In What Makes Us Human? some of the world's most brilliant thinkers offer their answers to this perennial puzzle, including Susan Blackmore, Robin Dunbar, Richard Harries, Kenan Malik and Lewis Wolpert. Together they draw on a broad spectrum of disciplines, from anthropology, medicine, and neuroscience, to philosophy, psychology and religion, to ask what makes us distinctively human. Is it our cognitive abilities, our use of tools, our story-telling, our beliefs, our curiosity, our ability to cook, or our culture? Foreword / Walter Bodmer -- Contributors -- 1. Imitation makes us human / Susan Blackmore -- 2. Memory, time, and language / Michael Corballis and Thomas Suddendorf -- 3. Why are humans not just great apes? / Robin Dunbar -- 4. The hominid that talked / Maurizio Gentilucci and Michael Corballis -- 5. Half ape, half angel? / the Rt. Reverend Richard Harries -- 6. Material facts from a nonmaterialist perspective / David Hulme -- 7. What makes us human? Our ancestors and the weather / Stephen Oppenheimer -- 8. Curiosity and quest / Charles Pasternak -- 9. Human evolution and the human condition / Ian Tattersall -- 10. The place of "deep social mind" in the evolution of human nature / Andrew Whiten -- 11. Causal belief makes us human / Lewis Wolpert -- 12. The cooking enigma / Richard Wrangham -- Index The greatest thinkers of our day offer their answers to this perennial puzzle In What Makes us Human? some of the worlds most brilliant thinkers answer this perennial puzzle. Is it our imagination or our knack for cooking? Is it because we are social, scientific, or spiritual? Exploring the true nature of human nature, What Makes us Human? sheds new light on how and why our ancestors produced such clever, talented, and unlikely progeny. With contributions by Susan Blackmore, Robin Dunbar, Stephen Oppenheimer, Ian Tattersall, and more.For all to enjoy. How and why did we become who we are? In this book some of the world's most brilliant thinkers offers their answers to this perennial puzzle. Together they draw on a broad spectrum of disciplines, from anthropology, biochemistry, medicine, and neuroscience, to philsophy, psychology and religion In What Makes us Human? some of the world’s most brilliant thinkers offer their answers to this perennial puzzle, shedding newlight on how and why our ancestors produced such clever, talented, and unlikely progeny. Edited By Charles Pasternak. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.
