Sex, murder, and the meaning of life
Subtitle: a psychologist investigates how evolution, cognition, and complexity are revolutionizing our view of human nature
By: Douglas T. Kenrick
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 238
ISBN-13: 9780465020447
Description: The founder of social evolutionary psychology argues that many apparently ingrained human behaviors--including prejudice, over-consumption, and religious devotion--are actually easier to explain and avoid than one would imagine.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Standing in the gutter : how did an innocent young student accidentally fall in with a band of intellectual revolutionaries?; title: Why playboy is bad for your mental mechanisms : when is beauty bad for you?; title: Homicidal fantasies : why have most of us had at least one fantasy about committing murder?; title: Outgroup hatred in the blink of an eye : why can't we all just get along?; title: The mind as a coloring book : why doesn't cultural variation support the blank slate view of the mind?; title: Subselves : the three faces of thee; title: Reconstructing Maslow's pyramid : where are the missing bricks in the classic pyramid of needs?; title: How the mind warps : why do men and women forget different people and regret different things?; title: Peacocks, Porsches, and Pablo Picasso : why do men go out of their way to avoid a consumer reports best buy?; title: Sex and god : when is godliness just another mating strategy?; title: Deep rationality and evolutionary economics : why are behavioral economists only half right when they say that our economic choices are irrational?; title: Bad crowds, chaotic attractors, and humans as ants : why your parents were right about the company you keep; title: Conclusion: looking up at the stars : how does research on unsavory and taboo topics converge into a grand view of human nature and answer the question : what is the meaning of life?.