Customer Reviews

Mean Genes: From Sex to Money to Food: Taming Our Primal Instincts

5 star:		(95)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I had the good fortune of being exposed to the Mean Genes argument over two years ago after having Dr. Burnham as a professor. With E.O. Wilson already weighing in on Mean Genes, I have no illusions what my opinion will mean to any still-skeptical amazon.com customers considering a purchase.

However, all I can say is that Mean Genes is a deeply important book and philosophy. If you compile all of the tacky self-improvement infomercials and combine them with every book on diets, relationships or money, they still don't address the basal forces that create the dysfunction in the first place. With Mean Genes, one is empowered to drop down below the self-help cacophony and begin to view and frame daily struggles in a beautifully logic, yet straightforward, humorous manner.

The book has radically enriched the quality of my life. I simply can't recommend Mean Genes highly enough.

Irven DeVore said it best on the back of the book--"Warning! You will not be able to put this book down! It will change your life".

Mean Genes is gripping from start to finish and yes, it has changed my life. Not a day goes by that I don't find use for some of the sage advice and insight offered up by Burnham and Phelan. Mean Genes takes a universally important (and broad) topic and translates it into bite-sized portions, which are readily digestible to all readers--not to mention witty and entertaining. The authors draw from their own experiences in demonstrating ways that we can battle our own 'Mean Genes', and live happy and fulfilling lives.

Mean Genes is the best book that I have read so far this year, and most certainly one of the most influential and useful books I have ever read.

Do you ever wonder why you do self destructive or illogical things? Why it is so hard to resist fatty foods, drugs or running up credit card debt? Mean Genes shows that behavior that is bad for humans in today's society of plenty, is the same behavior, refined through tens of thousands of years of evolution, which allowed our ancestors to survive and flourish as hunter-gatherers.

This book is filled with interesting and amusing studies done with animals, primitive cultures and modern humans that demonstrate that people haven't evolved much in the past 5000 years. But all is not lost. Burnham and Phelan point out that humans, unlike other species, have a capacity for self-control, and more importantly the intelligence to combat our destructive instincts and biology. And while they don't place much hope in an individual's will power, the authors offer creative ways to restrain our genetic desires.

Mean Genes is an intelligent, fast reading and totally enjoyable book that makes us look at ourselves as the product of the 'survival of the fittest', and helps us deal with that in today's world.

If you're struggling to make your characters real, Mean Genes helps you understand their primal motivations! Mean Genes wasn't intended to be how-to book for fiction writers, but it accomplishes that goal better than anything else out there. Addiction, violence, sexual attraction, greed-its all in here-and more. Make your characters real-give them mean gene motivations.

Mean Genes does three things very well: it teaches you to control yourself, it educates you about evolutionary biology, and it makes you laugh.

For the uninitiated, the basic premise of evolutionary biology is that all human behavior is driven by genetic traits, traits that are incredibly well-adapted -- for the desert humans evolved in 250,000 years ago.

Burnham and Phelan take the human-as-cavemen-unadapted-to-the-modern-world view and illustrate why many of our common weaknesses are actually based on behaviors that were quite useful a quarter of a million years ago.

When you view human nature this way, a few things will happen. First, you'll understand the persistence and prevalence of many seemingly self-destructive human idiosyncrasies (for example, adultery and gluttony). Second, you won't feel as bad about yourself! And third, and most useful, by understanding the roots of these common behaviors and by following Burnham and Phelan's recommendations, you'll have the tools to effect genuine self-improvement.

Finally, the book is quick and entertaining, so it's a fabulous investment.

Evolutionary biology has uncovered truths about human nature that are as fundamental as anything coming out of the genome project. Burnham and Phelan distill all the insights of evolutionary biology into an incredibly readable and entertaining book. But equally important, they show us how to use this knowledge in practical and useful ways to improve our daily lives.

I've had my share of trouble dieting, saving money, and attracting the opposite sex. Unfortunately, this book won't make you lose your appetite when you see your favorite sin food or make you better looking. But it does the next best thing. It makes you smarter in dealing with yourself. There's no gimmicks or tricks. It's like learning to ride a bicycle. Once you've learned how to control the machine you're the one who decides which way to go. Think of this book as training wheels for the human machine.

But this isn't only a self-help book. It is also a book for anyone who wants to understand evolutionary biology, or human nature and behavior more generally, better. The authors wear their scholarship (and their Harvard Ph.D.'s) lightly, but underlying all the smart and funny prose is a bedrock of knowledge.

Finally a confession: I've always been troubled when people start talking about human beings as though we are animals or machines that have only instincts and don't have free will. After reading this book, I've realized that we are all governed by our instincts more than we'd like to admit. But what raises us above animals is precisely that we are capable of using our minds to understand and conquer our instincts.

This is a fun book, a useful book, a great book.

I am 34-year old attorney and have probably read over 2000 books in my life. Hands down, Mean Genes tops the list. This book is written for me, you, virtually everyone. The most remarkable aspect of this book is that it gives you rock solid, meticulously researched data on a range of topics that will help you become a more knowledgeable member of our fascinating world. For instance, I was in Hollywood the other day and read the "homosexuality" section; I was on an LA freeway and read "road rage" when I got home; I was craving a hot Indian curry dish and I read "jalapeno peppers" in the thrill-seeking chapter. Each reading was a revelation--and goddam is it well-written, with massive dollops of humor and sassiness. At its heart, Mean Genes is a deeply responsible book. The more we understand and control our own behavior, the better we understand and can predict others' behavior. The revolutionary ideas and advice in Mean Genes will make the world a better, healthier, happier place. The authors, Jay and Terry, are perfectly qualified to write such a landmark book--dedicated, highly educated, endlessly curious, and enormously likeable. May they live long and well. Make it a point to catch them at a media event--the Mean Genes website has details.

What a wonderful read!

Not too "teachy" or "preachy", Mean Genes puts a smile on your face while clearly explaining why we do some of the regrettable things we do. If this book doesn't change your life, it will at least help you change the way you behave when faced with every day obstacles. Less daunting are the fears associated with dieting, saving money, and doing drugs - Mean Genes equips you to fight destructive tendencies.

Mean Genes truly is brilliant! Buy it, read it, and you'll love it!

Although there are many fine books about evolutionary biology (such as The Selfish Gene), Mean Genes exceeds them in one element. It takes those observations, and crafts potential solutions for overcoming our genetic predilections. The book has a smart, sassy style that makes what would otherwise be heavy material feel light as a feather. I found that the scientific references were accurate based on my reading of more extensive books that consider aspects of what is covered here. The suggestions for self-improvement in many cases were new to me, and potentially very helpful. I suspect that whether you would like to have some fun reading about science or would actually like new insights for overcoming key limitations you will find this book to be a rewarding, fun read.

The book starts from the perspective of what it took for humans to flourish in the past when food was scarce and life was very dangerous. Under those trying conditions, certain genetic tendencies would have aided survival. The authors argue that much of our behavior is still driven to reflect that environment, rather than this modern one. They cite scientific studies about humans and animals to support these points. My only complaint about the book is that they write as though genes have brains and "plot" their survival. As I understand evolutionary biology, actually genes survive automatically that happen to best fit the person for the environment that exists.

The picture that is presented is of people who were normally operating close to starvation, but occasionally had huge windfalls of food that they could not preserve. What was reasonable behavior? Eat all you could, and share the rest hoping that someone would do the same for you in the future. The authors see this as the basis of much of our overeating, and our tendency to do reciprocal favors for one another.

The book looks at sexual attraction, mating, and marriage from the perspective of ways that the next generation will have the most genes reproduced from one parent with the least effort.

Abuse of substances is related to the pleasure centers in the brain that we cannot apparently stimulate enough to satisfy ourselves.

Problems with gambling are related to poor calculation skills and the desire for a hit from the brain's pleasure center.

Those who like to see us as reasoning, ethical, social beings will probably find the arguments skewed . . . as they are. That does not mean, however, that they are irrelevant. It just means that they are incomplete.

The basic advice is to create circumstances that will make it difficult to work against your own best interests. For example, control your spending by keeping a stack of green cash for what you can afford to spend each month for each purpose. Cut up the credit cards, and forget borrowing for most purposes. Pay yourself first, and make it hard to get access to those savings. Lots of finance books offer this advice, but Mean Genes will give you a better sense of why it often works.

For overeating, the book basically suggests being sure that you never enter a situation where you could overeat without being somewhat full. On the way to the big feast, the authors suggest eating three bagels. Or if desserts get you, spread something awful on them at the beginning of the meal (mayonnaise is suggested for airline desserts).

For drugs (whether nicotine or heroin), the only alternative seems to be never to try them or to use a less harmful substitute (a nicotine patch or methadone).

A lot of overwork comes from insatiable greed. That can be overcome by finding other activities (other than work and making money) that make you feel constantly more successful. Perhaps writing book reviews here could be one such substitute.

By now, I suspect you get the idea. The book investigates debt, fat, drugs, risk, greed, gender differences, beauty, infidelity, family, and friends/enemies in very revealing ways. Personally, I found the chapter on risk to be the most interesting. I didn't realize that a lot of my behavior in this area is part of a common genetic pattern.

One of the great barriers to human progress is our tendency to act in ways counter to our own best interests through unconscious habits. I think this is one of the best books I have read for helping to surface those unconscious habits, explaining why they occur, and providing useful suggests to bust those stalls. Well done!

After you read this book, I suggest sitting down immediately to write down those areas where the book applies to you, and what strategies make sense for you to adopt to overcome the behavioral weaknesses you have. In my case, I will be riding a lot more roller coasters.

Decide what's best, rather than reaching automatically for what feels good.

Mean Genes gave me a new perspective on my stupid behaviors. I can't believe I didn't understand this stuff before. After reading Mean Genes, it all makes sense. Humans are genetically driven toward bad behaviors. That's why we keep doing the same stupid things (like gambling, eating fattening foods and spending money we don't have) over and over again. This book uses real scientific experiments and anecdotal stories to show the connection between genes and behavior. It also shows how I can avoid my genetic impulses. MEAN GENES IS AN EASY AND FUN READ! It's definitely something to talk about with friends.