Research Catalog

Blueprint : the evolutionary origins of a good society

Title
Blueprint : the evolutionary origins of a good society / Nicholas A. Christakis.
Author
Christakis, Nicholas A.
Publication
  • New York, NY : Little, Brown Spark, [2019]
  • ©2019

Items in the Library & Off-site

Filter by

1 Item

StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
TextUse in library JFE 19-6474Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
xxi, 520 pages, 8 pages of plates : illustrations (some color), map; 25 cm
Summary
"For too long, scientists have focused on the dark side of our biological heritage: our capacity for aggression, cruelty, prejudice, and self-interest. But natural selection has given us a suite of beneficial social features, including our capacity for love, friendship, cooperation, and learning. Beneath all our inventions--our tools, farms, machines, cities, nations--we carry with us innate proclivities to make a good society. In Blueprint, Nicholas A. Christakis introduces the compelling idea that our genes affect not only our bodies and behaviors, but also the ways in which we make societies, ones that are surprisingly similar worldwide. With many vivid examples--including diverse historical and contemporary cultures, communities formed in the wake of shipwrecks, commune dwellers seeking utopia, online groups thrown together by design or involving artificially intelligent bots, and even the tender and complex social arrangements of elephants and dolphins that so resemble our own--Christakis shows that, despite a human history replete with violence, we cannot escape our social blueprint for goodness. In a world of increasing political and economic polarization, it's tempting to ignore the positive role of our evolutionary past. Drawing on advances in social science, evolutionary biology, genetics, neuroscience, and network science, Blueprint shows how and why evolution has placed us on a humane path--and how we are united by our common humanity."--Jacket.
Subjects
Note
  • "March 2019"--Title page verso.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (pages 425-505) and index.
Contents
Preface: Our common humanity -- The society within us -- Unintentional communities -- Intentional communities -- Artificial communities -- First comes love -- Animal attraction -- Animal friends -- Friends and networks -- One way to be social -- Remote control -- Genes and culture -- Natural and social laws.
Call Number
JFE 19-6474
ISBN
  • 9780316230032
  • 0316230030
  • 9780316423915
  • 0316423912
LCCN
2018957420
OCLC
1089804986
Author
Christakis, Nicholas A., author.
Title
Blueprint : the evolutionary origins of a good society / Nicholas A. Christakis.
Publisher
New York, NY : Little, Brown Spark, [2019]
Copyright Date
©2019
Edition
First edition.
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 425-505) and index.
Research Call Number
JFE 19-6474
View in Legacy Catalog