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A Story of Us: A New Look at Human Evolution
*Running Time => 10 hrs. and 3 mins.*
The idea that evolution enables specific behaviors to come naturally to anyone is a profoundly unhelpful way to understand ourselves and our species.
A great deal of evidence surrounding what humans are like and the conditions that shape human evolution recently surfaced, and it's time to re-examine the origins of the human species. In the past seven million years, many humans have moved away from the tropical forests of Africa and into air-conditioned homes. While the journeys our ancestors took are still being investigated today, we can piece together a significant portion of the narrative using a wide range of disciplines. Lesley Newson and Peter J. Richerson, a husband-and-wife team with backgrounds in biology from the University of California, Davis, have assembled a story of the evolutionary journey of humankind.
In 'THE STORY OF US', Newson and Richerson illustrate the process of gene-culture coevolution by taking readers through seven stages of human evolution. They begin with the life of the ape seven million years ago, moving through and beyond the modern homosapien. Newson and Richerson reveal how life has changed throughout time, offering narrative sections in addition to the hard science to illustrate the problems our ancestors faced and what they did to overcome them. The book offers insight into the environment, resources, culture, and more, making it easy for readers to imagine what life was like at different stages throughout human history.
Not only does 'THE STORY OF US' depict how complex networks of caring, sharing, and competition have developed over time, but the book also delves into the creation of culture. The resulting book explains why the human psyche is more malleable than any other animal's on our earth.
©2020 Lesley Newson, Pete Richerson (P)2021 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
The idea that evolution enables specific behaviors to come naturally to anyone is a profoundly unhelpful way to understand ourselves and our species.
A great deal of evidence surrounding what humans are like and the conditions that shape human evolution recently surfaced, and it's time to re-examine the origins of the human species. In the past seven million years, many humans have moved away from the tropical forests of Africa and into air-conditioned homes. While the journeys our ancestors took are still being investigated today, we can piece together a significant portion of the narrative using a wide range of disciplines. Lesley Newson and Peter J. Richerson, a husband-and-wife team with backgrounds in biology from the University of California, Davis, have assembled a story of the evolutionary journey of humankind.
In 'THE STORY OF US', Newson and Richerson illustrate the process of gene-culture coevolution by taking readers through seven stages of human evolution. They begin with the life of the ape seven million years ago, moving through and beyond the modern homosapien. Newson and Richerson reveal how life has changed throughout time, offering narrative sections in addition to the hard science to illustrate the problems our ancestors faced and what they did to overcome them. The book offers insight into the environment, resources, culture, and more, making it easy for readers to imagine what life was like at different stages throughout human history.
Not only does 'THE STORY OF US' depict how complex networks of caring, sharing, and competition have developed over time, but the book also delves into the creation of culture. The resulting book explains why the human psyche is more malleable than any other animal's on our earth.
©2020 Lesley Newson, Pete Richerson (P)2021 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
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First published February 19, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
October 20, 2024
It is impossible to keep track of the number of books that have been published recently about the evolution of the human species, from its early beginnings, 6 or more million years ago, to the present. This is another one, and one that even claims to offer a new perspective, which is of course ridiculous. The couple Newson and Richerson, both affiliated with the University of California, emphasize the importance of social and cultural developments in the various stages that the human species has gone through. And that is anything but new. Joseph Henrich (The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter), Clive Gamble (Thinking Big: How the Evolution of Social Life Shaped the Human Mind) and many others, have already emphasized this. So, not very original, but anyway, what Newson and Richerson offer is a very readable and coherent story, with an emphasis on biological and anthropological aspects, much more than on the archaeological material. More in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
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October 25, 2024Our knowledge of the development of the human species since the split from the apes (here situated about 8-6 million years ago) looks impressive, just think of the ‘family trees’ that can be found in numerous publications, with resounding names such as australopithecus, homo erectus, neanderthal and sapiens, and more than a dozen others. And although enormous steps forward have been made in recent decades, there are large gaps and especially uncertainties in that overview (on top of that it is very questionable whether the graphic representation of a ‘family tree’ is really that suitable). At the same time as the reconstruction of the ‘leaps’ (another dubious term) that the human species made, scientists are also discussing how we can explain these different stages: why did certain species started walking upright, why did the volume of their brains gradually increase, and what explains the increasingly faster rhythm of human skills? It is mainly on these last questions that Newson and Richerson focus. And in doing so, mainly aspects such as social interaction, cultural transmission, biological evolution, and technological development (including language) are discussed. Their approach is not so much analytical, but rather didactic: they take their audience by the hand and try to make the leaps in human development plausible. Meritorious, certainly, but as a consequence not revolutionary new. What is striking, however, is how much they emphasize the intertwining of genetic and cultural development, with which they venture into the risky terrain of epigenetics. And in the final chapters they cannot help but go futuristic: on the basis of their research they are rather optimistic about the future of the human species, at least if you understand the term species in the very broad sense of the word.
June 28, 2021
This is an excellent overview of human evolution. Reading it I find my self thinking it would be great for use in an undergrad human evolution course. The style of the book and writing, however, I didn’t find very enjoyable as a casual read. It’s a review book rather than a presentation of a clear original thesis. Cross between a textbook and popular book.
January 31, 2022
Weaving together many strands of knowledge from current science, this books attempts to describe the main evolutionary steps from the most recent common ancestor of chimpanzees and us (Homo sapiens). The authors describe the evidence and the controversies that surround some of the explanatory theories. To illustrate the main stages in the process that eventually brought forth modern humans, the authors also include short fictional stories of events in the lives of some of our ancestors.
The book emphasizes the role of women and the relationships between women in the families and groups of humans and their predecessors. In older literature, the role of cooperation between males in hunting and conflict has often been the focus. Here, the roles of different generations of women in the family and in human groups is described as a major force in the evolution, in some epochs being the main force. I find this aspect of the book to be both convincing and fascinating.
The book continuously stresses the importance of culture in our evolution. Human nature is to be cultural. Indeed, in the epilogue of the book, the authors go as far as saying that the idea of "human nature" should be abandoned, since culture has become so important for us that we with its help are active participants in the evolution of our behavior. I do not agree that the idea of "human nature" should be scrapped. I think the idea of "human nature" is still important, since without it we cannot explain e.g. why we are so hyper-cooperative as compared to all our closest evolutionary relatives. But I do agree that the currently widespread idea of "human nature" as a single, discrete, well-defined entity must be thoroughly updated.
I found this to be one of the best recent synthesis of the story of us humans that I have read. I can strongly recommend it.
The book emphasizes the role of women and the relationships between women in the families and groups of humans and their predecessors. In older literature, the role of cooperation between males in hunting and conflict has often been the focus. Here, the roles of different generations of women in the family and in human groups is described as a major force in the evolution, in some epochs being the main force. I find this aspect of the book to be both convincing and fascinating.
The book continuously stresses the importance of culture in our evolution. Human nature is to be cultural. Indeed, in the epilogue of the book, the authors go as far as saying that the idea of "human nature" should be abandoned, since culture has become so important for us that we with its help are active participants in the evolution of our behavior. I do not agree that the idea of "human nature" should be scrapped. I think the idea of "human nature" is still important, since without it we cannot explain e.g. why we are so hyper-cooperative as compared to all our closest evolutionary relatives. But I do agree that the currently widespread idea of "human nature" as a single, discrete, well-defined entity must be thoroughly updated.
I found this to be one of the best recent synthesis of the story of us humans that I have read. I can strongly recommend it.
September 8, 2024
Started off as a good over view of human evolution but too many weird comments about women and the last chapter is a big ❌ NO ❌ modernization is not a linear scale, and we do not need to have all this fear mongering about declining birth rates!
August 16, 2021
The speculative stories were strange in this book, but the authors backed up *most* of their explanations with good reasoning and facts. It was weird to have the stories in second POV (you are, you feel, you etc.) and it made it awkward listening to.
November 8, 2021
Dumbed down. At times reads like a children's book. And a third of the book is in the genre of prehistoric fiction.
December 24, 2022
An interesting look at human evolution through a more cultural approach than typical of human evolutionary accounts. The authors begin each chapter with a story of how the life of our ancestors may have been, a story that is created based on the literature and how our ancestors life's may have been, followed by a through examination of that evidence and why the authors believe this to be the case. A true anthropological look at our ancestors through the lens of the scientific literature.
November 8, 2021
4.25 stars
July 16, 2023
Beginning seven million years ago with the apes that were the progenitors of humans and the modern chimpanzees and bonobos, Newson and Richerson walk readers through seven stages of human evolution.
The history of human evolution is presented from a novel perspective in Lesley Newson and Peter Richerson's book #A_Story_of_Us.
The authors argue that to fully understand our species, we need to look beyond the traditional focus on "ape-men" and consider how women and children have shaped us.
The opening of the book discusses the primates that existed before humans as well as contemporary chimpanzees and bonobos. The early bipedal apes were the most obedient, despite not being the fastest or strongest. The earliest people to cultivate land, create ceramics, and weave textiles were women.
Culture is a powerful force that has shaped our species; it is a complex web of common beliefs, values, and behaviours.
The seven stages of human evolution are then examined by Newson and Richerson, beginning with the earliest bipedal apes and concluding with the emergence of complex cultures.
Along the way, they discuss the challenges our ancestors faced, the solutions they found, and the concessions they made.
The book ends with a discussion of humanity's future.
Socioeconomic inequality, resource depletion, and climate change are a few of the issues we face, according to Newson and Richerson. But they also believe that we can overcome them and create a better future for our children and ourselves.
A fascinating and well-researched book,
A Story of Us presents a fresh and thought-provoking perspective on human evolution. The authors excel at mixing stories with factual information to produce a book that is both informative and enjoyable to read.
Some of the most significant lessons from the book include the following: The evolution of humanity has been fueled by cooperation, not competition. "The story of human evolution is one of cooperation rather than competition."
Women have played a critical role in the development of humanity. Culture has had a significant impact on how our species has developed. Women have played a significant role in the advancement of humanity.
The development of agriculture: This was a critical turning point in human history since it allowed people to cultivate their food and build permanent communities.
The invention of writing: This allowed people to save their ideas and thoughts for future generations.
Metalworking innovations: People then had access to stronger, more durable tools and weapons, which helped in the conquest of new areas and the expansion of their society and cities.
As a result, sophisticated societies with specialised occupations and fresh forms of governance, culture, and art started to emerge.
Quick forward
New tools, novel medicines, and uncharted worlds have all been discovered as a result of technology and scientific advancement.
History as we know it is going to change.
We have the option of continuing down the path of destruction or creating a more positive future for the whole world. "The destiny of humanity is in our hands. We can create a better future for ourselves and the earth, though it won't be simple.
Even though we don't know what the future holds for humanity, we can make it better for our children and ourselves. "The future of humanity is unknown, but we can create a better world for ourselves and our children." Someone once said, "We are the most successful and destructive species on Earth."
If we want to avoid destroying ourselves in the end, we must learn how to live in harmony with nature. Unless we find a way to create a society that is more just and equitable, we will continue to be divided. "If we want to avoid being wiped out by technology, we must use it wisely,"
The history of human evolution is presented from a novel perspective in Lesley Newson and Peter Richerson's book #A_Story_of_Us.
The authors argue that to fully understand our species, we need to look beyond the traditional focus on "ape-men" and consider how women and children have shaped us.
The opening of the book discusses the primates that existed before humans as well as contemporary chimpanzees and bonobos. The early bipedal apes were the most obedient, despite not being the fastest or strongest. The earliest people to cultivate land, create ceramics, and weave textiles were women.
Culture is a powerful force that has shaped our species; it is a complex web of common beliefs, values, and behaviours.
The seven stages of human evolution are then examined by Newson and Richerson, beginning with the earliest bipedal apes and concluding with the emergence of complex cultures.
Along the way, they discuss the challenges our ancestors faced, the solutions they found, and the concessions they made.
The book ends with a discussion of humanity's future.
Socioeconomic inequality, resource depletion, and climate change are a few of the issues we face, according to Newson and Richerson. But they also believe that we can overcome them and create a better future for our children and ourselves.
A fascinating and well-researched book,
A Story of Us presents a fresh and thought-provoking perspective on human evolution. The authors excel at mixing stories with factual information to produce a book that is both informative and enjoyable to read.
Some of the most significant lessons from the book include the following: The evolution of humanity has been fueled by cooperation, not competition. "The story of human evolution is one of cooperation rather than competition."
Women have played a critical role in the development of humanity. Culture has had a significant impact on how our species has developed. Women have played a significant role in the advancement of humanity.
The development of agriculture: This was a critical turning point in human history since it allowed people to cultivate their food and build permanent communities.
The invention of writing: This allowed people to save their ideas and thoughts for future generations.
Metalworking innovations: People then had access to stronger, more durable tools and weapons, which helped in the conquest of new areas and the expansion of their society and cities.
As a result, sophisticated societies with specialised occupations and fresh forms of governance, culture, and art started to emerge.
Quick forward
New tools, novel medicines, and uncharted worlds have all been discovered as a result of technology and scientific advancement.
History as we know it is going to change.
We have the option of continuing down the path of destruction or creating a more positive future for the whole world. "The destiny of humanity is in our hands. We can create a better future for ourselves and the earth, though it won't be simple.
Even though we don't know what the future holds for humanity, we can make it better for our children and ourselves. "The future of humanity is unknown, but we can create a better world for ourselves and our children." Someone once said, "We are the most successful and destructive species on Earth."
If we want to avoid destroying ourselves in the end, we must learn how to live in harmony with nature. Unless we find a way to create a society that is more just and equitable, we will continue to be divided. "If we want to avoid being wiped out by technology, we must use it wisely,"
July 16, 2024
With the help of the most current research on human beings, Nelson and Richerson tell us another “story” of evolution, which is actually the same, but takes into account human culture and thought, which evolves apart from genetics and in a different way.
This book tells us about human behavior when we were still separating from the apes, when we did and walked upright, about 3 million years ago, 1.5 million years ago, 100,000 years ago, 30,000 years ago and finally our era.
How do we transform the world? How do we conquer it from being a species with a few thousand beings to billions living around the world?
The authors' analysis of the past is very interesting, but also about what awaits humanity.
How can human beings go against nature and stop reproducing, this being a global trend, and going against the mandate of genes? Perhaps this is the most interesting point.
But also the analysis of why families were formed and how they did it to respond to an environment and social environment, how everything was different in the past and why up to 50 years ago it was a model to follow. And the current one, a world where people no longer get married and do not want to have children?
And the children? Who were previously used as labor and were given little importance today grow up far from their parents (who are working), among their peers and with such different ways of thinking.
Very interesting.
This book tells us about human behavior when we were still separating from the apes, when we did and walked upright, about 3 million years ago, 1.5 million years ago, 100,000 years ago, 30,000 years ago and finally our era.
How do we transform the world? How do we conquer it from being a species with a few thousand beings to billions living around the world?
The authors' analysis of the past is very interesting, but also about what awaits humanity.
How can human beings go against nature and stop reproducing, this being a global trend, and going against the mandate of genes? Perhaps this is the most interesting point.
But also the analysis of why families were formed and how they did it to respond to an environment and social environment, how everything was different in the past and why up to 50 years ago it was a model to follow. And the current one, a world where people no longer get married and do not want to have children?
And the children? Who were previously used as labor and were given little importance today grow up far from their parents (who are working), among their peers and with such different ways of thinking.
Very interesting.
November 20, 2022
This is an odd book to review. I guess I'm going to have to go with the good stuff first, and then the bad stuff.
It's a book of evolutionary biology, surveying human evolution from the Last Common Ancestor of humans and chimps to the present day. It does this through various snapshots over time at key points in history. I've read several books along these lines, and it's a nice complement to others, re-centering the importance of childcare and parenting to evolution itself. Often these are portrayed as something interesting happening on the side while the important evolution stuff happened elsewhere (often scavenging and hunting), but successful parenting drives genetic change. Each chapter uses a combination of stories from the point of view of someone living at that time and a review of evidence to explain the story and our knowledge of that time. Some readers did not like this use of stories, but the immersion overall worked for me. There were also some insights in earlier chapters that were new to me and I'll review the book again so that I don't forget these.
And then you have the bad side....
The more the book leaves ancient biological anthropology and moves towards today, the more odd things start appearing. The biggest is: get ready to be told that success as a human = more babies over and over. You'll be told our ancestors are the ones who wanted babies no matter what. They didn't care about resources or their lives. They had babies. There's a line about how there may have been an independent woman who didn't want to have babies, but it doesn't matter historically because she's dead and has no descendants. You'll be told that England/UK had such economic and military success during its greatest imperial age because it out-babied France, France who had started limiting their baby-ing due to modern ideas. The fact that the places England was conquering had just as many babies is not mentioned. In fact, the entire human race could go into decline, suggests this book, if we don't stop having so few babies. I'm writing this after having read the entire book except for the epilogue, but in all this worry about too few babies, it never mentions that demographers predict humans to level out at about 11 billion of us, more than have ever existed in all of history. We are in the midst of the human greatest population growth ever.
I can get the logic of each thing separately, but it all just built to make me feel more and more uncomfortable. In the story about current lives, running from WWII to today, you have two sisters. One skips university, stays at home, meets a nice guy, has babies, and eventually starts a business. The other goes to university, feels unfulfilled in her flat without babies, unwisely marries a selfish guy in the arts, tries cocaine and BDSM, considers abortion, gets divorced, and then marries a woman, with whom she happily raises babies. I understand they were trying to get a lot of modern choices into a single story, but it comes off like that meme from the alt-right of the happy family woman vs the lonely cat-owning feminist woman. The only thing that separated it is that the book doesn't condemn the same sex marriage of the character, but even here there's this weird finishing bit: "Forming a partnership with another woman provided her daughter with a family. Over the history of our species, females have used their ingenuity to find ways of getting help to raise their children. They still do this today (p. 203)." This finish suggests that same sex love and marriage are simply ways for a woman without a man to get some help raising their baby. Same sex attraction is an ingenious way to get resources. While love was mentioned in the straight couple's relationship, it wasn't in the lesbian couple's.
I confess, the book began to sound closer and closer to ideology from white nationalists: Worries about declining birth rates of some peoples, talk about earlier successful Europeans breeding and conquering with little mention of the negative side of colonialism, repeated mentions of how living with people of different cultures can be confusing, a praise from the gospel of Matthew for groups like the Amish, Anabaptists, etc., who are eschewing modernism and out-reproducing their modernist neighbours possibly to replace them. The book never said "replacement theory" but it wandered in that pool a lot.
I wondered: Had I read a book from an alt right scholar? I took a look at their Twitter timeline. I think the answer is no, I hadn't read such a book. However, there were promotions of material showing concern about transgender people transitioning. The act of boosting worry about the small number of transgender people who regret while never mentioning the vast majority of transgender people who are happy with their transition reminds me of the book worrying about population decline due to birth rate without mentioning the global population growth. With a book that so closely links human success with birthing and raising children, I suppose it's no surprise an author would closely focus on sex rather than gender. I stopped looking at the timeline at this point, because I don't like closely tying an author's life with their book. I just wanted to understand the perspective of the book that I had read.
Despite this long discussion, I cannot deny that the book was a good overview of human evolution with some nice ideas I had not heard before and that I thought was pretty engaging. So I guess I would recommend as long as you know the other stuff is also there? I suspect the authors would - if they didn't just hate this review - revise some sections to avoid sounding as replacementy as they (accidentally?) do. On the other hand, I glanced at the authors' peer-reviewed publications, which are in good journals, to learn that their research focus was actually on the later stuff that I found most dubious, not on the earlier stuff I found most rewarding. So perhaps other authors can present what I found to be the best parts of this book just as well without the "make babies or perish" push?
Edit/Addendum: Okay, in the Epilogue they do address the fact that we are headed towards 11 billion people. We are then reminded we will decline in population after that if birth rates are universally low.
It's a book of evolutionary biology, surveying human evolution from the Last Common Ancestor of humans and chimps to the present day. It does this through various snapshots over time at key points in history. I've read several books along these lines, and it's a nice complement to others, re-centering the importance of childcare and parenting to evolution itself. Often these are portrayed as something interesting happening on the side while the important evolution stuff happened elsewhere (often scavenging and hunting), but successful parenting drives genetic change. Each chapter uses a combination of stories from the point of view of someone living at that time and a review of evidence to explain the story and our knowledge of that time. Some readers did not like this use of stories, but the immersion overall worked for me. There were also some insights in earlier chapters that were new to me and I'll review the book again so that I don't forget these.
And then you have the bad side....
The more the book leaves ancient biological anthropology and moves towards today, the more odd things start appearing. The biggest is: get ready to be told that success as a human = more babies over and over. You'll be told our ancestors are the ones who wanted babies no matter what. They didn't care about resources or their lives. They had babies. There's a line about how there may have been an independent woman who didn't want to have babies, but it doesn't matter historically because she's dead and has no descendants. You'll be told that England/UK had such economic and military success during its greatest imperial age because it out-babied France, France who had started limiting their baby-ing due to modern ideas. The fact that the places England was conquering had just as many babies is not mentioned. In fact, the entire human race could go into decline, suggests this book, if we don't stop having so few babies. I'm writing this after having read the entire book except for the epilogue, but in all this worry about too few babies, it never mentions that demographers predict humans to level out at about 11 billion of us, more than have ever existed in all of history. We are in the midst of the human greatest population growth ever.
I can get the logic of each thing separately, but it all just built to make me feel more and more uncomfortable. In the story about current lives, running from WWII to today, you have two sisters. One skips university, stays at home, meets a nice guy, has babies, and eventually starts a business. The other goes to university, feels unfulfilled in her flat without babies, unwisely marries a selfish guy in the arts, tries cocaine and BDSM, considers abortion, gets divorced, and then marries a woman, with whom she happily raises babies. I understand they were trying to get a lot of modern choices into a single story, but it comes off like that meme from the alt-right of the happy family woman vs the lonely cat-owning feminist woman. The only thing that separated it is that the book doesn't condemn the same sex marriage of the character, but even here there's this weird finishing bit: "Forming a partnership with another woman provided her daughter with a family. Over the history of our species, females have used their ingenuity to find ways of getting help to raise their children. They still do this today (p. 203)." This finish suggests that same sex love and marriage are simply ways for a woman without a man to get some help raising their baby. Same sex attraction is an ingenious way to get resources. While love was mentioned in the straight couple's relationship, it wasn't in the lesbian couple's.
I confess, the book began to sound closer and closer to ideology from white nationalists: Worries about declining birth rates of some peoples, talk about earlier successful Europeans breeding and conquering with little mention of the negative side of colonialism, repeated mentions of how living with people of different cultures can be confusing, a praise from the gospel of Matthew for groups like the Amish, Anabaptists, etc., who are eschewing modernism and out-reproducing their modernist neighbours possibly to replace them. The book never said "replacement theory" but it wandered in that pool a lot.
I wondered: Had I read a book from an alt right scholar? I took a look at their Twitter timeline. I think the answer is no, I hadn't read such a book. However, there were promotions of material showing concern about transgender people transitioning. The act of boosting worry about the small number of transgender people who regret while never mentioning the vast majority of transgender people who are happy with their transition reminds me of the book worrying about population decline due to birth rate without mentioning the global population growth. With a book that so closely links human success with birthing and raising children, I suppose it's no surprise an author would closely focus on sex rather than gender. I stopped looking at the timeline at this point, because I don't like closely tying an author's life with their book. I just wanted to understand the perspective of the book that I had read.
Despite this long discussion, I cannot deny that the book was a good overview of human evolution with some nice ideas I had not heard before and that I thought was pretty engaging. So I guess I would recommend as long as you know the other stuff is also there? I suspect the authors would - if they didn't just hate this review - revise some sections to avoid sounding as replacementy as they (accidentally?) do. On the other hand, I glanced at the authors' peer-reviewed publications, which are in good journals, to learn that their research focus was actually on the later stuff that I found most dubious, not on the earlier stuff I found most rewarding. So perhaps other authors can present what I found to be the best parts of this book just as well without the "make babies or perish" push?
Edit/Addendum: Okay, in the Epilogue they do address the fact that we are headed towards 11 billion people. We are then reminded we will decline in population after that if birth rates are universally low.
January 23, 2022
Having read endless books about human evolution I found this book to be uniquely interesting because as challenging as it is to understand early human evolution (lack of physical evidence) it is eye-opening to realize that as we continue to deepen our understanding of our physical evolution (genes and environment) which is both random and deterministic we are developing a very comprehensive understanding of our cultural evolution which is highly dynamic and subject to wide-ranging and fundamentally different beliefs. This cultural evolution is driven by diverse memes that fit the individual cultural creations manifested by nation-states and whatever form of government is established to manage the operation of society. As a result, we are faced with levels of conflict that are increasing in complexity and making it very difficult to find balance and a more agreeable level of co-existence. Not sure where this ends up for us as a species??
July 6, 2021
Revisiting the History of Humankind is an interesting proposition.
This book can probably be summed up as a collection of short stories depicting the way some of our ancestors lived. The authors interlace the fiction and support these stories with some newer and older archeological evidence.
The book also looks at how the study of human evolution was born and the impact theories such as Darwin's had on social and economical sciences. The book explains the origin of some theories that are still prevalent to this day. Unfortunately, even though it hints at the role Mutual Aid had in the evolution of all species and even refers to this notion in chapter 7, the authors forget to mention Pyotr Kropotnik's book on the subject.
Regrettably, "A Story of Us" falls short of books such as Nicholas Wades's Before the Dawn or even Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens. A disappointment.
This book can probably be summed up as a collection of short stories depicting the way some of our ancestors lived. The authors interlace the fiction and support these stories with some newer and older archeological evidence.
The book also looks at how the study of human evolution was born and the impact theories such as Darwin's had on social and economical sciences. The book explains the origin of some theories that are still prevalent to this day. Unfortunately, even though it hints at the role Mutual Aid had in the evolution of all species and even refers to this notion in chapter 7, the authors forget to mention Pyotr Kropotnik's book on the subject.
Regrettably, "A Story of Us" falls short of books such as Nicholas Wades's Before the Dawn or even Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens. A disappointment.
December 20, 2021
I couldn't put it down. The second-person prehistoric fiction they use to tie the whole thing together is especially compelling, and if they just turned that into a novel I'd buy it with actual legal tender. The writing itself was highly engaging, very well done, even in the pop science parts, which can often be dry.
"So two stars off," you may be saying. "What the hell?"
Yeah, well. Weird to think of it this way, but the primitive humans were a bit too anthropomorphized to feel like anything but pushing an agenda. This is the risk you run when you have a husband and wife writing a book together, I suppose, but the prospect of marriage being a sacred and innate human tradition since humans become advanced enough to have the sacred or the traditional was a bit too status-quo a logical leap for me to hit 'em with the fingerguns and approvingly say, "Ah, yea. That good science."
Pushing the narrative of humans as naturally monogamous in the same way that birds of prey are disregards about half the field of evolutionary psychology, which is the genre you're writing the book in. They mention human testicles being smaller than chimps as evidence, then pointedly avoid mentioning any further comparisons between monogamous and polygamous animal testicle volume, as to do so would shoot a hole in this Disneyfied reimagineering of natural selection. For those playing at home, humans clock an intermediate relative testes-to-body ratio between traditionally mono- and poly- species. To say nothing of our (comparatively) magnum dongs, prominent clitori, and clandestine ovulation cycles.
I don't mean to poison the well. Ignoring sperm competition was the only bad faith I caught in an otherwise spectacular book, but they are specialist academics, and I am a mere evolutionary hobbyist, ape enthusiast, and monkey-related clothing brand CEO. But to really drive that home, that was the only bad faith argument that I caught. What other playful embellishments might've snuck in there that, layman fool as I am, I wasn't well-versed enough in the subject matter to catch?
A Story of Us did throw introduce me to some interesting, if fringe, concepts within evo bio theory, like humans becoming the dominant species because we are so fat (valuable in famines) and good at cockroachin' it in times of environmental fluctuation (suck it, global warming). The development of agriculture in response to mass die-offs in prey species due to climate shift was also kind of comforting to a based and tedpilled modern gentleman, as I'm a firm believer that the agricultural revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. Rather than chalking farming up to hoarding that developed from religious factioning, which would be the most likely point for marriages of political alliance to enter the story of us, they optimistically suggest that we got hit with a global El Nino and all of our favorite foods died off, so we had to start pounding acorns down by the river, and dying en masse when the wheat became diseased.
A good book, and worth the read if you're into this stuff. Just stay frosty. The fictionalized bits don't stop when the interspersed prehistoric fiction stops, if you catch my drift.
"So two stars off," you may be saying. "What the hell?"
Yeah, well. Weird to think of it this way, but the primitive humans were a bit too anthropomorphized to feel like anything but pushing an agenda. This is the risk you run when you have a husband and wife writing a book together, I suppose, but the prospect of marriage being a sacred and innate human tradition since humans become advanced enough to have the sacred or the traditional was a bit too status-quo a logical leap for me to hit 'em with the fingerguns and approvingly say, "Ah, yea. That good science."
Pushing the narrative of humans as naturally monogamous in the same way that birds of prey are disregards about half the field of evolutionary psychology, which is the genre you're writing the book in. They mention human testicles being smaller than chimps as evidence, then pointedly avoid mentioning any further comparisons between monogamous and polygamous animal testicle volume, as to do so would shoot a hole in this Disneyfied reimagineering of natural selection. For those playing at home, humans clock an intermediate relative testes-to-body ratio between traditionally mono- and poly- species. To say nothing of our (comparatively) magnum dongs, prominent clitori, and clandestine ovulation cycles.
I don't mean to poison the well. Ignoring sperm competition was the only bad faith I caught in an otherwise spectacular book, but they are specialist academics, and I am a mere evolutionary hobbyist, ape enthusiast, and monkey-related clothing brand CEO. But to really drive that home, that was the only bad faith argument that I caught. What other playful embellishments might've snuck in there that, layman fool as I am, I wasn't well-versed enough in the subject matter to catch?
A Story of Us did throw introduce me to some interesting, if fringe, concepts within evo bio theory, like humans becoming the dominant species because we are so fat (valuable in famines) and good at cockroachin' it in times of environmental fluctuation (suck it, global warming). The development of agriculture in response to mass die-offs in prey species due to climate shift was also kind of comforting to a based and tedpilled modern gentleman, as I'm a firm believer that the agricultural revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. Rather than chalking farming up to hoarding that developed from religious factioning, which would be the most likely point for marriages of political alliance to enter the story of us, they optimistically suggest that we got hit with a global El Nino and all of our favorite foods died off, so we had to start pounding acorns down by the river, and dying en masse when the wheat became diseased.
A good book, and worth the read if you're into this stuff. Just stay frosty. The fictionalized bits don't stop when the interspersed prehistoric fiction stops, if you catch my drift.
February 8, 2023
My sense here is that the authors are indeed experts in their field, but this text needs editing. On the plus side, the book is well organized and exceptionally well documented with over 50 pages of footnotes. However good writing is an art, especially when it requires producing a succinct scientific book using an economy of words and an engaging style. In contrast, I enjoyed “The Horse, the Wheel and Language” because altho’ the text is academic, it’s highly readable and entertaining.
The speculative stories about our ancestors reminded me of the Clan of the Cave Bear series from the 1980s, but the narrative was wooden and didn’t engage me. I was off-put by the authors’ criticism of books of the same genre which depict “ape men”. (I read fairly widely and have never come across a cartoonish depiction of early humans, or a sense that other authors had watered down the science for the reader.)
1- I would have included a glossary of frequently used terms after the table of contents. 2- many overly explanatory paragraphs need to be consolidated into sentences. Fewer words equal more clarity; the challenge is to choose well.
The speculative stories about our ancestors reminded me of the Clan of the Cave Bear series from the 1980s, but the narrative was wooden and didn’t engage me. I was off-put by the authors’ criticism of books of the same genre which depict “ape men”. (I read fairly widely and have never come across a cartoonish depiction of early humans, or a sense that other authors had watered down the science for the reader.)
1- I would have included a glossary of frequently used terms after the table of contents. 2- many overly explanatory paragraphs need to be consolidated into sentences. Fewer words equal more clarity; the challenge is to choose well.
August 10, 2024
The book by Newson and Richerson, biologists at University of California, gives an overview of the evolution of human species based on the recent findings in comparative biology, genetics, and archeology over the last few of million years. The book progresses mostly chronologically and they have added short fiction stories about the lives of individuals. The first few chapters are very interesting and there the stories work pretty well. However, shortly after the halfway we are already close to the start of the written history, a few thousand years ago, and especially their long chapter about modern times feels quite unnecessary, where they do not have much to add to what we all know already. At the end they talk a lot about the global drop in the fertility and give an interesting forecast that small closed cultures such as Haredis and Amishs, which still value large family sizes, will grow, while the mainstream cultures all shirk. Consequently, there will be relatively much more Amishs and ultra-orthodox Jews in the future world. A take home message they repeat many times is that people who did not want to have children, or did not take care of them well, or work well with the other humans in the community, are not our ancestors.
August 11, 2023
This book is about the evolution of human social life from millions of years ago to today. Each chapter contains a number of stories followed by reasons for why we think social life was like that at the time. Emphasis on cultural evolution and especially the role of women in this social evolution is one of the points of this book. In addition, the communication network has been emphasized as an important factor driving this flow.
What we learn:
- A look at the way mankind lives in different ages.
- Meeting archaeological evidence about the social evolution of mankind.
What is missing in this book:
- Not having an evolutionary view from a biological point of view to the story of our species
- The lack of historical continuity of the evidence and the existence of questionable evolutionary intervals that suggest a kind of discrete evolution.
- The disappearance of the origin of our species and the failure to state the new evidence found in this case.
What we learn:
- A look at the way mankind lives in different ages.
- Meeting archaeological evidence about the social evolution of mankind.
What is missing in this book:
- Not having an evolutionary view from a biological point of view to the story of our species
- The lack of historical continuity of the evidence and the existence of questionable evolutionary intervals that suggest a kind of discrete evolution.
- The disappearance of the origin of our species and the failure to state the new evidence found in this case.
March 5, 2023
This one was fascinating - the concept of cultural evolution, evolution of our behaviors, individually and corporately. For example, Life is hard and I need help from people close to me, usually family. I will share resources with these people as it helps all of us survive/thrive. Thus drawing a distinction between "us" and "them" THOSE people I don't share resources with as they are competitors.
This is now so hard wired in to our human brains that we naturally identify with groups and still provide resources to them and not others. the identification is who we cheer for in sports, men in particular are so hardwired to identify with a sports team, they act ridiculous at game time and beyond. Think of my friend Brian Connolly. For What? The pride of saying my team is a champion or beat yours? It is a little insane how this occurs in modern times.
This is now so hard wired in to our human brains that we naturally identify with groups and still provide resources to them and not others. the identification is who we cheer for in sports, men in particular are so hardwired to identify with a sports team, they act ridiculous at game time and beyond. Think of my friend Brian Connolly. For What? The pride of saying my team is a champion or beat yours? It is a little insane how this occurs in modern times.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 16, 2021
Pretty engaging. Most if it I have heard before. But a very useful and engaging retelling of our history.
Quite optimistic on the notion of human nature. If such a thing can even be said to exist. They make the argument that culture is much more important in the continued evolution of the human species than our genes.
Fun recounts of what the life of our ancestors looked like. Seems very honest with potential critiques and other perspectives.
Quite optimistic on the notion of human nature. If such a thing can even be said to exist. They make the argument that culture is much more important in the continued evolution of the human species than our genes.
Fun recounts of what the life of our ancestors looked like. Seems very honest with potential critiques and other perspectives.
September 11, 2023
Not bad. Another one of these where the author feels the need to paint a picture with extended imagined narrative scenarios. Why do so many writers on this subject do this? After the 1st chapter though these scenarios are usually fairly brief and it's more the actual science of what we know and how we know it. At only 300 pages though to cover the whole of human evolution i resent even a single page being given over to imaginary bollocks, just seems an unnecessary dumbing down of the subject.
October 22, 2022
Cultural Evolution... A NEW UNDERSTANDING of the complete Evolutionary Process
This hypothesis goes a long way in "Filling-in or completing Darwin's notions about the 'Decent of Man'. It is clear that Cultural Evolution must go hand in hand with Physical Evolution if the entire process is to be completely understood. (GOOD JOB)
This hypothesis goes a long way in "Filling-in or completing Darwin's notions about the 'Decent of Man'. It is clear that Cultural Evolution must go hand in hand with Physical Evolution if the entire process is to be completely understood. (GOOD JOB)
April 28, 2024
At first, I felt a bit frustrated with this book as I was anticipating more science-based content. However, as I embraced its fictional essence, I found myself thoroughly captivated. It's a perfect example of masterful storytelling.
June 18, 2024
interesting. learned a number of things and enjoyed the speculation that the authors presented. The concept of culture and how it ties into reproductive fitness was interesting as well as the idea of run away effects in cultures emulating the run away effect in sex in some species.
July 1, 2022
Probably worth reading for somebody who just wants a quick introduction. For me the extra stories were just a distraction.
July 4, 2022
Fascinating read
I loved the way the author combined narrative and a summary of scientific research to describe the human evolutionary path. Very informative and easy to read.
I loved the way the author combined narrative and a summary of scientific research to describe the human evolutionary path. Very informative and easy to read.
April 13, 2024
Very pleasant to read
January 3, 2023
التعلم الثقافي
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منذ اقتراح نظرية التطور عن طريق الانتقاء الطبيعي لأول مرة ، تمكن العلماء من حل لغز الوراثة الجينية وفهموا الآن العديد من آلياتها بتفاصيل مذهلة. ولكن في حين تم حل بعض الألغاز ، تم الكشف عن بعض الأشياء التي بدت على أنها غامضة. على سبيل المثال ، في القرن التاسع عشر بدا واضحًا كيف "يرث" الأطفال لغة والديهم. يستمعون إلى الأشخاص من حولهم ويقلدون الطريقة التي يتحدثون بها.
أحد الألغاز هو كيف ورثت طفلة شعرها المجعد عن أمها وخجلها من والدها. نحن نعرف اليوم كيف توجه المعلومات المشفرة في الحمض النووي تشكيل بصيلات الشعر ، ويختبر علماء النفس النظريات حول كيفية تأثير جينات معينة على الشخصية. لكن تفاصيل كيفية "وراثة" المعلومات عن طريق التعلم بات يُنظر إليها الآن على أنها أكثر من مجرد لغز. على سبيل المثال ، لا يرث الأطفال طريقة والديهم في الكلام ، ولكن بدلاً من ذلك يميلون إلى التقاط لهجة أصدقائهم. في بعض الأحيان عندما يذهب الأشقاء إلى مدارس مختلفة ولديهم أصدقاء مختلفون ، ينتهي بهم الأمر إلى التحدث بلهجات مختلفة. ما الذي يسبب ذلك؟
على مدى العقود القليلة الماضية ، أصبح المزيد والمزيد من أنصار التطور يعتقدون أن فكرة ألفريد راسل والاس عن عملية تطورية ثانية قد لا تكون بعيدة المنال. لا يعتقدون أن هذا التطور يحدث في عالم روحي. (إذا كان العالم الروحاني موجودًا ، فلن يكون من الممكن الحصول على أي دليل موثوق به ، لأنه غير قابل للتحقيق العلمي.) لكننا عرفنا منذ فترة طويلة أن هناك عملية تطورية أخرى تؤثر بعمق على حياة البشر : التطور الثقافي. نحن نعلم أن الثقافة تتغير بمرور الوقت. تتغير بسرعة كافية حتى نتمكن من تجربة التطور الثقافي في حياتنا. تتطور تقنياتنا ، يتم تدمير أجزاء من عالمنا ، بينما تتم إضافة أشياء أخرى ، وغالبًا ما ندرك أن مشاعرنا ومعتقداتنا قد تغيرت.
في أوسع معانيها ، الثقافة هي كتلة معقدة للغاية من الأفكار والمعتقدات والعادات والأزياء والأشياء التي تحيط بنا. تبدو معتقداتنا وعواطفنا شخصية جدًا بالنسبة لنا ، لكنها مرتبطة بما يفعله الأشخاص من حولنا. تتغير عقولنا ، أحيانًا بدون فهمنا للسبب. يمكننا فجأة أن نبدأ في التساؤل عن شيء كنا نعتبره من المسلمات. قد يكون شيئًا تافهًا - مثل ما إذا كان يجب على النساء فوق الثلاثين من العمر ارتداء ملابس ضيقة - أو شيء أكثر عمقًا - مثل ما إذا كان لأي شخص الحق في التعبير عن رأيه حول ما يجب أن ترتديه النساء فوق الثلاثين.
جادل بعض العلماء بأن "الثقافة" تقع خارج نطاق العلم - فهي تتعلق بالروح أكثر من العقل المادي. يشير آخرون إلى أنه نظرًا لأن العلم جزء من الثقافة ، فمن المستحيل أن يكون لديك "علم الثقافة". يجادلون بأن الشخص ببساطة لا يمكن أن يتخذ وجهة نظر موضوعية ("علمية") نحو شيء ثقافي ...
لكن التعريف الأوسع يرى الثقافة على أنها مجرد معلومات - الكم الهائل من البيانات التي نصل إليها عبر شبكاتنا الاجتماعية. المعلومات الثقافية هي بمثابة مجموعة من "الأدوات" التي نستخدمها للعمل في عالمنا. تسمح لنا معلوماتنا الثقافية أحيانًا بإنشاء أو استخدام أدوات مادية - مثل السكين أو الملابس الدافئة اللازمة للبقاء على قيد الحياة في بيئة باردة. لكن معرفتنا ببيئتنا - مثل نوعية النباتات الصالحة للأكل - هي أيضًا أداة مهمة للبقاء على قيد الحياة. العديد من الأدوات التي توفرها لنا ثقافتنا هي "أدوات اجتماعية" تسمح لنا بالتفاعل مع بعضنا البعض بطرق معقدة. ربما تكون اللغة هي الأداة الاجتماعية الأكثر أهمية - فقد استخدمها أسلافنا لعشرات الآلاف من الأجيال. لكن ثقافتنا تزودنا بالعديد من الأدوات الاجتماعية الأخرى. لقد اتفقنا على قواعد لكيفية التصرف في "مجتمع مهذب" ، وكذلك الأشياء المادية ، مثل المال ، لتسهيل التجارة. هناك العقاقير ، والكحول ، التي يمكن أن تجعل الناس يشعرون براحة أكبر عند التفاعل مع الغرباء ، وهناك الأسلحة التي نستخدمها عندما تصبح التفاعلات عدائية.
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Lesley Newson, Peter Richerson
A Story of Us: A New Look at Human Evolution
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
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منذ اقتراح نظرية التطور عن طريق الانتقاء الطبيعي لأول مرة ، تمكن العلماء من حل لغز الوراثة الجينية وفهموا الآن العديد من آلياتها بتفاصيل مذهلة. ولكن في حين تم حل بعض الألغاز ، تم الكشف عن بعض الأشياء التي بدت على أنها غامضة. على سبيل المثال ، في القرن التاسع عشر بدا واضحًا كيف "يرث" الأطفال لغة والديهم. يستمعون إلى الأشخاص من حولهم ويقلدون الطريقة التي يتحدثون بها.
أحد الألغاز هو كيف ورثت طفلة شعرها المجعد عن أمها وخجلها من والدها. نحن نعرف اليوم كيف توجه المعلومات المشفرة في الحمض النووي تشكيل بصيلات الشعر ، ويختبر علماء النفس النظريات حول كيفية تأثير جينات معينة على الشخصية. لكن تفاصيل كيفية "وراثة" المعلومات عن طريق التعلم بات يُنظر إليها الآن على أنها أكثر من مجرد لغز. على سبيل المثال ، لا يرث الأطفال طريقة والديهم في الكلام ، ولكن بدلاً من ذلك يميلون إلى التقاط لهجة أصدقائهم. في بعض الأحيان عندما يذهب الأشقاء إلى مدارس مختلفة ولديهم أصدقاء مختلفون ، ينتهي بهم الأمر إلى التحدث بلهجات مختلفة. ما الذي يسبب ذلك؟
على مدى العقود القليلة الماضية ، أصبح المزيد والمزيد من أنصار التطور يعتقدون أن فكرة ألفريد راسل والاس عن عملية تطورية ثانية قد لا تكون بعيدة المنال. لا يعتقدون أن هذا التطور يحدث في عالم روحي. (إذا كان العالم الروحاني موجودًا ، فلن يكون من الممكن الحصول على أي دليل موثوق به ، لأنه غير قابل للتحقيق العلمي.) لكننا عرفنا منذ فترة طويلة أن هناك عملية تطورية أخرى تؤثر بعمق على حياة البشر : التطور الثقافي. نحن نعلم أن الثقافة تتغير بمرور الوقت. تتغير بسرعة كافية حتى نتمكن من تجربة التطور الثقافي في حياتنا. تتطور تقنياتنا ، يتم تدمير أجزاء من عالمنا ، بينما تتم إضافة أشياء أخرى ، وغالبًا ما ندرك أن مشاعرنا ومعتقداتنا قد تغيرت.
في أوسع معانيها ، الثقافة هي كتلة معقدة للغاية من الأفكار والمعتقدات والعادات والأزياء والأشياء التي تحيط بنا. تبدو معتقداتنا وعواطفنا شخصية جدًا بالنسبة لنا ، لكنها مرتبطة بما يفعله الأشخاص من حولنا. تتغير عقولنا ، أحيانًا بدون فهمنا للسبب. يمكننا فجأة أن نبدأ في التساؤل عن شيء كنا نعتبره من المسلمات. قد يكون شيئًا تافهًا - مثل ما إذا كان يجب على النساء فوق الثلاثين من العمر ارتداء ملابس ضيقة - أو شيء أكثر عمقًا - مثل ما إذا كان لأي شخص الحق في التعبير عن رأيه حول ما يجب أن ترتديه النساء فوق الثلاثين.
جادل بعض العلماء بأن "الثقافة" تقع خارج نطاق العلم - فهي تتعلق بالروح أكثر من العقل المادي. يشير آخرون إلى أنه نظرًا لأن العلم جزء من الثقافة ، فمن المستحيل أن يكون لديك "علم الثقافة". يجادلون بأن الشخص ببساطة لا يمكن أن يتخذ وجهة نظر موضوعية ("علمية") نحو شيء ثقافي ...
لكن التعريف الأوسع يرى الثقافة على أنها مجرد معلومات - الكم الهائل من البيانات التي نصل إليها عبر شبكاتنا الاجتماعية. المعلومات الثقافية هي بمثابة مجموعة من "الأدوات" التي نستخدمها للعمل في عالمنا. تسمح لنا معلوماتنا الثقافية أحيانًا بإنشاء أو استخدام أدوات مادية - مثل السكين أو الملابس الدافئة اللازمة للبقاء على قيد الحياة في بيئة باردة. لكن معرفتنا ببيئتنا - مثل نوعية النباتات الصالحة للأكل - هي أيضًا أداة مهمة للبقاء على قيد الحياة. العديد من الأدوات التي توفرها لنا ثقافتنا هي "أدوات اجتماعية" تسمح لنا بالتفاعل مع بعضنا البعض بطرق معقدة. ربما تكون اللغة هي الأداة الاجتماعية الأكثر أهمية - فقد استخدمها أسلافنا لعشرات الآلاف من الأجيال. لكن ثقافتنا تزودنا بالعديد من الأدوات الاجتماعية الأخرى. لقد اتفقنا على قواعد لكيفية التصرف في "مجتمع مهذب" ، وكذلك الأشياء المادية ، مثل المال ، لتسهيل التجارة. هناك العقاقير ، والكحول ، التي يمكن أن تجعل الناس يشعرون براحة أكبر عند التفاعل مع الغرباء ، وهناك الأسلحة التي نستخدمها عندما تصبح التفاعلات عدائية.
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Lesley Newson, Peter Richerson
A Story of Us: A New Look at Human Evolution
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
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