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The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit
A vital updating of a seminal work of science
First published to great acclaim twenty years ago, T he Tangled Wing has become required reading for anyone interested in the biological roots of human behavior. Since then, revolutions have taken place in genetics, molecular biology, and neuroscience. All of these innovations have been brought into account in this greatly expanded edition of a book originally called an "overwhelming achievement" by The Times Literary Supplement .
A masterful synthesis of biology, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy, The Tangled Wing reveals human identity and activity to be an intricately woven fabric of innumerable factors. Melvin Konner's sensitive and straightforward discussion ranges across topics such as the roots of aggression, the basis of attachment and desire, the differences between the sexes, and the foundations of mental illness.
First published to great acclaim twenty years ago, T he Tangled Wing has become required reading for anyone interested in the biological roots of human behavior. Since then, revolutions have taken place in genetics, molecular biology, and neuroscience. All of these innovations have been brought into account in this greatly expanded edition of a book originally called an "overwhelming achievement" by The Times Literary Supplement .
A masterful synthesis of biology, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy, The Tangled Wing reveals human identity and activity to be an intricately woven fabric of innumerable factors. Melvin Konner's sensitive and straightforward discussion ranges across topics such as the roots of aggression, the basis of attachment and desire, the differences between the sexes, and the foundations of mental illness.
560 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
30 people are currently reading
1495 people want to read
About the author
Melvin Konner
19 books81 followersMelvin Konner, M.D. is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Program in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology at Emory University. He is the author of Women After All, Becoming a Doctor and Medicine at the Crossroads, among other books.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 4, 2009
Konner's book (2nd edition) is a solid defense of the thesis that humans are animals and that human (biological) nature exists. Konner's long book has numerous highlights, including: (1) our biological makeup (DNA, molecules) contains information about the environment that helps us resist dissipation (disorder); (2) the goal of the struggle in Darwin's theory is not life, but reproductive success; (3) following Gould, the body possesses certain non-functional architecture (so long as it does not detract from survival), and that adaptive functions for one purpose are used for other purposes; (4) biological nature exists within a range of expression, depending on environmental situations; (5) we have an integrated reptilian, paleomammalian, and new mammalian brain (i.e., we are most certainly part reptile); (6) following Demasio, Konner describes brain-damaged victims who know but do not feel the meaning-significance-relevance-value of what they know; (7) there's no "I" in a central place within the brain (leaving open the question of whether we have a biological core or an individualized nature?); and (8) like animals, we are mostly aware in the sense that we have integrated, global attention as opposed to a philosopher's consciousness (aware of what we do and why).
Konner's strength is detail, but it's also the book's weakness. Konner's facts are extensive, but mind-numbing. It is too, too easy to get get lost in the details and one cries out for more theory that pulls it all together and tells us what actually makes us tick (move). We have biological being on the one hand, and our challenging environment on the other. This is the history of human evolution. Konner does not draw out the implications of this critical relationship between internal need and external object/objective that addresses that need. We have emotions and we have mind, but Konner also does not draw out the significance of emotion (pre-cognitive regulation of the body's relationship with the external world) and the essential role emotions play in providing value and meaning for cognition. As so much of modern thought is biased against "emotion-free," objective thought, far more could have been discussed on this topic. Konner's chapter on change - what is universal in humans and what is variable - is superficial and disappointing. By implication, his discussion acknowledges a clear issue for evoutionary theory (nature versus nurture), but it adds nothing new to enlighten us. Throughout his book, Konner weaves in literary and poetic references that may soften the book's texture for some, but may strike others as out of place or as a distraction.
When assessing the prospects for the future, Konner quotes C.H. Waddington's plea that we need to develop an ethical system that supports life and the good. Waddington believes ethical axioms can be drawn from the various religions of humankind such as respect for self, respect for others, etc. This is nothing but a repeat of philosophical and ethical pleadings seen throughout the ages. Inspired by E.O. Wilson's biophilia (love of life) thesis, Konner says we must chose for "the evolution of the human spirit." But his is all empty stuff, assertions of "should and ought." The real question is why should we respect others, and why we, in fact, so frequently don't. Evolutionary theory provides insights if not outright answers to both questions. The task then becomes one of designing social, ethical and political systems that rest on this foundation of biological truth.
Konner's strength is detail, but it's also the book's weakness. Konner's facts are extensive, but mind-numbing. It is too, too easy to get get lost in the details and one cries out for more theory that pulls it all together and tells us what actually makes us tick (move). We have biological being on the one hand, and our challenging environment on the other. This is the history of human evolution. Konner does not draw out the implications of this critical relationship between internal need and external object/objective that addresses that need. We have emotions and we have mind, but Konner also does not draw out the significance of emotion (pre-cognitive regulation of the body's relationship with the external world) and the essential role emotions play in providing value and meaning for cognition. As so much of modern thought is biased against "emotion-free," objective thought, far more could have been discussed on this topic. Konner's chapter on change - what is universal in humans and what is variable - is superficial and disappointing. By implication, his discussion acknowledges a clear issue for evoutionary theory (nature versus nurture), but it adds nothing new to enlighten us. Throughout his book, Konner weaves in literary and poetic references that may soften the book's texture for some, but may strike others as out of place or as a distraction.
When assessing the prospects for the future, Konner quotes C.H. Waddington's plea that we need to develop an ethical system that supports life and the good. Waddington believes ethical axioms can be drawn from the various religions of humankind such as respect for self, respect for others, etc. This is nothing but a repeat of philosophical and ethical pleadings seen throughout the ages. Inspired by E.O. Wilson's biophilia (love of life) thesis, Konner says we must chose for "the evolution of the human spirit." But his is all empty stuff, assertions of "should and ought." The real question is why should we respect others, and why we, in fact, so frequently don't. Evolutionary theory provides insights if not outright answers to both questions. The task then becomes one of designing social, ethical and political systems that rest on this foundation of biological truth.
October 16, 2018
This book made me realized I had wasted money on my degree in Zoology with a focus on Evolutionary Biology. It should be a standard text in all related fields. It's also well written and accessable!! Important science shouldn't be a mind field of pontification. But Dr. Konner, also a poet, spins stories that explain the intricacies of Ecology, Behavioral Biology and Neurobiology as if you're listening to a best friend. A PhD from Harvard studying the !Kung San and MD, Dr. Konner is an undervalued Renaissance man. Not to belabor the point but I really feel it encapsulated my University studies (Washington University of St Louis, University of Sussex and University of Washington) read, give as a gift, Enjoy!!!!
March 13, 2013
An outstanding look at human nature from an author who is not only learned but wise.
January 8, 2021
I strongly encourage reading the notes and references at the end of the book.
May 30, 2024
AN ARGUMENT FOR THE FLEXIBILITY AND MODIFIABILITY OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR
Author (and biological anthropologist) Melvin Konner wrote in the preface to this 1982 book, “We need theories that are incisive and illuminating, enabling us to grasp the solution at once; they must transcend the complexities, paring away all that is irrelevant, leaving the elegant, decisive beauty of a Euclidean proof… I offer no such theories. It is my belief that the failure of behavioral science up to the present day results, precisely, from the pursuit of them… A good textbook of human behavioral biology… will not look like Euclid’s geometry… but more like a textbook of physiology or geology, each solution grounded in a separate body of facts and approached with a quiverful of different theories, with all the solutions connected in a great complex web. The pages that follow form a sort of game plan for such a text.” (Pg. xv)
He states in the first chapter, “It seems t me, too, that we must return to nature, and for human beings this means in some sense a return to the human condition as it was lived when people were evolving. I do not see any much better proposal for discovering how to modulate the social chaos now swirling constantly about this helpless planet.” (Pg. 10)
He asks, “How can these dramatic findings of structural change in response to experience be reconciled with the weight of evidence in favor of circuit-building in the absence of stimulation of even function?... we have ample evidence that stimulation can play a major role in some aspects of embryonic brain growth, and that, conversely, some major events of postnatal brain development can proceed very nicely without the sorts of specific experience that might be expected to be relevant.” (Pg. 80)
He notes the “sloppiness of what has often passed for respectable research in this field. IN the twin studies on which so much of recent theory is based, the statistical procedures of inference have usually been simply inappropriate to the task, and given the relatively small numbers of twin pairs, findings could easily have arisen by chance. Also, it may turn out that genetically identical twins are more similar than nonidentical twins because parents treat them more similarly… Moreover, some famous studies of identical twins reared apart did not insure against separate but highly similar rearing, and in some cases ‘separated’ twins went to the same school and were in frequent contact.” (Pg. 95)
He points out of the “Ape language” experiments involving a chimpanzee named Nim Chimpsky: “while Nim’s mean utterance progressed to a point at which it was greater than one sign, it didn’t grow beyond that. At age three and a half, when a human child … would be racing toward sentences, Nim was still hovering between one- and two-word phrases, where he had been for two years. Nim never produced utterances longer than two words that could be said unequivocally to be grammatically rule-bound. His percentage of imitations of trainer utterances remained high when it should have bene declining. He rarely expanded on his caretakers’ utterances, something human children do frequently, and he never learned turn-taking---necessary for true conversation.” (Pg. 168)
He states, “What seems certain to me… is that no cultural training, however designed, can eliminate the basic core of capability of violence that is part of the makeup of human beings. The continued pretense by some social scientists and philosophers that human beings are basically peaceable has so far evidently prevented little of human violence… Perhaps we could let it go for a while and see if the other assumption gives us a better understanding; if it does, it will give us a better chance at control.” (Pg. 207)
He explains, “If I did not believe in change, I would not write books… This book… is not one-sided. I believe it is impossible to read even a single chapter without coming away with a strong sense of the flexibility and modifiability of human behavior.” (Pg. 382)
He summarizes, “Human beings are irrevocably, biologically endowed with strong inclinations to feel and act in a manner that their own good judgment tells them to reprehend---that is, if they are in the least capable of sympathy with the suffering of other human creatures, or if they have any sense of joy and order and beauty---all these evolved for other purposes than to save the human species from a protracted, dissolute destruction. Yet there they are. Can we not turn them now to this latter purpose?” (Pg. 427)
This book will be of keen interest to those studying biological influences on human behavior.
Author (and biological anthropologist) Melvin Konner wrote in the preface to this 1982 book, “We need theories that are incisive and illuminating, enabling us to grasp the solution at once; they must transcend the complexities, paring away all that is irrelevant, leaving the elegant, decisive beauty of a Euclidean proof… I offer no such theories. It is my belief that the failure of behavioral science up to the present day results, precisely, from the pursuit of them… A good textbook of human behavioral biology… will not look like Euclid’s geometry… but more like a textbook of physiology or geology, each solution grounded in a separate body of facts and approached with a quiverful of different theories, with all the solutions connected in a great complex web. The pages that follow form a sort of game plan for such a text.” (Pg. xv)
He states in the first chapter, “It seems t me, too, that we must return to nature, and for human beings this means in some sense a return to the human condition as it was lived when people were evolving. I do not see any much better proposal for discovering how to modulate the social chaos now swirling constantly about this helpless planet.” (Pg. 10)
He asks, “How can these dramatic findings of structural change in response to experience be reconciled with the weight of evidence in favor of circuit-building in the absence of stimulation of even function?... we have ample evidence that stimulation can play a major role in some aspects of embryonic brain growth, and that, conversely, some major events of postnatal brain development can proceed very nicely without the sorts of specific experience that might be expected to be relevant.” (Pg. 80)
He notes the “sloppiness of what has often passed for respectable research in this field. IN the twin studies on which so much of recent theory is based, the statistical procedures of inference have usually been simply inappropriate to the task, and given the relatively small numbers of twin pairs, findings could easily have arisen by chance. Also, it may turn out that genetically identical twins are more similar than nonidentical twins because parents treat them more similarly… Moreover, some famous studies of identical twins reared apart did not insure against separate but highly similar rearing, and in some cases ‘separated’ twins went to the same school and were in frequent contact.” (Pg. 95)
He points out of the “Ape language” experiments involving a chimpanzee named Nim Chimpsky: “while Nim’s mean utterance progressed to a point at which it was greater than one sign, it didn’t grow beyond that. At age three and a half, when a human child … would be racing toward sentences, Nim was still hovering between one- and two-word phrases, where he had been for two years. Nim never produced utterances longer than two words that could be said unequivocally to be grammatically rule-bound. His percentage of imitations of trainer utterances remained high when it should have bene declining. He rarely expanded on his caretakers’ utterances, something human children do frequently, and he never learned turn-taking---necessary for true conversation.” (Pg. 168)
He states, “What seems certain to me… is that no cultural training, however designed, can eliminate the basic core of capability of violence that is part of the makeup of human beings. The continued pretense by some social scientists and philosophers that human beings are basically peaceable has so far evidently prevented little of human violence… Perhaps we could let it go for a while and see if the other assumption gives us a better understanding; if it does, it will give us a better chance at control.” (Pg. 207)
He explains, “If I did not believe in change, I would not write books… This book… is not one-sided. I believe it is impossible to read even a single chapter without coming away with a strong sense of the flexibility and modifiability of human behavior.” (Pg. 382)
He summarizes, “Human beings are irrevocably, biologically endowed with strong inclinations to feel and act in a manner that their own good judgment tells them to reprehend---that is, if they are in the least capable of sympathy with the suffering of other human creatures, or if they have any sense of joy and order and beauty---all these evolved for other purposes than to save the human species from a protracted, dissolute destruction. Yet there they are. Can we not turn them now to this latter purpose?” (Pg. 427)
This book will be of keen interest to those studying biological influences on human behavior.
January 23, 2026
I finished!!! I only started this book two or three times, the first time in 2013. The book is about all the forces that drive human behavior. It was an extremely interesting book, but it was also a very technical, slow read.
November 12, 2025
This is more of a textbook/advanced read than I was expecting but I loved the content. A lot of books that compare men and women are generalizing or just overall not good but the depth of the science here accompanied by the casual nature of the writing made it far more inclusive and interesting than anything I ever expected to read.
Read
November 10, 2013I read what I could, this book was difficult for me. Left it with my friend Vicki when I went to Virginia this summer. This was just before I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, but I don't think it would have made a difference had I been already diagnosed. The book was on the reading list for my grad school class last fall; unfortunately the course of my disease has made it necessary to pull out of grad school and devote myself to healing. Perhaps when I feel better I will give it another go, perhaps not.
July 18, 2008
A book I managed to read in college and have since recommended to many. Konner is a good writer and covers his field well. I want to read the revised edition soon.
March 7, 2009
A good book to explain the biological basis of behavior and passions in humanity.
August 28, 2010
An interesting (albeit a bit uneven) effort to explain human behavior through a Darwinian prism.
wanted
June 26, 2012One of Nate Hagen's favorite books.
November 14, 2013
An astute examination of the biology of human behavior.
Read
December 27, 2016Evolution and Human Nature Hoscho class fall 2016
January 16, 2022
Excellent.
Ik ga hier in krassen.
Ik ga hier in krassen.
someday-maybe
December 26, 201712/26/2017 not available on Kindle
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews