Review by Booklist Review
Eloquent and caring biologist and humanist Wilson posits that it is our limited biological understanding of our now dominant species that induces us to unthinkingly destroy the biosphere and, therefore, ourselves even as we're developing genetic technologies that will allow us to direct our own evolution. To gain the knowledge we need to navigate these dilemmas, Wilson argues, we must unite the humanities and the sciences to develop a deeper form of history that embraces both biology and culture. In this collection of rigorous yet lyrical essays, themselves models of the science-humanities fusion he envisions, Wilson extends his in-depth analysis of our complex, competitive social behavior launched in The Social Conquest of Earth (2012), nimbly discussing the evolutionary sources of our inborn turmoil. Homo sapiens is an innately dysfunctional species, Wilson avers, due to what he defines as the Paleolithic Curse, genetic adaptations that once helped us thrive but now hold us back. Wilson's suggested solutions to our paradoxical predicaments are firmly rooted in science and finely crafted with tonic common sense, unusual directness, and no small measure of valor.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In his typically elegant style, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Wilson (Letters to a Young Scientist) cannily and candidly probes the nature of human existence. Wilson ranges from natural selection and eusociality to extraterrestrial life and the "all-importance of the humanities," observing that the "origin of the human condition is best explained by the natural selection for social interaction." He explores the conundrum of nature versus culture, pointing out that the two levels of natural selection-individual and group-always oppose each other. Human nature, he argues, is the "ensemble of hereditary regularities in mental development that bias cultural evolution in one direction as opposed to others and thus connect genes to culture in the brain of every person." According to Wilson, "human existence may be simpler than we thought. There is no predestination, no unfathomed mystery of life... we are self-made, independent, alone, and fragile, a biological species adapted to live in a biological world." Given this freedom to recognize our relationship to nature and to act accordingly, Wilson pleads that we show tolerance to our fellow humans and mercy to the world around us: "We alone among all species have grasped the reality of the living world.... We alone have measured the quality of mercy among our own kind. Might we now extend the same concern to the living world that gave us birth?" (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Wilson (The Social Conquest of Earth) tackles that most intriguing and difficult of questions-the meaning of human existence-with uneven results. On the positive side, the author shows an almost childlike joy in describing the teeming diversity of the biological and physiographical makeup of our universe. This joy is infectious. His optimism for the bright future that science and technology will champion is equally heartening. However, while Wilson is an intelligent commentator on the natural sciences, his musings on theology and philosophy are pedestrian. According to the author, religion is nothing more than tribalism run amok, and the mystery of consciousness will be solved once neuroscientists meticulously map the brain. The arguments on offer for these views are drawn from his biology toolkit. Unfortunately, the evidence he marshals in defense doesn't warrant the conclusions he promotes. These shortcomings aside, Wilson calls for solidarity between the sciences and the humanities, which is a lofty and worthwhile goal. The voice work of Jonathan Hogan is solid as he capably conveys the optimism of the author. The book is by turns absorbing and contentious. It is interesting when Wilson sticks to the science he is clearly expert at-his insight into the behavior of ant colonies is particularly intriguing-but he invites controversy when delving into other fields of study. VERDICT Recommended for those interested in the scientific view of everyday life. ["This book will be of interest to the general reader," read the review of the -Liveright: Norton hc, LJ 10/1/14.]-Denis Frias, Mississauga Lib. Syst., Ont. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An exploration of what it means to be human by the noted sociobiologist and naturalist, twice the winner of the Pulitzer Prize. According to Wilson (A Window on Eternity: Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, 2014, etc.), our species was created not by a supernatural intelligence but by chance and necessity out of millions of species in Earth's biosphere. No destiny or purpose is assigned to us, and no afterlife awaits us. The meaning of human existence, writes the author, lies in "the epic of the species, begun in biological evolution and prehistory, passed into recorded history, and urgently now, day by day, faster and faster into the indefinite future." Social intelligence, enhanced by natural selection for social action, made us what we are today. Our most vital possession is not science but the humanities. The humanities, writes Wilson, describe the human condition and address in detail all the ways that human beings relate to one another and to the environment. Science takes a larger view: the general principles of the human condition and why the species exists and where it fits in the universe. While science and the humanities are fundamentally different, they are complementary. Wilson's last word is that if the analytic power of the one can be joined with the creative power of the other, "human existence will rise to an infinitely more productive and interesting meaning." Perhaps the human species will even take up the cause of biodiversity, on which its very existence depends. For readers wondering where religion fits into this, the author notes that throughout prehistory and most of history, people required religion to explain natural phenomena and provide cohesion to the tribe. Conceding that there is strong evidence from neuroscience that a religious instinct does exist, Wilson asserts that the instinctual force of tribalism is far stronger. A little book with a big message, bound to produce discussion among scientists and discomfort in devout churchgoers. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
