical…he unfolds his case with the utmost intellectual rigor.”—The New York Times “When Julian Jaynes . . . speculates that until late in the twentieth millennium BC men had no consciousness but were automatically obeying the voices of the gods, we are astounded but compelled to follow this remarkable thesis.”—John Updike, The New Yorker “He is as startling as Freud was in The Interpretation of Dreams, and Jaynes is equally as adept at forcing a new view of known human behavior.”—American Journal of Psychiatry

Heartwarming: How Our Inner Thermostat Made Us Human

Heartwarming: How Our Inner Thermostat Made Us Human PDF Author: Hans Rocha IJzerman
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 1324002530
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
An illuminating investigation of core body temperature regulation and its powerful effect on human civilization. A hot cup of tea, coffee, or cocoa is calming and comforting—but how can holding a warm mug affect our emotions? In Heartwarming, social psychologist Hans Rocha IJzerman explores temperature through the long lens of evolution. Besides breathing, regulating body temperature is one of the most fundamental tasks for any animal. Like huddling penguins, we humans have long relied on one another to maintain our temperatures; over millennia, this instinct for thermoregulation has shaped our lives and culture. Temperature contributed to our evolution—our upright walking, our loss of fur, and our big brains—and now continues to affect our lives in unexpected ways, and the link from a warm mug to our emotions is anything but straightforward. Studies have shown, for example, that a chilly deliberation room can predispose a jury to convict and that a cold day can make us more likely to buy a house. Our mind-body connection works the other way, too: thinking about friendly or caring people can make us feel warmer. Understanding how we subconsciously strive to keep our temperature in an optimal range can help us in our relationships, jobs, and even in the world of social media. As IJzerman illuminates how temperature affects human sociality, he examines fascinating new questions: How will climate change impact society? Why are some people chronically cold, and others overheated? Can thermoregulation keep relationships closer, even across a distance? The answers offer new insights for all of us who want to better understand our bodies, our minds, and each other. Heartwarming takes readers on an engaging journey through the world, seen from the perspectives of coldness and warmth.

The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of Language and the Brain

The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of Language and the Brain PDF Author: Terrence W. Deacon
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393343022
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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Book Description
"A work of enormous breadth, likely to pleasantly surprise both general readers and experts."—New York Times Book Review This revolutionary book provides fresh answers to long-standing questions of human origins and consciousness. Drawing on his breakthrough research in comparative neuroscience, Terrence Deacon offers a wealth of insights into the significance of symbolic thinking: from the co-evolutionary exchange between language and brains over two million years of hominid evolution to the ethical repercussions that followed man's newfound access to other people's thoughts and emotions. Informing these insights is a new understanding of how Darwinian processes underlie the brain's development and function as well as its evolution. In contrast to much contemporary neuroscience that treats the brain as no more or less than a computer, Deacon provides a new clarity of vision into the mechanism of mind. It injects a renewed sense of adventure into the experience of being human.

Mind and modern problems

Mind and modern problems PDF Author: Swami Bodhamayananda
Publisher: Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad
ISBN: 9388512707
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
A spiritual insight into psychological problems Every student wants to achieve academic and professional success, but finds it difficult to concentrate. Mind and modern problems is a book which teaches youth to control their mind which doesn’t seem to settle at one place. Renowned academics and professionals have contributed to the book which make its suggestions practical. Examples of famous people and their struggle for mind control have been given. A must for every student. Our other books here can be searched using #RKMathHyderabad

Environmental Psychology

Environmental Psychology PDF Author: Bankston Cotton
Publisher: Scientific e-Resources
ISBN: 1839474084
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Environmental psychology maintained its dual orientation to research and application and proceeded further toward integrating them. Researchers conducted hypothesis-testing studies in controlled setting and practitioners applied research findings in facility programming, design and post occupancy evaluation. The clearest integration appeared in environmental design research, natural setting to improve environmental design and to test scientific hypotheses. Environmental psychology is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the interplay between individuals and their surroundings. The field defines the term environment broadly, encompassing natural environments, social settings, built environments, learning environments, and informational environments. Environmental psychology is a direct study of the relationship between an environment and how that environment affects its inhabitants. Specific aspects of this field work by identifying a problem and through the identification of said problem, discovering a solution. The solutions can aid in making society function better as a whole and create a wealth of knowledge about the inner workings of societies. This book will prove informative and useful to academics as well as laymen. This book deals with all the major aspects of environmental psychology. It traces historical perspective and scope of environmental psychology and provides the reader with the methodological and theoretical perspective of the field.