Why Us?: How Science Rediscovered the Mystery of Ourselves

by James Le Fanu

The imperative to 'know thyself' is both fundamental and profoundly elusive -- for how can we ever truly comprehend the drama and complexity of the human experience? In 'Why Us?' James Le Fanu offers a fascinating exploration of the power and limits of science to penetrate the deep mysteries of our existence, challenging the certainty that has persisted since Charles Darwin's Origin of Species that we are no more than the fortuitous consequence of a materialist evolutionary process. That challenge arises, unexpectedly, from the two major projects that promised to provide definitive proof for this most influential of scientific theories. The first is the astonishing achievement of the Human Genome Project, which, it was anticipated, would identify the genetic basis of those characteristics that distinguish humans from their primate cousins. The second is the phenomenal advance in brain imaging that now permits neuroscientists to observe the brain 'in action' and thus account for the remarkable properties of the human mind. But that is not how it has turned out. It is simply not possible to get from the monotonous sequence of genes along the Double Helix to the near infinite diversity of the living world, nor to translate the electrical firing of the brain into the creativity of the human mind. This is not a matter of not knowing all the facts. Rather, science has inadvertently discovered that its theories are insufficient to conjure the wonder of the human experience from the bare bones of our genes and brains. We stand on the brink of a tectonic shift in our understanding of ourselves that will witness the rediscovery of the central premise of Western philosophy that there is 'more than we can know'. Lucid, compelling and utterly engaging, 'Why Us?' offers a convincing and provocative vision of the new science of being human.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Evolution, History, Popular Science, Anthropology

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

James Le Fanu studied the Humanities at Ampleforth College before switching to medicine, graduating from Cambridge University and the Royal London Hospital. He subsequently worked in the Renal Transplant Unit and Cardiology Departments of the Royal Free and St Mary’s Hospital in London. For the past 20 he has combined working as a doctor in general practice with contributing a weekly column to the Sunday and Daily Telegraph. He has contributed articles and reviews to The New Statesman, Spectator, GQ, The British Medical Journal and Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. He has written several books including The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine that won the Los Angeles Prize Book Award in 2001.

He has made original contributions to current controversies over the value of experiments in human embryos, environmentalism, dietary causes of disease and the misdiagnosis of Non Accidental Injury in children. He lives in south London.

Reviews

[Rik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating expose of the limits reached so far by mainstream science. Some reviews criticized Le Fanu for not providing an alternative to evolution, but I thought his debunking of it was more credible for its honesty in saying it doesn't work, and we don't have an alternative. His discussions of conciousness, the double helix/ genes, our ability to communicate, and brain development all point to some influence outside of our current knowledge - and he seemed at pains to ensure he wasn't advocating the answer is God. Though his concluding chapter suggests there might be room for 'renewed sympathy with religion' as it allows the assumption that there might be 'more than can be known'.
It covers some complex ideas, and at times needed several rereads to understand, but I found it compelling and refreshing.
(I tried to discuss the idea that evolution is fatally flawed at work, meeting such incomprehension and unwillingness to consider it as you might find with religious indoctrination!)

[JN · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book may seem like an argument for creationism, but it isn't. In truth, this book is about why science cannot reach the ultimate answers that mankind has been searching for since we've first separated ourselves from the rest of the animal kingdom.

By breaking down the limits of science, what happened with Human Genome Project that created more mysteries and questions than we had before the project started, and how the brain is more of an enigma than we originally thought, Le Fanu shows that humans are a very very unusual species and worthy of being on the pedestal of the world. He also shows us what we've learned was right from Darwin's theory (i.e. microevolution and speciation), but brings up glaring questions regarding scientism adopting the theory as a "theory of everything." Le Fanu then continues to show that there is very likely a separation between the mind and the brain, but doesn't go so far as to say that this, indeed, is proof in the supernatural.

The best part, though, is Le Fanu's argument as to why the science community remains silent on these questions and does not appear to acknowledge the limitations science possesses (and no, it's not a conspiracy).

This isn't a book that everyone will put down and say "yes, he is absolutely right," but it definitely is one that will leave the reader asking more questions.

[G0thamite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fanu thinks along the same lines as Thomas Nagel. He does not believe the Neo-Darwinian thesis can account for all that it claims. He takes us through a history of science lesson in chemistry and neurobiology and argues that both fail to adequately explain a purely materialistic account of life.

[Cassandra Kay Silva · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a creationist book, and I appreciate that. Le Faunu took a lot of time going through evolution piece by piece and taking a very realistic look at what he felt was known so far (he did miss a few things but we will let that slide for the time being), and given what information he had, he basically built a defense against a wholesale acceptance of Evolution. This is fine, and I think he did this fairly well. What I did not appreciate was two things. First of all as with EVERYONE who has something to say against evolution he proposes NOTHING in its place. How is this helpful? Pray tell, what do you have better? You can't just fall back on a sky god and some nonsense and expect people to buy into this anymore, we are over it, we want answers. Please if you see flaws with evolution on a macro scale (he has no problem with micro scale evolution) by all means propose something. Oh wait you can't you can just complain about what is unknown, sorry but no thanks for your useless input. The second problem I have with this book is that he makes it out as if scientists have lost the ability to see the beauty of nature and the "complexity" as he calls it of life around us. That scientists have tried to hammer down everything into answers and forgotten to look at and appreciate the world around them. I am no scientist but I feel that is completely untrue. Many of the greatest minds in science fell into this field simply because of the beauty and majesty they felt from nature. Scientists make great poets too! And he spends a section acknowledging Rachel Carsons love of the sea and the world around her and then turns around and says this is not generally true of scientists? What does that have to do with anything! That is false! Scientists are lovers of this world too, in some ways more than many people and have devoted their life to things of this planet and beyond. Just because they want answers doesn't mean they have lost the ability to see the beauty around them. I don't need a bible to appreciate a walk through the woods thank you and I am sure neither does Rachel Carson. How rude.

[Ammar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book was truly an adventure! The book opens with a recent history of the significant discoveries in the field of genetics and neurology as possessing immense potential and within which lie the secrets of life...alas, it wasn't found to be that easy. Le Fanu's central thesis is that science has foolishly reduced humans and animals to merely products of an aimless trajectory somehow always eventually proving positive to the species. Just as Marx reduced human history as stemming from economic motives and Freud reduced human behavior as a result of the hidden desires within him, so has Darwin proved able to summarize all the remarkable features of a plethora of species as developed through a long, arduous path of random mutations. Le Fanu points to the recently discovered levels of complexity found in the New Genetics and throughout the Decade of the Brain as most effectively illustrating how counterintuitive such a suggestion may be. The reader is introduced to many contradictions found today in the world that make current scientific discourse hard to believe, so Dr. Le Fanu walks the reader through the history that led to such a materialist worldview; he laments science "doesn't do wonder anymore". Lab reports are usually done from an impersonal third-person point of view pulling much of the excitement and mystery from science as though it has already been figured out when the contrary is obvious to the student of science.

Three levels of complexity are explored in the light of the materialist explanation: the Quixotic Universe, the Impenetrable Helix, and the Unfathomable Brain...three gradual doses of utter amazement contemplating the remarkably intangible omnipresent notion of gravity, the puzzling similarities among distinct species in their genetic code, and the overwhelming workings of the brain that would leave you flabbergasted! You are left to wonder how you are expected to believe that your whole formation was unguided and coincidental. Am I supposed to believe that my brain gives me the illusion that I have free will in spite of my conscience and imagination? Look what the human race has achieved thus far! Le Fanu laments that this materialist worldview has stunted our imagination and has led to a slowing progress in innovation. He argues we need to be able to seek to answer such hard questions as how we are able to recognize a hand no matter what color, shade, angle, position, or size in less than a second or how the same gene forms distinctly different eyes in a fruitfly and a mouse instead of shoving them under the rug. We perhaps should explore how the biosphere cooperates towards harmony, rather than focus on the survival of the fittest paradigm. This book is hard to put down and is sure to influence your thinking on the current theories in science...

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had two distinct reactions to this book (and I want to acknowledge this is the 1st book I read on Kindle e-reader). I do have an interest in the relationship between science and religion. I think both science and religion should have a commitment to seeking truth. I am not a Biblical literalist. I do not go to the Bible when I want to learn about science. Though I believe in God, I am comfortable with studies in anthropology, biology, archaeology, evolution, etc. I do not feel threatened by these studies even when they are completely based in scientific materialism. Truth is truth after all. I find myself thinking in two worlds that are in some ways incompatible and can cause cognitive dissonance. It is internally an ambiguous relationship between science and my Christian faith. But I find myself attracted to truth and so find both pursuits worth searching even if they leave me with ambivalent feelings about how they can hold together.

First reaction to the book: I did find Le Fanu's questions regarding what science has been able to prove in support of a theory of evolution and scientific materialism to be some of the most compelling writing against wholesale acceptance of evolution. It is not clear to me that the theory has been proved beyond a doubt in its most popular manifestation. It does appear in the historical record that there is not simply a gradual change in species over time leading to entirely new species, but rather there are moments of "explosion" in which many species dramatically disappear and totally new species appear. I've certainly read in DISCOVER magazine (a scientific not religious journal) scientist saying this gradual change over time is not what the record affirms. Also, the complexity of various body organs and systems, and the fact that most species are interdependent with other species for survival, makes the gradual change idea seem less probable to me.

Second reaction: The last chapters in which he takes his conclusions in a particular direction to simply dismiss evolution and say it is time to re-instate a dual understanding of humans - having both an empirical existence and an immaterial existence seemed far less convincing to me. I appreciate his appeal to "wonder" but I was not in the end convinced by his particular arguments that he had proved his points. He makes certain assumptions (it is either this ... or this - I've seen the same thing in materialistic writers) that offer a false dichotomy because even I can imagine other alternatives to what he presents. So I left the book far less enamored than when I was reading through his focus on genetics and the brain. He takes a leap to his conclusion - I wasn't convinced by his concluding essays into science moving in a new direction. I think the divide between science and religion still is pretty wide.

[Joshua Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le Fanu is a profound writer, and though I found much of this work somewhat heavy going, the ideas he expresses are worthy of much thought and contemplation. I especially appreciated his treatment of the history of materialist science, and explanations of its limits in light of modern work with the genome project, and with brain science, brain imaging, and the mind. I'm intrigued by his argument about the dual nature of reality, the material and the non material, and feel that further study would be profitable. Five stars for succinctly describing complex concepts. His writing could be clearer, like Amir Aczel's, but it is clear enough. A fantastic work. If you're considering reading it, do yourself the favor of entertaining his arguments.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Le Fanu’s book has the worthwhile intention of drawing his readers’ attention to the complexity and sheer unlikeliness of the world around us – and, especially, of our unique place in it.

Natural human amazement been ground out of us, he believes, by over-confidence in the ideas of Marx, Freud and Darwin, each of whom started with a legitimate but limited insight and expanded it to claim universal truths, about, respectively, economies, the human psyche and the natural world.

Le Fanu is a doctor, so when it comes to science, he knows what he’s talking about even if his views are decidedly unconventional. Most of the book is devoted to arguing that science’s claims have over-reached the evidence for them. We don’t understand how genes work or why there is such an overlap in the genetic makeup of species which have little in common, for instance, but the theory of evolution is an article of faith, not be questioned.

We certainly don’t understand how the brain works, however detailed the experiments in which parts of it are activated in different tasks. We don’t know how neurones record memories. We don’t even know how gravity works.

The assumption that materialism is ‘all there is’ and that evolution must, in the end, somehow or other, explain every tiny detail of every living organism, puts a huge weight of explanatory responsibility on the ideas of beneficial mutation, natural selection and the survival of the fittest.

Le Fanu’s doubts about all this are interesting and well-argued. His account of where they leave us is not quite as solid. He will occasionally drop the word “soul” in, as if it’s something everyone is comfortable and familiar with. But not all his readers will have been brought up at a Catholic monastic school, as he was at Ampleforth.

Less pointedly, he talks about “the possibility of there being a ‘dual’ nature of reality, with both a material and a non-material realm”. This is the “commonsense” view that has been held for millennia, he says, which has, in recent years been “censored, written out of the script as being of historical interest only, a relic of the superstitious ways of thinking of the distant past”.

The point of drawing attention to science’s failures is to give credence to the aim he gets to in his final chapter, which is called ‘Restoring Man to his Pedestal’. If science’s limitations were acknowledged, he says, that would have many benefits, including allowing us to see the world anew, “fresh-minted in glorious Technicolor as astounding and amazing, magical and mysterious”.

Free will would become intellectually respectable again, restoring the assumption that we exercise personal freedom and responsibility. Science itself would be liberated from its “degenerate” research programmes and allowed to investigate areas which are currently considered off limits. (Rupert Sheldrake would be pleased.)

As for religion, it would enjoy a “renewed sympathy” which would “heal that rupture in Western civilisation between its present and its overwhelmingly Christian past”, along with other religions, who have a common belief “of there being ‘more than can be known’.”

This is an underdeveloped part of the argument. Whilst it doesn’t seem right to dismiss all of religious thought and culture as superstition, as scientists may want, there’s no question that believers in most faiths are asked to sign up to some very specific and unproven claims. Is Le Fanu saying we shouldn’t worry about that – which would be odd since he’s dismissing the claims of science on the basis of a lack of evidence – or is he saying that there will be a new, less specific kind of religious belief – perhaps just a kind of nature-worshipping awe, combined with the admission that there’s a lot we don’t understand? He’s less forthcoming on a future vision for religion that on the current problems of science.

Marx and Freud no longer hold sway the way they once did, Le Fanu argues. It’s time we downgraded Darwin too. It’s a refreshingly independent-minded book. Even if Le Fanu hasn’t presented a solid alternative to science’s world view, it’s worthwhile – and eye-opening - to be reminded what an odd thing it is that we exist at all.

But whose idea was it to call it Why Us? That doesn’t do justice to the subject. And the subtitle How Science Rediscovered the Mystery of Ourselves is even worse. The main point is that far from any ‘rediscovering’, science refuses to admit the mystery of our existence. The book is 16 years old, was well reviewed and is still worth reading, but it could have been so more influential with a better title. Science in Denial? Humans are Special? What Science Doesn’t Admit? Restoring Humanity’s Self-Esteem? The Unique Species?

[Brian Ervin · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book of science so broad and well-researched, full of facts aimed at pinning a finger on the greatest mysteries of the universe, a work so capable of capturing and inspiring your imagination, the author, in his conclusions, seems to have no imagination at all.

What begins as a series of questions about the mysteries of existence, perception, consciousness, evolution, and what makes us human, soon devolves into the author dunking on the failures of science to bridge the gap between our understanding of a material world we can increasingly measure and the immaterial realm that we have intuited since time immemorial.

The author takes on the likes of modern geneticists, neuroscientists, and Charles Darwin and brushes them aside, declaring their attempts to explain life as we know it incomplete, and thus invalid. Research on the genome, in its infancy, has not explained all about how tiny molecules of DNA make us us, so it cannot be that we are made human solely by its instruction. The brain was unknowable, but now that we have MRI and PET scans, there can be no excuses for not understanding how consciousness is derived. There are holes in the fossil record - Darwin was a fraud!

I take his conclusions slightly ad absurdum here and take down a couple of straw men, but if you don't like that, you probably won't like Le Fanu's book.

For an author trying to explain deep concepts like the emergence of life and consciousness on a geologic timescale, Le Fanu's critical error stems from an ironically short-sighted view of modern humanity, one that assumes we are an end point of technological advancement, and that by now, we should have answers to his questions. His continual mocking of the "Decade of the Brain", a moniker for the 1990s coined by American politicians, provides a frequent reminder of his book's tragic flaw, suggesting that our ignorance in the year 2000 illustrates that science has failed.

All that said, I found it an enjoyable and illuminating read. There's plenty to learn, Le Fanu certainly knows a lot of interesting facts, and if you can suffer through his conclusions that science as an unfinished product proves a duality of material and immaterial nature, then the book will inspire plenty of awe at the mysteries of the universe and probably teach you a number of things. Perhaps if Le Fanu read his own book with a mind more open than that of its author, he would come away with more imaginative conclusions about the possibilities contained in the mysteries of the universe.

[Monika Skarzauskaite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visai įdomi knyga daugiausiai dėmesio skirianti priešpriešai tarp gamtos (biologija, genetika, fizika) ir humanitarinių (filosofija) mokslų.

Nors paskutiniai keli šimtmečiai pasižymi neįtikėtina pažanga supratime kaip veikia mūsų kūnas, smegenys, genetika ir kokie dėsniai valdo pasaulį aplink mus - mes žinome pagrindines dedamąsias ir jungimo principus. Bet vis dar negalime atsakyti - kodėl taip vyksta:

"Nesėkmė paaiškinti kaip milijardų neuronų monotoniškas elektrinis aktyvumas virsta nesuskaičiuojamais mūsų kasdienio gyvenimo subjektyviais potyriais - kai kiekviena trumpalaikė, greitai pralekianti akimirka pajaučiama kaip atskira, nepakartojama, neapčiuopiama. Kai Bacho kantatos ritmai taip iš pagrindų skiriasi nuo žaibo blyksnio, o burbono skonis nuo pirmojo bučinio neišdildomo atsiminimo"

Labai poetiškas tekstas apie mūsų žmogiškąją prigimtį.

[Povilas Jurčys · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not very smart, but I still found some wrong facts. For example, Einstein clearly explained the source of gravity force, but the author still claims that it's unsolvable mystery. Those things make this book untrustworthy.

[Colby · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes"
Compelling, but not convincing.

[Pete Pillinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A challenging read, Le Fanu challenges the materialist orthodoxy of modern society

[Frank Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book whose purpose is relatively simple. The author exposes how science has demonstrated that the world is more interesting and wonderful than scientific materialism has claimed. The first area highlighted are the information associated with DNA and how much simpler yet astonishing is that information in leading to the complexities of life. The second area is consciousness, thought and how we are more than simply our brains. The author is careful not to suggest a solution to the problem, as it would be too easy to use religious language, which he avoids. Others may think this is a weakness in the book, while I would argue that it is a strength. As the author points out, we need to first recognise that something is missing in our understanding before we can put in the effort to seek for any new solution. It is those new solutions that the author is suggesting that should be looked into. I might believe that the solution is found in God, while any atheist colleague of mine would disagree. We should, however agree that there is more to the world that should be investigated.

[S.R. Carson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely liked this book. The author took a chance and detailed the known science behind the genetic code and how little we know despite all the gene mapping about how this translates into the function of man and that our genetic code is only slightly less than the fruit fly.

His discussion of our advances in neurosciences with PET scans while remarkable, don't even touch on how the brain functions on a complex cellular basis with regard to cognitive function, feeling, sensing and calculation as well as emotion.

And finally, he has the courage to tackle the giant leaps of Darwin and the Origin of Man and how there is no clear explanation therefore for existence, free will and the reality of the autonomy to choose freely.

I think I'll need to read it again to fully absorb it.

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting story. The author brings in an enormous amount of information and arguments that there is an end to our knownledge. Good to read that others have also their doubts about many claims of scientists. In the first half of the book I had the hope that the author may give some alternative.
Clearly he is no supporter of the creationists, but I expected some philosophic considerations how to deal with his conclusions. He gave no such clues. Disappointing!

[Vonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read science book about how the last decade with it's examination of the brain using PET scans and the breaking of the human genome has not answered the questions of the origin of man, but just created new questions.

[Gretchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love science, nature, or history you should get this book. LeFanu is a wonderful writer and he conveys joy and wonder while he explains scientific things that I otherwise would not even try to read about.

[Joonas Laajanen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and an excellent critique of evolution. Sadly the author's eyes have not yet been opened to see, that the world looks designed because it indeed was designed. And that Designer has revealed himself in the Scriptures.

[Mg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good for undergrads but too general for a grad student, good for general audience.

[Douglas]

I want to buy everyone I know a copy of "Why Us". In fact, I'm checking Amazon right now.A mind expanding presentation of life.