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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.
List of contents
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
About the author
Nathan H. Lents is professor of biology and director of the Macaulay Honors College at John Jay College, part of the City University of New York. He is the author of
Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes (2018). Lents also maintains the Human Evolution Blog and writes for
Psychology Today under the tagline ¿Beastly Behavior: How Evolution Shaped Our Minds and Bodies.¿
Report
Not So Different lucidly and entertainingly reminds us just how much of us there is in other mammals and vertebrates - and how much of them there is in us. You may never think of yourself in quite the same way again. Ian Tattersall, American Museum of Natural History
