Chaos and Intoxication: Complexity and Adaptation in the Structure of Human Nature

by Alan Dean

Overview

Why are people often so unpredictable? Why do they do things which can cause great personal harm even when they know this to be the case? Chaos and Intoxication examines the nature of drug and alcohol abuse, seeking to address these and many other enduring questions through a detailed discussion of the chaotic nature of human existence.
Chaos and Intoxication discusses ideas and research in three general areas: neurobiology and genetics, cognition and collective action, and chaos and complexity theory. These are brought together to develop a general theory of chaos and human nature.
This book will be essential reading for students and researchers in sociology and medical anthropology as well as professionals working in the drug and alcohol support services.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415146159
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/02/1997
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Alan Dean is Lecturer in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Hull.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Towards a Chaos Theory of Human Nature, Chapter one: The Embodiment of Intoxication, Chapter two: Biology and Experience, Chapter three: The Evolution of the Mind, Chapter four: Consciousness and Language, Chapter five: Reason, Rationality and Individual Action, Chapter six: Adaptation and Uncertainty in Human Nature, Chapter seven: Principles of Complexity and Chaos, Chapter eight: Working With Chaos, Chapter nine: Chaos and Intoxication, Chapter ten: Is Existence Fractal?

Editorial Reviews

'Both thought provoking and thorough ... Dean presents arguments that are impressive in their scope and that I found persuasive, stimulating and potentially useful ... a fertile source of ideas for people using simulating within the social sciences.' - Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation

From the Publisher