Download Denial: Self-Deception, False Beliefs, and the Origins of the Human Mind AudioBook Free

The history of knowledge abounds with momentous theories that disrupted classic wisdom yet were eventually proven true. Ajit Varki and Danny Brower's "Mind over Truth" theory is poised to be one such idea - a thought that operates counter to commonly performed notions about human being evolution but which could contain the key to understanding why humans improved as we did, leaving all the related species very good behind. At a chance assembly in 2005, Brower, a geneticist, posed an unusual idea to Varki that he assumed could clarify the roots of real human uniqueness on the list of world's species: Why is there no humanlike elephant or humanlike dolphin, despite an incredible number of years of evolutionary opportunity? Why is it that humans by themselves can understand the intellects of others? Haunted by their encounter, Varki tried years later to get hold of Brower and then discover that he had died unexpectedly. Inspired by an imperfect manuscript Brower left out, Denial presents a radical new theory on the roots of our species. It was not, the creators argue, a natural leap that established humanity apart from other species, but a internal one: namely, the uniquely real human ability to deny reality in the face of inarguable information - like the willful ignorance of our very own inevitable fatalities. The knowing of our very own mortality can have caused anxieties that resulted in our avoiding the risks of fighting to procreate - an evolutionary dead-end. Humans therefore had a need to evolve a system for conquering this hurdle: the denial of fact. As a consequence of this evolutionary quirk we now deny any areas of reality that are not to our preference - we smoke cigarettes, eat processed foods, and avoid exercise, knowing these habits are a prescription for an early on death. And so what has worked to determine our species could be our undoing if we continue to deny the consequences of unrealistic approaches to from personal health to financial risk-taking to climate change. Alternatively, reality-denial affords us many valuable features, such as optimism, self confidence, and courage in the face of long odds. Offered in homage to Brower's original thinking, Denial offers a powerful alert about the potential issues inherent inside our remarkable capacity to ignore fact - a gift idea that will either lead to our downfall, or continue being our greatest property.

Category: Social Psychology & Interactions

Details

Publisher	Hachette Audio
Language	English
ISBN
DATE	2013-06
Author	Ajit Varki

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