Games Primates Play, International Edition: An Undercover Investigation of the Evolution and Economics of Human Relationships - Brossura

Maestripieri, Dario

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0465031676 ISBN 13: 9780465031672

Casa editrice: Basic Books, 2012

Riassunto

This is an undercover investigation of the evolution and economics of human relationships. Tracking us in lifts and on emails, at home and at work, a leading primatologist uncovers the rules that govern the social life of the human animal. Most of us don't realize that when we exchange emails with someone - anyone - we are actually exhibiting certain unspoken rules about dominance and hierarchy. Interestingly, some of the major aspects of human nature have profound commonalities with our ape ancestors: the violence of war, the intensity of love, the need to live together. In "Games Primates Play", primatologist Dario Maestripieri examines the curious unspoken customs that govern our behaviour. Though apparently motivated by free will, these patterns are so similar from person to person, and across species, that they reveal much more than our selected choices. To understand the rules that govern primate games and our social interactions, Maestripieri arms readers with knowledge of the scientific principles that ethologists, psychologists, economists, and other behavioural scientists have discovered in their quest to unravel the complexities of behaviour. As he realizes, everything from how we write emails to how we make love is determined by the legacy of our primate roots and the conditions that existed so long ago. An idiosyncratic and witty approach to our deep and complex origins, "Games Primates Play" reveals the ways in which our primate nature drives so much of our lives.

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Recensione:

The University of Chicago primatologist begins with a thorough, albeit unsettling, analysis of what we do when we encounter a stranger in an elevator, then guides us through the gamut of common social interactions, relating our behaviour to that of our primate brethren in the wild and in the lab. His observations on our common impulses are fascinating. --Robert Sapolsky, Professor of Neuroscience, Stanford University, and author of "A Primate's Memoir

Just how our biology drives behaviour is the subject of numerous books, but Maestripieri does a commendable job of bringing something fresh to his analysis... Games Primates Play is an interesting, funny and engaging study of human nature --The New Scientist

Generally, junior professors write long and unsolicited emails to senior professors, who reply with short ones after a delay; the juniors then reply quickly and at length. This is not because the seniors are busier, for they, too, write longer and more punctually when addressing their deans and funders, who reply more briefly and tardily. The asymmetry in length and speed of reply correlates with dominance. When a subordinate chimpanzee grooms a dominant one, it often does so for a long time and unsolicited. When it requests to be groomed in turn, it receives only a brief grooming and usually after having to ask a second time. This gorgeous little juxtaposition of tales comes from a new book by Dario Maestripieri .... which is devoted to ramming home a lesson that we all seem very reluctant to learn: that much of our behavior, however steeped in technology, is entirely predictable to primatologists. .. Dr. Maestripieri then offers a fascinating analysis of the conundrum of peer review in science .... Dr. Maestripieri's most intriguing chapter is entitled 'Cooperate in the spotlight, compete in the dark. He describes how people, like monkeys, can be angels of generosity when all eyes are on them, but devils of spite in private. --Matt Riddley; Wall Street Journal

L'autore:

Dario Maestripieri is Professor of Comparative Human Development, Evolutionary Biology, Neurobiology, and Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago. He received the Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology from the American Psychological Association in 2000, and a Career Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health in 2001. He has appeared TV and radio shows around the world, and his research has been featured in a number of newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, Pravda, LeMonde, Der Spiegel, the Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, The New Scientist, American Scientist, Nature, and Science. He is the author of Macachiavellian Intelligence and editor of Primate Psychology. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Basic Books
• Data di pubblicazione: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0465031676
• ISBN 13: 9780465031672
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 288