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Inheritance

The Evolutionary Origins of the Modern World
By Harvey Whitehouse
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Brief Description
Insightful and breathtaking . . . Explains some of our species' greatest successes and failures. - Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens Why are humans everywhere prone to believe in ghosts? How might our tendency to imitate one another be contributing to the climate catastrophe? And... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Insightful and breathtaking . . . Explains some of our species' greatest successes and failures. - Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens

Why are humans everywhere prone to believe in ghosts? How might our tendency to imitate one another be contributing to the climate catastrophe? And does our deep evolutionary past impel us to vote for strongmen?

In 1987, Harvey Whitehouse went to live with an indigenous community deep in the Papua New Guinea rainforest. His experiences there convinced him that, far from being wildly different, humans are fundamentally alike— their beliefs and behaviours rooted in a set of evolutionary urges that can be found in any society, anywhere.

Here, Whitehouse roves across twelve millennia and five continents to uncover how these evolved urges have both shaped and been reshaped by human history. Along the way, he shows that this ancient inheritance does not just hold the key to explaining the modern world— but perhaps also to changing it.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781529159158

Publisher: Cornerstone

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 06 March 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin (Cornerstone)

Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 22.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 258g

Pages: 368

Collections

Education & Reference Harvey Whitehouse History & Archaeology History & Military Non-Fiction Penguin Books Science & Nature

About the Author

Professor Harvey Whitehouse is Chair of Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford and Director of the Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion. One of the world's leading experts on the evolutionary basis of human culture, Whitehouse's work has featured in the Telegraph, Guardian, Scientific American and New Scientist, and he has delivered talks at the World Economic Forum and the United Nations. He lives in Oxford.

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  • Inheritance
    Insightful and breathtaking . . . Explains some of our species' greatest successes and failures. — Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens How our evolved psychology has shaped the past, present and future of humanity. Each of us is endowed with an inheritance. A set of ancient biases, forged through countless millennia of natural and cultural selection, which shape every...
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