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Summary: Worth reading
Review: A fluid style, thought-provoking assertions, the Moral Animal makes a clear and interesting expose of the science of Evolutionary Psychology. Recommended.
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Summary: Not the whole story
Review: Why is it that so many men cannot remain faithful, if not in act in thought? Why is it that women are so drawn to powerful, rich or famous men? Robert Wright contends that we are driven by deep-rooted biological instincts -- survival instincts, if you will. Whether we are conscious of these drives or not, they are a part of our decision-making, particularly as it relates to courting, love and reproduction. Truly disinterested acts by human beings are extremely rare, and most of us are driven by what Richard Dawkins has called "the selfish gene." When it comes to such matters, Wright continues, most human beings are actually pretty cold hearted, as any one who has had his or her love rejected knows. There is little joy in being lost at the bottom of the biological desirability chain. Yet, while much of what Wright argues is certainly true, it is also only a partial truth. Human history is not merely a biological notebook, it is also the history of those who have sought to overcome biology. From the Greeks to Christ to the Enlightenment there have been voices that have stood fast against the prerogatives of power, which are often biologically dictated. Why is this impulse so strong? If survival were the answer, as Wright contends, would not individuals choose to always align themselves with power? Yet, we know many men and women who died for higher ground. Just as confusing, how does Wright explain the self destructive generosity so often experienced by those who risk their lives for others -- the soldier who throws himself on the hand grenade to save his friends; the individual who jumps in harm's way to save another. Wright would argue that these acts of random kindness are just as likely acts of selfishness because we do expect, should we survive, to win esteem and praise and thereby strengthen ourselves for biological survival. (One might add here that certain kinds of selfishness, not carried to the extreme, are necessary to production, livelihood and lifting of the human spirit -- no one writes a book or opera afterall, without carving out time alone and denying others their energy). Wright's view of life can seem bleak, to be sure, for it borders on reducing every act to selfish calculation, conscious or not. The exception, Wright contends, is the truly unselfish act -- the anonymous act of generosity, etc. But if we carry the logic forward, Mr. Wright no doubt would tell us that they seek the ultimate survival -- their souls, and so on. In having an answer for everything, this theory of existence gives answers to nothing. Where does this leave humanity? Unfortunately, not much better off than we were before. The Darwinist impulse -- to reduce life to biological impulse -- is self defeating, even if true. One wonders if Mr. Wright might not have spent more time arguing for a more noble worldview, by encouraging people to embrace faith, love and charity, rather than telling us what is fairly clear to anyone who has witnessed the popularity of the high school quarterback and the cheerleaders. Love thy neighbor as thyself remains the most compelling wisdom of the age, and if we do it, we serve both God and man, because if, as Wright contends, we love ourselves so deeply, than we cannot but love our neighbors justly.
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Summary: Dichotomy of the superego and the moral animal
Review: The moral animal is really appealing novel. I have long believed in Natural selection, but was always troubled by death being easily explained away due to a person's supposed inferiority. I believe this book and Darwin's "new paradigm" does a better and more adequate job of explaining how war and crime and actions against humanity are not the strength of the strong against the weak, but rather it is an outlook on the overall selfishness of our nature. The book is very readable and fascinating in the gender roles that Wright has laid out. This book very much reminds me of another book I read, Influence, the Psychology of Persuasion. The dichotic relationship between our animal nature (superego) and our moral conscience state is an interesting impasse. This book definitely explored the reasons for our emotions and why natural selection infused these beliefs in our mental organ. Knowing this, we can now better understand and control our sometimes-illogical behavior.
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Summary: A belief system, not science!!
Review: This book is not scientific. This book simplifies biology. (I am myself a research biologist.) It offers a belief system, just like religion does. And for that purpose, it does a great job. But we should always remember, these ideas are only ideas - or rather, I should say, guesses. If we begin to cling to them as though they are real truths, we will become deluded.
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Summary: Morality?
Review: We are not only tabula rasa nor are we hardwired. We are an amalgamation of historic, genetics and cultural forces. The evolution of what we were, are and going to be is multifactorial and we must resist the temptation of reductionism. The Moral Animal explains the evolution of human moral sentiments. Wright makes the argument that morality is an adaptation designed to maximize genetic self interest, a function that is entirely hidden from our conscious experience. Our intuitive moral principles, he says, have no claim to intrinsic truth and should be distrusted. In Darwin's legacy we must reconstruct from the ground up. Our ethical intuitions, ultimately serve our genetic self interest and we have no claim to inherent correctness; they are "vestiges of organic history on a particular planet." Wright cites intolerant selfrighteousness and the need for retribution as examples of how destructive these impulses can be. He is troubled by the discrepancy between the self evident need for moral principles and their intellectual groundlessness. He tries to build a minimal ethical philosophy from which, which takes the form of utilitarianism; what is good is the greatest happiness for the greatest number. "At the root of this feeling mean the retributive impulse, one of the basic governors of reciprocal altruism. It evolved not for the good of the species, or the good of the nation, or even for the good of the tribe, but for the good of the individual. And, really, even this is misleading; the impulse's ultimate ftinction is to get the individual's genetic information copied. This doesn't necessarily mean the impulse of retribution is bad. But it does mean that some of the reasons we've been thinking of it as good are now open to question. In particular, the aura of reverence surrounding the impulse - the ethereal sense that retribution embodies some higher ethical truth - is harder to credit once the aura is seen to be a self serving message from our genes, not a beneficient message from the heavens. Its origin is no more heavenly that that of hunger, hatred, lust, or any of the other things that exist by virtue of their past success in shoving genes through generations. There is, actually, a defense of retribution that can be cast in moral terms - in utilitarian terms, or in terms of any other morality whose aim is to get people to behave considerately toward one another. Retribution helps solve the "cheater" problem that any moral system faces; people who are seen to take more than they give are thereafter punished, discouraged from always being a door holdee and never a door holder. Even though the retributive impulse wasn't deigned for the good of the group, as Mill's moral system is, it can, and often does, raise the sum of social welfare. It keeps people mindful of the interests of others of the interests of others. However lowly its origin, it has come to serve a lofty purpose. This is something to be thankful for." p. 339 He introduces us to the groundlessness of morality. He implies that because moral sense evolved as just another biological organ, its contents are figments. But that does not follow. A faculty could have evolved to mesh with abstract principles that are in some sense "there" waiting for suitable mechanisms to discover them. We evolved a mind that can grasp but does that mean the 1 + I = 2 is a product of our imagination. An evolutionary psychology that sees moral principles as having a logic and justification of their own. Are we really a moral animal? Miguel Llora
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Summary: Great scientific insights in evolutionary psychology
Review: This book can be pretty "scientific" and abstract in its findings. But what I think it does well is stress a political view of Darwinian psychology by rationalizing it with our feelings and how it affects us. I especially enjoyed the beginning to the book, which reassured us that evolutionary psychology is just the first step, and the most logical one right now. Instead of comparing these ideas to other vastly conflicting views I think this book is a good read in that it is very liberal towards other views and constantly clarifies its own understanding of human nature. What I'm sick of hearing these days is people who aren't compassionate of others' views, and I think that viewing this book in that light allows us to see more clearly the things that do make a whole lot of sense. While there are errors people have pointed out, it still remains a good introduction to this new science. Evolutionary psychology is something everyone should study some time on their own and it will most certainly open many new doors... far more than it closes. But the insights it will give us helps us to apply our moral understanding to these instincts we perceive and change our own attitudes about them. Some still complain that the scientific explanation of morals and altruism lessens the importance of the feelings, but I believe otherwise. I believe that after studying music theory I can still create vast representations of my feelings and transmit those to others. I believe that even if we decide that a painter will usually use a canvas to paint that it will still represent an indescribable feeling in it. Everything needs to take a form, and forms and feelings can coexist. Have you ever heard about people who say they study and work better when they listen to classical music? Classical music is much more technical and form-based yet it clearly demonstrates that it can coexist with our feelings. In a sense we develop the feelings better by developing understanding of the form. And I think that is exactly the role that evolutionary psychology plays in our lives.
Rating:
Summary: Great read
Review: A great book everyone should read. Anyone who says otherwise is afraid of what it reveals. You can't grow as a human being until you know what it is to be human. Replaces all the other psychology and self-help books. This is the real deal.
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Summary: Rolling the Universe in a Ball...
Review: This is certainly an interesting book: it gets the reader to re-think his/her place in society and wonder about his/her life choices. However, as with all attempts to reduce a topic as complex and ever-changing as human nature to a simple formula, its certainties and claims wind up sounding a bit glib, if not arrogant. Because evolutionary biologists can posit that their discoveries are "scientific" by their choice of a methodolgy, they forget that the answers they find depend almost entirely on the questions they ask. For example, because male fruit flies are promiscuous (i.e spread their DNA), Wright argues that that explains why virtually all men have wandering eyes for the "scarce eggs" of women other than their spouses. Thought-provoking yes, but, gee, maybe the problem is a bit more complex.
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Summary: A wonderful introduction to the theory of natural selection
Review: This is an extremely well written book, combining scientific seriousness with wit and humor. It is a wonderful introduction to the theory of natural selection that gives strong insights about how and why certain traits, both physical and psychological, have been selected for our genes to be passed on from generation to generation. For psychologists in general it offers the wonderful option to solve the nature/nurture conflict. Indeed, it shows how it is the environment that selects certain genes, and then in turn how our genes can influence the environment, leading to a new selection and thus going full circle. Therefore, it becomes obvious that genes and environment are entertwined for ever, and that it is their interaction that makes us who we are. It is also a wonderful tool to understand how very complex behaviors can be executed automatically (or unconsciously), either for strategic reasons or because the number of variables to consider is way too big for our limited consciousness to grasp. Indeed, haven't you ever found yourself saying "I am not sure why I did that..." or "I know it was stupid but I just could not help it..."? Evolutionary psychology is trying to understand why we sometimes feel compelled to do certain things, or why we are attracted toward certain persons, even though we are not aware of the powerful forces behind our actions. Among other things, the author presents compelling evidence about why males and females are so fundamentally different psychologically, why we feel love toward our offsprings and which ones we are likely to favor over others, why and how frienships emerge, and the role of social status in the search for a mate. Additionally, one of the most impressive things I found in the book was the explanation of the emergence and purpose of feelings. Indeed, feelings seem to be so deeply routed in our animal nature that it is extremely hard, if not impossible, for us not to react in very emotional ways in many situations. Evolutionary psychology offers a logical way for us to make sense out of this fact, and provides insights about why it is such a central part of us to feel outraged, humble, grateful, indignant, proud, etc... Do not expect to feel very good about yourself after you read this book. Indeed, the author points out that the most noble behaviors emerged for a very selfish end, that is, for our genes to be passed on to the next generation. This is why the last couple of chapters are dedicated to ethics. If you ask me, this part sounds way too patronizing for my taste, and I would have been glad to draw my own conclusions about what is to be done with the knowledge I acquired reading the book. However, it is important to note that we evolved to be moral animals; that is, we became able to be aware of unconscious forces and thus to slowly learn how to master them. Finally, the author indicates that our genes were selected in what he calls the 'ancestral environment,' when we lived in small groups in a world where the word civilization did not even exist. Thus, it allows us to understand why so many people either feel out of touch with their environment or are considered deviant. In the past our genes were selected for their fitness in a particualr environment and our children were thus fit for it as well, as the environment remained virtually the same. However, in our modern world where everything is changing so fast, the genes that had been fit for hundreds of thousands of years are now lost and clueless, and our ever changing environment is leaving us no hope to ever adapt ourselves to it. It is obviously impossible to go back to our ancestral environment for our genes to feel at home again. However, we still can stop our mad race toward destruction and allow human beings to once again feel like they are belonging to this world.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and engaging
Review: I found this book a page-turner. Once started, I couldn't put it down. The book demonstrates many of the underlying evolutionary reasons for our behavior. There is much inside to study and learn from. Mr. Wright's writing style is good too, and I liked the way he wove biographical snippets about Darwin and his Victorian times into both the story and the conclusions he draws concerning morality. Some of the other customer reviews are more thorough and now, having read them after the fact, I realize that there is more good reading ahead on this fascinating topic.
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