Play Book Tag discussion

Humankind: A Hopeful History is an important book about human nature and social psychology, applied to many practical aspects of life and society. It contains the kinds of stories, research, and especially follow-up stories that don’t get a lot of coverage in the news. I loved the introduction (which I read long ago) and the story about the true Lord of the Flies - A group of real boys who were stranded on an island for over a year, and took good care of one another. I hope Lord of the Flies is no longer taught as an example of the truth about human nature. Every time there is a big snow storm here, I see how neighbors and strangers help people, and I hear countless real stories that don’t make the news.

I highly recommend listening to the free audio sample of the book, or looking for him on YouTube. I think many here would appreciate what he has to say. This was exactly what I needed to read right now. Every chapter covers a different aspect of life and includes research, deep follow-up stories, and alternative points of view. The new (to me) information about violence was very interesting, and the reevaluation and evidence about famous psychology studies were startling. I learned not to skip over the topics I thought I knew all about, because often only the first reports made it into the textbooks or news reports. We don’t hear about it when a damaging report is retracted by its author, or proven to be falsified or incorrectly analyzed.

Some of the material is like my favorite segments of the TV show 60 Minutes, some is quite academic, or has the flavor and style of Malcolm Gladwell. He talks about opposing philosophies about positive and cynical views of human nature.

I’ve read portions of this book a few times. I most enjoyed the new topics, but I also liked hearing the truth- or the bigger picture - about research studies that I first learned in college. The Milgram experiments, prison studies, Kitty Genovese, the broken window theory, historical trends on violence, the Blitz, and so much more. Some of the chapters contained old topics I already knew very well (and have taught), and he often added updated information. A lot of his ideas seem idealistic, but his gives examples of real-life applications and results.

I just got this at a yard sale, looking forward to it.

I’m sure you’ll find some it very familiar, and I hope you like it.