The Social Leap: The New Evolutionary Science of Who We Are, Where We Come from, and What Makes Us Happy

The Social Leap: The New Evolutionary Science of Who We Are, Where We Come from, and What Makes Us Happy

by William von Hippel
The Social Leap: The New Evolutionary Science of Who We Are, Where We Come from, and What Makes Us Happy

The Social Leap: The New Evolutionary Science of Who We Are, Where We Come from, and What Makes Us Happy

by William von Hippel

Paperback

$17.99 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
    Choose Expedited Shipping at checkout for delivery by Wednesday, April 3
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

“A rollicking tour through humanity’s evolutionary past, and von Hippel is the consummate tour guide. With equal parts wisdom, humor, authority, and charm, he shows how our past explains the present and why our well-being rests on an understanding of how our minds evolved.”—Adam Alter, New York Times bestselling author of Drunk Tank Pink and Irresistible

Human psychology is rife with contradictions: We work hard to achieve our goals, but happiness at our success is fleeting. We hope our friends will do well but can’t help but feel jealous if they do too well. We’re aghast at the thought of people we know being murdered, but are unconcerned when our armed forces kill enemies we’ve never met. We complain about difficult bosses but are often just as bad when we’re in charge.

These inconsistencies may seem irrational, but each evolved to serve a vital function in our lives. Indeed, the most fundamental aspects of our psychology were permanently shaped by the “social leap” our ancestors made from the rainforest to the savannah. In their struggle to survive on the open grasslands, our ancestors prioritized teamwork and sociality over physical prowess, creating an entirely new kind of intelligence that forever altered our place on this planet.

A blend of anthropology, biology, history, and psychology with evolutionary science, The Social Leap traces our evolutionary history to show how events in our distant past continue to shape our lives today. From why we exaggerate to why we believe our own lies, the implications are far-reaching and extraordinary.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780062740403
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 03/15/2022
Pages: 304
Sales rank: 511,150
Product dimensions: 5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.68(d)

About the Author

William von Hippel grew up in Alaska, got his B.A. at Yale and his PhD at the University of Michigan, and then taught for a dozen years at Ohio State University before finding his way to Australia, where he is a professor of psychology at the University of Queensland. He has published more than a hundred articles, chapters, and edited books, and his research has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, The Economist, the BBC, Le Monde, El Mundo, Der Spiegel, and The Australian. He lives with his wife and two children in Brisbane, Australia.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

Part I How We Became Who We Are

1 Expelled from Eden 19

2 Out of Africa 35

3 Crops, Cities, and Kings 60

4 Sexual Selection and Social Comparison 86

Part II Leveraging the Past to Understand the Present

5 Homo Socialis 105

6 Homo Innovatio 138

7 Elephants and Baboons 164

8 Tribes and Tribulations 186

Part III Using Knowledge of the Past to Build a Better Future

9 Why Evolution Gave Us Happiness 213

10 Finding Happiness in Evolutionary Imperatives 227

Epilogue 258

Acknowledgments 261

References 263

Index 279

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews