Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting On Wednesday hosted at Breaking the Spine.
Expected publication: April 17th 2018 by Simon & Schuster
A radical, optimistic exploration of how humans evolved to develop reason, consciousness, and free will.
Lately, the most passionate advocates of the theory of evolution seem to present it as bad news. Scientists such as Richard Dawkins, Lawrence Krauss, and Sam Harris tell us that our most intimate actions, thoughts, and values are mere byproducts of thousands of generations of mindless adaptation. We are just one species among multitudes, and therefore no more significant than any other living creature.
Now comes Brown University biologist Kenneth R. Miller to make the case that this view betrays a gross misunderstanding of evolution. Natural selection surely explains how our bodies and brains were shaped, but Miller argues that it’s not a social or cultural theory of everything. In The Human Instinct, he rejects the idea that our biological heritage means that human thought, action, and imagination are pre-determined, describing instead the trajectory that ultimately gave us reason, consciousness and free will. A proper understanding of evolution, he says, reveals humankind in its glorious uniqueness—one foot planted firmly among all of the creatures we’ve evolved alongside, and the other in the special place of self-awareness and understanding that we alone occupy in the universe.
Equal parts natural science and philosophy, The Human Instinct is a moving and powerful celebration of what it means to be human.
The Human Instinct is a book that I would call brain food. And the more brain food for me, the better. I really kind of crave it. I can't ever get enough of this kind of nonfiction (more recommendations are always much appreciated!) The book involves science and philosophy, both topics I'm very interested in, especially when it's about evolution. I'm also very interested what the author has to say about the concept of consciousness. If someone handed this book to me right this second I would probably just sit down with it and read it in one sitting, assuming no one would interrupt me... That's how excited I am about it and how much I want to read it. ♥
Support Me on Ko-fi
