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Summary: This Book Makes Sense.
Review: Terry Burnham, a visiting scholar at the Harvard Business School, holds a PhD in Business Economics from Harvard, while Jay Whelan is a Biology professor at UCLA. Together they have collaborated to produce an excellent book that explains why we humans so often act in what appear to be irrational ways.The essence of their argument is that we human beings come from a long line of hunter gatherers, and are genetically ill-equipped to deal with many of the challenges we face in the modern world. Using specific examples, Burnham and Whelan describe how our genes drive us to make irrational decisions in the major areas of our life (work, love, friendship, sex, and consumption). Forewarned is forearmed. Once you've read this book, you'll have the necessary tools to anticipate and avoid failure. Highly recommended.
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Summary: I can't stop talking about this book
Review: This book is so insightful. I have been interested in psychology for several years now, especially evolutionary, and this book ties together everything I've been learning. And it's fun and easy to read. I couldn't put it down! I first got a copy from the library and liked it so much I'm buying my own. It's funny, straight forward, intelligent without being at all preachy or pedantic. The format is inviting, the topics totally relatable, the examples perfectly highlighted by analogies (which I love). It explaines the basis for everything my friends do--as well as myself!--and gives clear explanations for where all this crazy behavior comes from. I love it. I am a psychology doctoral student, but absolutely anyone would be able to read this and appreciate it.
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Summary: "Tough Love" that's worth its weight in gold
Review: This is an important book for anyone interested in the human condition. The fact that Burnham and Phelan have written an accessible, light-hearted book does nothing to eclipse their obvious scholarly accomplishments. Rather, it underscores their commitment to make their message clear to as many people as possible. They tell us that our genes matter, they tell us why, and they tell us what we can do about it. Burnham and Phelan do an admirable job of qualifying their claims, supplying background support and citations, and providing a humanistic perspective on their socio-biological research. Theirs may not be the only explanation for our vices, foibles, and tendencies, but it is plausible, ingenious, and edifying. Any student of human behavior and the human condition would do well to read, think about, and assimilate Mean Genes' narrative and evidence. In sum, this book is an excellent new addition to a dialogue that spans two thousand years. I recommmend it to all curious minds.
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Summary: The Hunter-Gatherer Within ... and How to Manage Him or Her
Review: What an eye-opener! The book's central premise - that we're a bunch of hunter-gatherers stuck in a post-paleolithic world of over-abundance and instant gratification - came as a shock when I first encountered it. What?!?! You mean we're not enlightened modernites who act on what we say we want? So you're saying we don't always make rational, clear-headed choices based on obvious costs and benefits? That we're not in control of our actions? That our behavior might be shaped deeply, and far more than we realize, by ... gasp! ... our genes? My optimism about human behavior - which usually makes me reject explanations based on biological determinism - was offended, I have to admit. But then the more I read the stories, mulled over the evidence, and reflected on my own behavior, the more I began thinking, "Oh my god, these guys are SO right." The great thing, though, is that this is not a despair-inducing book. Rather, it makes all sorts of light bulbs go off ... like, have you ever wondered why it always seems to take 20-30 minutes to feel full AFTER you start stuffing yourself on an empty stomach? Though this example doesn't come up in the book, I'm guessing this delayed feeling of satiation was a great way to get famished hunter-gatherers to OVEREAT and load up on calories despite the reduced volumes of their stomachs, contracted from extended hunger. And the advice offered by Jay and Terry (who taught me basic microeconomics with enormous clarity and pizzazz) is straightforward if not always easy to stick to. Simply put, in moments of strength, get the "good you" to make decisions that make it more difficult for the "bad you" to slip up in times of weakness. So if you're already feeling ravenous before heading to that dinner party, maybe having a quick snack before you leave your house won't "ruin your appetite" but rather help you not totally gorge yourself once you get there. This book will, however, help me indulge in one passion: my instinctive though not entirely selfless generosity (a deep-seated impulse that the book also explains). In short, I'm planning to give this book to lots of people. When? Er, maybe right now. That low-fat cooking course, my new mega-workout schedule, and this year's check for my IRA account will just have to wait until I'm back from playing the slots in Vegas.
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Summary: Mean Genes Rocks!
Review: Wow. This book made me laugh, was extremely informative, and has already changed my life. I've always battled with my weight. Now I realize that my urge for chocolate or a second helping comes from deep within my evolutionary history, not some innate weakness of character. Now when I consider that hot-fudge sundae, I know I want it not because I'm bad or weak, but becuase once upon a time it paid to indulge when I could, in an environment where food was scarce. Somehow the knowledge of where these and other urges come from makes it easier for me to resist them. When I feel weak, I don't beat myself up. I make changes in my environment to achieve my goals, instead of just trying to "outwill" my mean genes. I feel more powerful because I have a better understanding what it is that I'm fighting. It's not often that a book can be this informative and obviously well-researched, and so hard to put down. Best of all, Mean Genes offers practical advice on how to gain control over our lives and achieve the goals we set for ourselves. Worth every penny.
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