Human Natures: Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect [Paperback]

Paul R. Ehrlich (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 31, 2001

Why do we behave the way we do? Biologist Paul Ehrlich suggests that although people share a common genetic code, these genes "do not shout commands at us...at the very most, they whisper suggestions." He argues that human nature is not so much result of genetic coding; rather, it is heavily influenced by cultural conditioning and environmental factors. With personal anecdotes, a well-written narrative, and clear examples, Human Natures is a major work of synthesis and scholarship as well as a valuable primer on genetics and evolution that makes complex scientific concepts accessible to lay readers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's common to blame "human nature" for some of the unpleasant facts of life--road rage, say, or murder, or war. The problem with this convenient out, argues the distinguished scientist Paul Ehrlich, is that there really is no single human nature. Humans, it's true, share a common genetic code with remarkably few large-scale differences (if all but native Africans disappeared from the planet, he notes, "humanity would still retain somewhat more than 90 percent of its genetic variability"); and evolution has endowed us with capabilities shared by no other species. But for all that, he adds, our separation into haves and have-nots, weak and strong, and other such categories is more often than not a product of cultural evolution, a process far more complex than the mere mutation and adaptation of a few genes. And, in any event, those genes "do not shout commands to us about our behavior," Ehrlich says. "At the very most, they whisper suggestions."

In this wide-ranging survey of what it is that has made and that continues to make us human, Ehrlich touches on a number of themes--among them, his recurrent observation that science has taught us little about how genes influence human behavior. (Instead, he notes wryly, "science tells us that we are creatures of accident clinging to a ball of mud hurtling aimlessly through space. This is not a notion to warm hearts or rouse multitudes.") He urges that scientists take a larger, interdisciplinary view that looks beyond mere genetics to the larger forces that shape our lives, a view for which Human Natures makes a handy, and highly accessible, primer. --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Most people know Ehrlich as the environmentalist who brought the world's attention to the overpopulation problem in the 1960s. But this Stanford biologist has also enjoyed a long, eminent career exploring evolution. In his new book, he combines his scientific research and environmental concerns into an enlightening narrative of humanity's evolution. Ehrlich surveys the most important research on the origin and rise of hominids and current ideas about the ascent of language and consciousness. He accepts that we are the products of evolution, but he finds the current trends of evolutionary psychology and genetic determinism to be hopelessly simplistic. Instead, Ehrlich shows how genes, culture and the environment together create a complexity that, he says, science still barely grasps. The 100,000 or so genes in human DNA, he contends, could never determine the 100 trillion connections between the neurons in our brains. Evolution may shape our brains generically, but the culture and environment in which we grow up control its fine details. Moving into the more recent past, Ehrlich charts how cultural (rather than biological) evolution has created civilizations, and how it has later destroyed many of them. Finally, he shows how an understanding of human evolution can inform our ethics and our decisions about how to run our societies. It shows, for instance, that under their skin, all humans are practically identical genetically speaking; we cannot pretend that race has any biological significance. We still have a long way to go from an evolutionary point of view: our ancestors spent millions of years living in small groups and dealing with the immediate struggle of finding food, and we have not yet adapted to the globalized society or such problems as human-created climate change. Although Jared Diamond and others have plowed this ground before, Ehrlich's book is so well researched and so elegantly presented that it stands as one of the best introductions to human evolution in recent memory. And that along with Ehrlich's name recognition should help this break out from the usual. science audience. 20,000 first printing; 8-city author tour; national radio interviews; national print advertising.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books; 1st edition (December 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142000531
• ISBN-13: 978-0142000533
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars More than Biology is Subject to Evolution September 13, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Man's evolutional place in the world has been studied for centuries, through the sciences of anthropology, biology, geology, genetics, paleontology, and a host of others, and this book does a masterful job of bringing these together. What it does that is different, is describe the evolution of culture: politics, regligion, art, language, and other features of the upright-walking primate's life not so easily reduced to scientific explanation. Combining these two approaches to man's current predicament, Professor Ehrlich points aut that "the increasing ability to do things has outstripped the evolution of our ability to understand ... the full implications of what we are now doing," and with this approach, examines what is happening to us individually, to the human community, and to the environment in which we live. If you read one new book this year about man's place in the earth's past, present and future, this is the one.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great comprehensive book on human nature! November 16, 2000

By Debbie Lee Wesselmann TOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I truly appreciated Paul Erlich's HUMAN NATURES, not only for the carefully studied exploration of humanity but also for his clarity. This intelligent, well-written discourse on human evolution gives a balanced view of our species, dispelling myths and explaining complexities, daring to explore controversial subjects. The topics covered - from the origins of language to racial equality to ethics, to name only a few - are well researched and comprehensive. In language and tone, HUMAN NATURES is neither overly technical nor simplistic; it is wonderfully readable without sacrificing depth.

If you have pondered the different roles of genes and the environment, if you are intrigued by the origin and development of cultures, if you encountered too many glib comments about "survival of the fittest" and want to understand the true depth of the concept as it applies to humans, read this book. You'll come away with so much more than you expected.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Base Against Bias October 5, 2000

By Richard L. Graves

Format:Hardcover

HUMAN NATURES, by Paul R. Ehrlich, at last gives laymen like me a readily accessible, comprehensive scientific insight into how the brains of not-so-simple primates evolved to make our "human natures" what we are today. Of more importance, Ehrlich gives us a superbly documented basis for addressing - perhaps even erasing - the genetic myths and phobias that have fueled ethnic prejudice, racism, sexism and all the other "isms" dividing us over the centuries. - Richard L. Graves, author of QUEENOF DIAMONDS, a mystery novel published Decmber 1 by XC Publishing, Tacoma, WA.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating book! September 29, 2000

By D.S. Wilcove

Format:Hardcover

Paul Ehrlich weaves together evolutionary biology, ecology, anthropology, sociology, and common sense to explain the origins and behavior of human societies. In lucid, powerful, and often witty prose, Ehlich tackles some of the most fundamental questions pertaining to the role of genes and cultures in shaping who we are and how we behave. "Human Natures" is fun to read and rich in wisdom.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Book! October 24, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Paul Ehrlich does a great job of looking at why we humans are the way we are. He explodes a lot of the myths about genes being the sole determinate of agression, peacfulness, and many other things that we attribute to genes. Even after I took a break from reading I found myself thinking of the concepts that he states, and I couldn't wait to get back to the book. His views of sexuality are very thought provoking.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must read" May 23, 2001

By Robert Costanza

Format:Hardcover

"Human Natures" is far and away the clearest, most comprehensive, and most compelling synthesis of what is known about the co-evolution of humans, their cultures, and the rest of nature currently available. The title subtly reflects the important distinction between human "nature" and human "natures" - the plural implying that our species has many and varied natures - not a single unitary nature. This pluralism is in stark contrast to the stilted and unrealistic assumptions about a singular human nature embodied in both the reductionist biological model and the conventional economic model. The biological reductionist idea that all human behavior can be reduced to a genetic basis is clearly insufficient in light of the massive importance of cultural evolution in shaping human behavior. Likewise, the all-knowing, perfectly rational economic utility or profit maximizer of the conventional economic model may be convenient for mathematical tractability, but it is so far from the reality of human natures that it is laughable. The only mystery is why, given what we know about human natures, more economists are not laughing. The case of Phineas Gage, described by Ehrlich in the book, serves to illustrate the size of the chasm between the conventional economic model and reality. Gage was a railroad worker who had a large portion of his frontal lobe removed when a 1.25 inch-thick tamping rod shot through his head in a freak railroad accident in 1848. Amazingly, Gage survived and was not even knocked unconscious by the accident. But he was a changed man. He had lost the part of the brain that we now know is dedicated to emotional responses.... A surprising result was that while he could think, talk, and calculate perfectly well - he was completely "rational" - he simply could not make a decision. It turns out that rationality without emotions leads to swamping with details and the inability to make any decisions at all, even ones so trivial as what to eat for dinner. That emotions are necessary for decision making is an interesting part of real human natures, but is in direct contradiction to the conventional economic assumptions about decision-making, which considers emotions to be a hinderence to "rational" decision-making. But as Ehrlich points out: "Human emotional capacities evolved along with our cognitive capacities. Without the ability to respond to stimuli with appropriate emotions, critical decision making becomes impossible" (pp. 121-122). The challenge is to build economic models that incorporate the realities of human natures, rather than to assume them away. The weakest aspect of the book is the imbalance between its treatment of genetic and cultural evolution. While Ehrlich takes pains to acknowledge the large and growing importance of cultural evolution in shaping human natures, he gives very little space in the book to the details of how cultural evolution works and does not attempt to synthesize the research in this area in anything like the completeness with which he treats human genetic evolution. For example, he notes that cultural evolution has several unique characteristics relative to genetic evolution. Most importantly, learned behavior can be passed on through the culture to genetically unrelated individuals and changes in culture can occur with light speed relative to genetic evolution. But how does this work and what does this mean for human natures and for the future of our society? This and several other key questions about the details of the relationship between genetic and cultural evolution are hinted at in passing, but left largely unaddressed in the current volume. For example, conventional biological evolution theory is largely circular and descriptive, not predictive. It is one thing to describe how alligators evolved, but quite another to be able to predict the emergence of alligators. To do this one would need to know the underlying criteria for success in evolution that can be specified before the fact. From a predictive point of view, it doesn't help much to say that those individuals that reproduce best will survive, unless one can say why particular individuals will be able to reproduce better than others in particular situations. Most human evolutionary ecologists work on time scales that make this question moot, but it is essential for understanding cultural evolution, the results of which are observable in units of years rather than thousands of years. To use the evolutionary paradigm in predictive modeling, we require a quantitative measure of fitness (or more generally performance) that can be specified before the fact, in order to drive the selection process. Another important question has to do with the "reflexive" nature of cultural evolution - because we are capable of at least some degree of conceptualization and foresight, we can exert at least partial control over our own selection environment. The process then becomes one of conscious design and tinkering with the cultural evolutionary process rather than passive response to externally determined criteria. How does this process work and what are it's limits? Devising policy instruments and identifying incentives that can translate foresight into effective modifications of the short-run cultural evolutionary dynamics is the key research challenge. In cultural evolution, we have the unique potential to first envision our goals and then modify the selection criteria in order to achieve them. Ehrlich's book provides a solid basis for addressing these and countless other questions that are critical to understanding our human natures and how we can actively participate in changing them. Adequately understanding and controlling our complex human natures is essential to the continued survival of our so far exceptionally successful species. Read more ›

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An intellectual tour de force November 20, 2000

By The Eastern Argus

Format:Hardcover

A fascinating exploration of the human condition from one of the world's preeminent scientists, Human Natures traces the evolution of human behavior from the dawn of our species to our biotechnological present. Ehrlich has written an informative, readable account of human evolution revealing a complex interplay between genetic, environmental, and cultural forces. In the process he puts to rest a slew of popular misconceptions, from the myth of genetically homogenous races to the notion that genes determine individual behavior. Human natures, Ehrlich reveals, are as diverse as humanity itself.