Thinking Big: How the Evolution of Social Life Shaped the Human Mind - Rilegato

Gamble, Clive; Gowlett, John; Dunbar, Robin

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0500051801 ISBN 13: 9780500051801

Casa editrice: Thames & Hudson, 2014

Riassunto

We are at a pivotal moment in understanding our remote ancestry and its implications for how we live today. The barriers to what we can know about our distant relatives have been falling as a result of scientific advance, such as decoding the genomes of humans and Neanderthals, and bringing together different perspectives to answer common questions. These collaborations have brought new knowledge and suggested fresh concepts to examine. The results have shaken the old certainties.The results are profound; not just for the study of the past but for appreciating why we conduct our social lives in ways, and at scales, that are familiar to all of us. But such basic familiarity raises a dilemma. When surrounded by the myriad technical and cultural innovations that support our global, urbanized lifestyles we can lose sight of the small social worlds we actually inhabit and that can be traced deep into our ancestry. So why do we need art, religion, music, kinship, myths, and all the other facets of our over-active imaginations if the reality of our effective social worlds is set by a limit of some one hundred and fifty partners (Dunbar’s number) made of family, friends, and useful acquaintances? How could such a social community lead to a city the size of London or a country as large as China? Do we really carry our hominin past into our human present? It is these small worlds, and the link they allow to the study of the past that forms the central point in this book.

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Recensione:

A dramatic demolition of the 'stones and bones' approach to archaeology. --New Scientist

A triumph of collaboration, as well as a gripping detective story. --New Statesman

Retains the Thames & Hudson tradition of thinking clearly, and writing well ... You will not read a more important book this year. It could make us a little wiser about ourselves. --Minerva

Written in a style that so admirably avoids technical vocabulary and sociological jargon that you need no more than an ordinary human brain to read and understand it ... a very valuable summary of what we currently know about human evolution and the possible origins and development of [such] human attributes and skills ... Thinking Big is like the Big Bang: it probably isn't the total answer, but there is no doubt that it answers a large number of observable phenomena, and it will serve as the dominant model for debating and refining our ideas about the origins and evolution of human cognition for decades to come. --Society of Antiquaries Newsletter

Fascinating, page-turning. --Current World Archaeology

An important, provocative essay on human evolution, argued with great eloquence and skill. --Current Archaeology

When, why and how did the human brain evolve? These fundamental questions find innovative and stimulating answers in this outstanding book. It emphasizes that what makes us human was not the tools that form the bulk of the archaeological record, but rather the social world within which our ancestors lived. The result is a text that will delight the general reader as much as it will become a landmark for students and scholars. --Peter Mitchell, Professor of African Archaeology, University of Oxford, and co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of African Archaeology

The triumphant result of seven years collaborative research, this provocative, thoughtful book focuses on what the authors call the 'social brain'. It has much to tell us not only about human behaviour in the past, but also about the importance of networking in our complex world today. Thinking Big is destined to become a classic. --Brian Fagan, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara and author of The Attacking Ocean

Forget the tweets, blogs and PDFs; big ideas need books, and this one reminds us exactly why palaeoanthropology is the most exciting science of the 21st century. This Curiosity Rover of the mind explains the major developments that made us human. The result is effervescent, compelling, and certainly required reading for anyone with an interest in our own origins. --Paul Pettitt, Professor of Archaeology, Durham University, and author of The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Thames & Hudson
• Data di pubblicazione: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0500051801
• ISBN 13: 9780500051801
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero edizione: 1
• Numero di pagine: 224