The Moral Animal
Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology
About the book
Journalist Robert Wright introduces evolutionary psychology, the young field that reads human behavior through Darwinian theory, and uses it to explain the hidden strategies behind romance, family feeling, friendship and office politics. He considers whether men and women are suited to monogamy, why evolution favors certain kinds of self-deception, and where the sense of justice comes from. The frame is the life of Charles Darwin himself: Wright tests which of Darwin's ideas about human nature still hold, and retells his marriage, family life and career in evolutionary terms. His conclusion is that many moral sentiments have deep biological roots, and so does the human habit of overrating one's own goodness.
Ryan Holiday called it perhaps the best beginner's text on evolutionary psychology, a little depressing at first but worth it for seeing the world more truly.
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This book has 1 recommendation
Ryan Holiday (Founder/Brass Check)
This is probably the definitive beginner text on evolutionary psychology and one of the easiest to get into. It’s a little depressing at first, realizing how ruthless many of our so called “good” feelings are. But then you realize that truth is better than ignorance, and you emerge seeing the world as it truly is for the first time.
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