There are three major myths of human nature: humans are divided into biological races; humans are naturally aggressive; men and women are truly different in behavior, desires, and wiring. In an engaging and wide-ranging narrative Agustín Fuentes counters these pervasive and pernicious myths about human behavior. Tackling misconceptions about what race, aggression, and sex really mean for humans, Fuentes incorporates an accessible understanding of culture, genetics, and evolution requiring us to dispose of notions of "nature or nurture." Presenting scientific evidence from diverse fields, including anthropology, biology, and psychology, Fuentes devises a myth-busting toolkit to dismantle persistent fallacies about the validity of biological races, the innateness of aggression and violence, and the nature of monogamy and differences between the sexes. A final chapter plus an appendix provide a set of take-home points on how readers can myth-bust on their own. Accessible, compelling, and original, this book is a rich and nuanced account of how nature, culture, experience, and choice interact to influence human behavior.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"If you are willing to enhance your worldview by sleuthing to discover "who we are and why
we do what we do," Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You is for you."
-Science
"This book is a must for anyone looking to explore where the lines of human nature and artificial class structure are, and where Fuentes says they've been artificially created."--Charleston Post & Courier
"Fuentes deserves praise for and success with this book. The myth-busting toolkit, which is essentially a pattern of questioning, is a wonderful device. . . . Fuentes is not just informing, he is teaching readers how to think critically."--Washington Independent Review of Books
"Where these myths come from, and how to bust them, is the basis of this lively,
thoughtful book. Fuentes declares himself on neither side of the debate...
Instead he's firmly on team logic." -The Boston Globe
"In this compelling bit of pop science, Fuentes, professor of anthropology at Notre Dame, asks readers to throw out their preconceptions about what it means to be a human."--Publishers Weekly
we do what we do," Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You is for you."
-Science
"This book is a must for anyone looking to explore where the lines of human nature and artificial class structure are, and where Fuentes says they've been artificially created."--Charleston Post & Courier
"Fuentes deserves praise for and success with this book. The myth-busting toolkit, which is essentially a pattern of questioning, is a wonderful device. . . . Fuentes is not just informing, he is teaching readers how to think critically."--Washington Independent Review of Books
"Where these myths come from, and how to bust them, is the basis of this lively,
thoughtful book. Fuentes declares himself on neither side of the debate...
Instead he's firmly on team logic." -The Boston Globe
"In this compelling bit of pop science, Fuentes, professor of anthropology at Notre Dame, asks readers to throw out their preconceptions about what it means to be a human."--Publishers Weekly
"The author masterly conveys his knowledge in an informative way. . . . If you are willing to enhance your worldview by sleuthing to discover 'who we are and why we do what we do,' Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You is for you. Whether you agree with Fuentes or not, it will at least engage your critical thinking skills and encourage you to be a more active and discerning consumer of information."--Science (Aaas)
"This book is a must for anyone looking to explore where the lines of human nature and artificial class structure are, and where Fuentes says they've been artificially created."--Charleston Post & Courier
"Accessible, compelling, and original, this book is a rich and nuanced account of how nature, culture, experience, and choice interact to influence human behavior."--Birdbooker Report/The Guardian
"Recommended."--Choice
"Fuentes dismantles persistent fallacies about the validity of biological races, innateness of aggression, nature of monogamy and differences between sexes."--Living Anthropologically
From the Inside Flap
"Unlike advocates who promote one-cause-fits-all explanations for human behavior, Fuentes appreciates the array of influences that make us human. This book is guaranteed to give the reader a more nuanced view of who we are, and why we do what we do."--Joel Best, author of Everyone's a Winner and Damned Lies and Statistics
"Agustín Fuentes has established himself as an original and authoritative voice for the study of human origins. While interrogating the narrative of where we came from, the domain of both science and mythology, he explains scientific subtleties with grace and ease and successfully guides us through a confrontation with our bio-cultural nature."--Jonathan Marks, author of What it Means to be 98% Chimpanzee
"Fuentes brings together an enormous array of information from diverse fields to counter some of the most pervasive myths about human nature in our society." --Karen B. Strier, author of Primate Behavioral Ecology
"It is about time that an anthropologist discusses these pervasive myths of human nature and shows them to be just that: myths. Using data from across anthropology and debunking popular writings that do not account for all of the relevant literature, Fuentes does an exceptional job in deconstructing many commonly held beliefs concerning human behavior." --Robert W. Sussman, coauthor of Man the Hunted
"Fuentes challenges us to undertake the most fundamental of self-help programs and free ourselves of harmful misconceptions about race, aggression, and sex. By approaching the study of human nature through the lens of evolution, he has produced an illuminating, refreshing, and uplifting view of humanity that is both a superb history of our species and a manual for our future." --Nina G. Jablonski, author of Skin and Living Color
"Agustín Fuentes has established himself as an original and authoritative voice for the study of human origins. While interrogating the narrative of where we came from, the domain of both science and mythology, he explains scientific subtleties with grace and ease and successfully guides us through a confrontation with our bio-cultural nature."--Jonathan Marks, author of What it Means to be 98% Chimpanzee
"Fuentes brings together an enormous array of information from diverse fields to counter some of the most pervasive myths about human nature in our society." --Karen B. Strier, author of Primate Behavioral Ecology
"It is about time that an anthropologist discusses these pervasive myths of human nature and shows them to be just that: myths. Using data from across anthropology and debunking popular writings that do not account for all of the relevant literature, Fuentes does an exceptional job in deconstructing many commonly held beliefs concerning human behavior." --Robert W. Sussman, coauthor of Man the Hunted
"Fuentes challenges us to undertake the most fundamental of self-help programs and free ourselves of harmful misconceptions about race, aggression, and sex. By approaching the study of human nature through the lens of evolution, he has produced an illuminating, refreshing, and uplifting view of humanity that is both a superb history of our species and a manual for our future." --Nina G. Jablonski, author of Skin and Living Color
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More About the Author
Agustín Fuentes, trained in Zoology and Anthropology, is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. His research delves into the how and why of being human. Ranging from chasing monkeys in the jungles and cities of Asia, to exploring the lives of our evolutionary ancestors, to examining what people actually do across the globe, Professor Fuentes is interested in both the big questions and the small details of what makes humans and our closest relatives tick. Fuentes brings nearly two decades of training and research to his current book on busting myths about human nature.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Jay Young
Format:Hardcover
As my interests in sociology, social stratification, identity, and the scientific enterprise develop, I am very happy to have come across a book that ties all of these interests together. The book explains, clearly, what evolution is, and more importantly, what it is not, and the relation evolutionary biology has to culture and society. Specifically, he explains how race, gender, monogamy, and aggression relate to biology, and why there are so many widespread misconceptions about them.
Above all, Fuentes' book provides what he calls a toolkit for bustin myths about human nature. A strong understanding of evolution is the foundation of the discussion, and Fuentes provides that in one of the early chapters. Most importantly, in the toolkit for busting myths about human nature, he wants readers to understand the things that evolution is not: a process to the best, strongest, fastest, prettiest, or "best" species or individuals; that evolution is over, or that humans have reached the "end of evolution"; that it is oriented toward progress toward a particular goal and that organisms are perfectly suited to their environments; that it all happens by chance. Basically, evolution is change over time within populations in genotype and phenotype. In addition, it involves more than simply natural selection. In detail, he discusses, among other things, gene flow, genetic drift, and the intriguing (and to me, new) niche construction theory; a new habitat or environment that a species constructs can itself become a selecting force in evolution in its own right. By transforming natural selection pressures, niche construction generates feedback in evolution, on a scale hitherto underestimated, and in a manner that alters the evolutionary dynamic. That is just one example of the fascinating aspects of evolution most people don't know about that the author discusses. Our evolutionary heritage as social primates is what allowed us to create culture, and culture is what gave rise to cultural constructs, and critical thinking will help us understand evolution and cultural constructs.
Another aspect of the book that I really enjoyed is that at the end, Fuentes lists eight "take-home points," distilling the essential parts of the book that you, as an informed and scientifically literate citizen should know:
* Humans are simultaneously biological and cultural- We have compex biology and cultural schemata that shape us. The nature/nurture divide seems to be a wrong way of looking at being human
* Culture Matters- Culture is "both a product of human action and something that influences that action." It helps give meaning to our world as social creatures, so cultural constructs are real for those who share them. For example, money is a cultural construct, though that does not mean that it's optional or easy to get rid of.
* Evolution Matters- It shapes who we are. At its most basic level, evolution is change over time; specifically, change in genotype and phenotype across generations due to a variety of processes.
* Genes do not equal human nature- DNA is a primary component in the development and maintenance of ourselves, and genes constrail what is possible, but there is rarely a one-to-one relationship between genes and specific traits or behaviors. Human nature is also influences by ecological, social, cultural and historical contexts.
* Race is not what we think it is- It's a social construct, not a biological reality. End of story.
* Humans are not aggressive by nature- We have great potential for aggression, but we do not rely on aggression and violence more than cooperation as a species in our evolutionary history
* Men and women are not as different as you may think- There's a greater overlap between males and females than most people will allow, and while there are some differences (beyond the obvious physiological ones), efforts to locate "innate" differences that conveniently fit in with perceived social norms don't hold water. See Cordelia Fine's "Delusions of Gender" and Anne Fausto-Sterling's "Myths of Gender" for more in-depth treatment of this point.
* Busting myths about human nature requires critical thinking and a lot of work- Self-explanatory.
In the United States, we are besieged by scientific illiteracy and lack of critical thinking about what social constructs mean, where they come from, and the implications they have. If this book is widely read and understood, hopefully that situation will be rectified somewhat.
Above all, Fuentes' book provides what he calls a toolkit for bustin myths about human nature. A strong understanding of evolution is the foundation of the discussion, and Fuentes provides that in one of the early chapters. Most importantly, in the toolkit for busting myths about human nature, he wants readers to understand the things that evolution is not: a process to the best, strongest, fastest, prettiest, or "best" species or individuals; that evolution is over, or that humans have reached the "end of evolution"; that it is oriented toward progress toward a particular goal and that organisms are perfectly suited to their environments; that it all happens by chance. Basically, evolution is change over time within populations in genotype and phenotype. In addition, it involves more than simply natural selection. In detail, he discusses, among other things, gene flow, genetic drift, and the intriguing (and to me, new) niche construction theory; a new habitat or environment that a species constructs can itself become a selecting force in evolution in its own right. By transforming natural selection pressures, niche construction generates feedback in evolution, on a scale hitherto underestimated, and in a manner that alters the evolutionary dynamic. That is just one example of the fascinating aspects of evolution most people don't know about that the author discusses. Our evolutionary heritage as social primates is what allowed us to create culture, and culture is what gave rise to cultural constructs, and critical thinking will help us understand evolution and cultural constructs.
Another aspect of the book that I really enjoyed is that at the end, Fuentes lists eight "take-home points," distilling the essential parts of the book that you, as an informed and scientifically literate citizen should know:
* Humans are simultaneously biological and cultural- We have compex biology and cultural schemata that shape us. The nature/nurture divide seems to be a wrong way of looking at being human
* Culture Matters- Culture is "both a product of human action and something that influences that action." It helps give meaning to our world as social creatures, so cultural constructs are real for those who share them. For example, money is a cultural construct, though that does not mean that it's optional or easy to get rid of.
* Evolution Matters- It shapes who we are. At its most basic level, evolution is change over time; specifically, change in genotype and phenotype across generations due to a variety of processes.
* Genes do not equal human nature- DNA is a primary component in the development and maintenance of ourselves, and genes constrail what is possible, but there is rarely a one-to-one relationship between genes and specific traits or behaviors. Human nature is also influences by ecological, social, cultural and historical contexts.
* Race is not what we think it is- It's a social construct, not a biological reality. End of story.
* Humans are not aggressive by nature- We have great potential for aggression, but we do not rely on aggression and violence more than cooperation as a species in our evolutionary history
* Men and women are not as different as you may think- There's a greater overlap between males and females than most people will allow, and while there are some differences (beyond the obvious physiological ones), efforts to locate "innate" differences that conveniently fit in with perceived social norms don't hold water. See Cordelia Fine's "Delusions of Gender" and Anne Fausto-Sterling's "Myths of Gender" for more in-depth treatment of this point.
* Busting myths about human nature requires critical thinking and a lot of work- Self-explanatory.
In the United States, we are besieged by scientific illiteracy and lack of critical thinking about what social constructs mean, where they come from, and the implications they have. If this book is widely read and understood, hopefully that situation will be rectified somewhat.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
this book does a lot to give information on what are cultural differences. these differences can cause lots of problems. we want to claim these are gender, racial or biological differences and are unchangeable but they are not. i would give it a 5 if it had a little more science to it. (like the Race and Reality book)
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A. L. Rainey
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I absolutely love this book, as a therapist it gives me a lot to think about and share with my clients, this book also represents a shift in perspectives of how we see ourselves and our culture and I am thankful for it!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
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For many years, influential scientists have been stepping outside of academia to remind the public that they do not need college degrees to effectively scrutinize the myths,... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Richard Powis
1.0 out of 5 stars
Fuentes creates a ridiculous strawman of race
It is hard to take this book seriously given the absurd strawman Fuentes creates to combat the "myth" of race. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Viewer
1.0 out of 5 stars
Unhelpful
Disappointed in this book. Started to lose me with a small mistake in physics, then started debunking myths that were proved false long ago (like a genetic basis for race) or that... Read more
Published 9 months ago by W. McAnally
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buy it --
Buy this book, read it, and make sure that your friends and family know that you have read it. There's so much relevant, contemporary biological and anthropological information in... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Ed Evans
