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Homo Mysterious: Evolutionary Puzzles of Human Nature, by David P. Barash
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For all that science knows about the living world, notes David P. Barash, there are even more things that we don't know, genuine evolutionary mysteries that perplex the best minds in biology. Paradoxically, many of these mysteries are very close to home, involving some of the most personal aspects of being human.
Homo Mysterious examines a number of these evolutionary mysteries, exploring things that we don't yet know about ourselves, laying out the best current hypotheses, and pointing toward insights that scientists are just beginning to glimpse. Why do women experience orgasm? Why do men have a shorter lifespan than women? Why does homosexuality exist? Why does religion exist in virtually every culture? Why do we have a fondness for the arts? Why do we have such large brains? And why does consciousness exist? Readers are plunged into an ocean of unknowns--the blank spots on the human evolutionary map, the terra incognita of our own species--and are introduced to the major hypotheses that currently occupy scientists who are attempting to unravel each puzzle (including some solutions proposed here for the first time). Throughout the book, readers are invited to share the thrill of science at its cutting edge, a place where we know what we don't know, and, moreover, where we know enough to come up with some compelling and seductive explanations.
Homo Mysterious is a guide to creative thought and future explorations, based on the best, most current thinking by evolutionary scientists. It captures the allure of the "not-yet-known" for those interested in stretching their scientific imaginations.
- Sales Rank: #740044 in eBooks
- Published on: 2012-06-01
- Released on: 2012-06-01
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
"A beautifully written book. It has the wisdom of maturity but with none of its ponderousness, the enthusiasm of youth with none of its brashness." -- Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion
"David Barash has long been one of our wittiest, warmest, and most insightful writers on the implications of evolution for human nature." -- Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of How the Mind Works and The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
"David Barash is a thinker who combines deep understanding of evolutionary science with a deft pen, an unpretentious erudition, and a mischievous sense of humor. If you've ever been puzzled by, longed for, or found comfort in female orgasms, literary art, or the idea of an afterlife, this is your chance to see how a wise scientist uses Darwinian theory to try to unravel those riddles, and many more besides." -- Melvin Konner, author of The Evolution of Childhood: Relationships, Emotion, Mind and The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit
"David Barash is incapable of writing a dull word. Any discussion of human nature is bound to be controversial, and Barash is fearless in plunging in and assessing ideas and making suggestions. You will surely not agree with everything he says, but equally surely, you will come away better informed and wiser in your future judgments about our ever-fascinating species." -- Michael Ruse, editor of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Darwin and Evolution
"A thoughtful, witty book." --Publishers Weekly
"Evolutionary psychologist David Barash takes a crack at the enduring enigmas of human evolution. Starting with what we don't know, he strides boldly into a jungle of hypotheses. It is an entertaining exploration through sexual phenomena such as concealed ovulation, breasts and the menopause; art, where explanations such as Steven Pinker's "cheesecake for the mind" feature; the roots of religion, from the "God gene" to feel-good neurochemicals; and, finally, our big brains and the vast reach of human intelligence." -- Nature
"After summarizing current scientific research on these topics, Barash discusses supporting or contradictory theories, acknowledging that, while much is speculation, it is only through discussion and examination that explanations may eventually be found. A prolific writer, Barash has discussed issues of sexuality and sociobiology in previous books, e.g., How Women Got Their Curves and Other Just-So Stories and The Gender Gap: The Biology of Male-Female Differences. VERDICT A fascinating, well-researched introduction to the conundrums of evolutionary psychology and sociobiology written for the general reader." -- Lucille M. Boone, San José P.L., CA, Library Journal
"Homo Mysterious: Evolutionary Puzzles of Human Nature (Oxford), a new book by David Barash, a professor of psychology and biology at the University of Washington, Seattle, inadvertently illustrates how just-so stories about humanity remain strikingly oversold. As Barash works through the common evolutionary speculations about our sexual behavior, mental abilities, religion, and art, he shows how far we still are from knowing how to talk about the evolution of the mind." -- Anthony Gottlieb, The New Yorker
"...Homo Mysterious poses fascinating questions, and the potential answers are often informative." -- Science News
"Homo Mysterious is a well-researched, well-articulated, and unpretentious attempt to resolve a number of unanswered human evolutionary questions." --The Quarterly Review of Biology
About the Author
David P. Barash is Professor of Psychology and Biology at the University of Washington, Seattle, and author or coauthor of dozens of books, including The Hare and the Tortoise: The Conflict between Culture and Biology in Human Affairs; Madame Bovary's Ovaries: A Darwinian Look at Literature; and Payback: Why We Retaliate, Redirect Aggression, and Take Revenge. He is also a regular contributor to the Chronicle of Higher Education and to the op-ed page of the Los Angeles Times, one of the founders of sociobiology, a Fellow of the AAAS, and the recipient of numerous awards.
Most helpful customer reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Mysteries demystified
By W. Cheung
Essentially this is a fascinating book on some proposed evolutionary psychology explanations of human behaviors and characteristics, i.e. the ways these behaviors might have conferred survival and reproductive benefits. Four areas are explored: sex, art, religion and intelligence. The first is most satisfactorily explained. So successful that I don't think there is any mystery left (although the author poses a more modest claim). It attempts to explain for instance, quoting Dr Sarah Hrdy, "a disconcerting mismatch between a female capable of multiple sequential orgasms and a male partner typically capable of one climax per copulatory bout" (page 58). Likewise, with five pages of 83 references, it attempts to explain how natural selection allows the persistence of homosexuality, when this should ostensibly reduce reproductive success by definition. Another interesting topic covered is the uniqueness of human females having prominent breasts even when not lactating - this is not observed in other mammals or primates.
The chapters on art and religion, however, are less rewarding. Readers can decide themselves how convincing they are. E.g. if art is a by-product of sexual selection (Chapter 6), then should we not expect more female connoisseur when/if there is a preponderance of male artists? And shouldn't artists in general have disproportionately more progeny?
There are two chapters on religion. Although interesting, there is something missing or even amiss here. The two definitions of religion used in the book, one by Daniel Dennntt (p. 210) and the other by Emil Durkheim (p. 239), restricts the discussion primarily to the social aspects of religion. The book does not discuss religious experience at all. Arguably this is of utmost importance to a religious believer. This remains unexplored and still very mysterious indeed. Saying that, it offers some enlightening remarks. E.g. whilst religion may be a form of memes (but what isn't?), the author does emphasize that "it is also possible for memes to be neutral or even beneficial; indeed, the great majority of them probably are" (p. 209). Also, he opines "it might be claimed that a neuronal or genetic substrate for religious belief makes such belief more legitimate, implying that God implanted the appropriate genes or orchestrated the neuronal connections" (p. 203). Theists need not to worry here.
The penultimate chapter on intelligence is stimulating. The question of "if human intelligence skyrocketed because our ancestors lived in social groups surrounded by other ... ... why didn't the same thing happen to other species?" (p. 292). I will leave it to you to read about his answer. It is quite inspiring.
Overall very informative. Fully worth the while.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
Recommend, Chapters 2-10 are great
By PatCali500
I also purchased this book after a review in 'Scientific American.' It includes very entertaining discussions considering unsolved human mysteries, from menstruation and hidden ovulation to religion. If chapter 1 gets you down, I recommend continuing on to chapter 2 and beyond, which will not disappoint. Now this is only my opinion, of course -- but I almost put the book down never to pick it up again when trying to read the first chapter, which reads like an Introduction instead of a chapter. Chapter 1 discusses reasons for the title and what the author hopes to accomplish in the text. Why? Maybe in the interest of brevity and fewer pages, editors no longer allow Introductions, forcing the poor authors to include introductory material in chapter 1. However, after skimming/skipping the few pages of introductory material, my expectations for a good read were met beginning with chapter 2. I'll pass the book on to my husband and recommend it to my friends.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
The 'Why' of Human Development in terms of ' reproductive advantage'
By Shalom Freedman
At the outset of this work David Barash distinguishes between religious 'mystery' and scientific 'mysterious' His approach is one in which he is seeking to understand by scientific means elements in human development which are 'mysterious' By 'mysterious' he means that they may not be known now but are 'knowable' He also makes clear that his focus is on nuts- and- bolts explanations of certain behaviors but rather on the 'why' behind them. He, a long - time teacher of Science, wishes too to stimulate the reader into understanding that while Science is often taught as if he we know and understand completely the subject matter in question in fact in most areas of scientific work unanswered questions abound. For Barash it is clear that these answers will eventually be found by Science. In this work he is taking what he regards as some of the most interesting questions related to human development and exploring them. At the outset he will study pecularities of female human sexuality including 'concealed ovulation' 'prominent breast size and 'women's orgasm'. He will also study same- sex sexuality, the question of why women live longer than men, the development of art and culture, and religion. The explanations he will give will be in terms of what adds to 'reproductive advantage' of those involved. And this though he makes it clear that the answers he gives our not definitive and are subject to further investigation. Still he seems to opt for the hypothesis that none of these behaviors might have simply emerged and remained as part of the human without their having some evolutionary advantage. The one underlying grand principle behind every explanation he suggests is 'reproductive advantage'. However central the concept to explaining the overall development of Life it may well be mistaken to automatically assume it provides the answer for all human developments, including language, bipedalism, our three times larger than any other primate brains.
It is clear that he is at best when he deals with elements more closely connected to the biological and physical. On the broader human cultural subjects it seems that speculation has the upper hand.
The work is nonetheless full of interesting ideas and hypotheses which which may enhance our understanding of various aspects of human development.
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