"Animals fall in love, establish rules for fair play, exchange valued goods and services, hold ""funerals"" for fallen comrades, deploy sex as a weapon, and communicate with one another using rich vocabularies. Animals also get jealous and violent or greedy and callous and develop irrational phobias, just like us. Monkeys address inequality, wolves miss each other, elephants grieve for their dead, and prairie dogs name the humans they encounter. Human and animal behavior is not as different as once believed.
In Not So Different, the biologist Nathan H. Lents argues that the same evolutionary forces of cooperation and competition have shaped both humans and animals. Identical emotional and instinctual drives govern our actions. By acknowledging this shared programming, the human experience no longer seems unique, but in that loss we gain a fuller appreciation of such phenomena as sibling rivalry and the biological basis of grief, helping us lead more grounded, moral lives among animals, our closest kin. Through a mix of colorful reporting and rigorous scientific research, Lents describes the exciting strides scientists have made in decoding animal behavior and bringing the evolutionary paths of humans and animals closer together. He marshals evidence from psychology, evolutionary biology, cognitive science, anthropology, and ethology to further advance this work and to drive home the truth that we are distinguished from animals only in degree, not in kind."
By:
Nathan H. Lents
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9780231178334
ISBN 10: 0231178336
Pages: 368
Publication Date: 14 November 2017
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgments Introduction: Emotions, Drives, and the Brain 1. Why Do We Play? 2. Animal Systems of Justice 3. Moral Animals 4. Sexual Politics 5. Do Animals Fall in Love? 6. The Agony of Grief 7. Jealous Beasts: The Dark Side of Love 8. Darker Still: Envy, Greed, and Power 9. Afraid of the Dark 10. The Richness of Animal Communication Epilogue: Metacognition, Self-awareness, and the Mind Notes Index
Nathan H. Lents is professor of molecular biology and director of the biology and cell and molecular biology programs at John Jay College of the City University of New York. His work has been published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Molecular Cell, and the American Journal of Physiology, as well as the Journal of College Science Teaching and the Chronicle of Higher Education. He also maintains The Human Evolution Blog and writes most of its content.
Reviews for Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animals
Nathan H. Lents has put together a comprehensive look at animal counterparts of human emotions and thoughts. The scope and quantity of his examples make a compelling argument for zoological precursors to nearly all human sentiments and many cognitive capabilities. His book is a charming read for general audiences that will also find value in the biology courses of high school and university curricula.--Joan Roughgarden, author of Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People
