false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173228594m/261592.jpg 261592 3 "Don't trust your instincts." Hardly the standard self-help fare, to be sure. Arguing that Darwin has a lot more to tell us about ourselves than Freud, <I>Mean Genes</I> is high on evolution and low on inner child. Deemed "brilliant" by E.O. Wilson himself, the book is the work of two young Wilson disciples: Terry Burnham, an economics professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and Jay Phelan, a professor of biology at UCLA.<p> Burnham and Phelan divide life issues into 10 categories (debt, fat, drugs, risk, greed, gender, beauty, infidelity, family, and friends and foes), and then offer a two-step guide to better living. "Step 1 is to understand our animal nature, particularly those desires that get us into trouble and can lead to unhappiness. Step 2 is to harness this knowledge so that we can tame our primal instincts."<p> Needless to say, Nancy Reagan-esque bromides don't fit into the <I>Mean Genes</I> scheme of things: <p> <blockquote>"Just say no" to drugs is the simplest way to kick a habit. Unfortunately, this obvious and low-cost approach is also the route most likely to fail. For example, only one person quits smoking for every twenty who attempt to just say no. Raw willpower seems like a great solution right up until weakness strikes and we light up a cigarette or mix a margarita. </blockquote><p> Instead of slogans, the <I>Mean Genes</I> approach to overcoming drug addiction is to first recognize that "every person has strong, instinctual cravings for destructive substances." This, coupled with a thorough scientific understanding of a given drug's pleasurable effects on the brain, offers a more realistic course of action, such as finding a less harmful substitute for achieving a similar buzz.<p> Be it talk of weight loss, saving for retirement, or resisting the neighbor's wife, such practical, tough-love suggestions for subduing the beast within are provided throughout the book. Phelan describes how he instantly smears mayonnaise all over tempting sweets served with airline meals to keep from eating them during long flights, and Burnham writes of giving away his Internet access cable in order to free himself of a serious day-trading fixation.<p> The authors also rely heavily on findings from the animal world in stating their case, which makes for fascinating reading, if not always for readily transferable lessons to daily life. Consider, for example, certain frog species that "continue individual bouts of mating for several months. If people mated for a similar percentage of our lives, a single round of intercourse would last almost ten years." And then there's the famed black widow spider. "Shunning the more traditional chastity belt, the male breaks off his sexual organ inside the female, preventing her from ever mating again. When the act is completed, the female kills and eats the male."<p> Put off by all the sex and violence? Don't worry. There's also a nod to family values in the form of the Australian social spider. "Soon after giving birth to about a hundred hungry spiderlings, Mom's body literally liquefies into a pile of mushy flesh. The babies then munch on the flesh so they can start their lives with full bellies." Mean genes, indeed. <I>--Patrick Jennings</I> 1363114 2000 Mean Genes: From Sex to Money to Food: Taming Our Primal Instincts total:97|5:22|4:47|3:25|2:2|1:1| 97 378 155 19 3 2 false false Thu Feb 08 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Tue Apr 15 11:30:47 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 15 11:32:15 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Wed Jun 03 21:37:02 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 22:30:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Sun Nov 23 19:20:07 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 21:09:59 -0800 2008
Mean Genes attempts to explain the American gluttonous lifestyle through evolutionary theory. It's an idea worth exploring, but not through the medium of advice c...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Apr 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 02 16:33:39 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 12 19:46:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Feb 09 12:22:46 -0800 2008 Sat Oct 27 08:36:46 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 27 08:39:34 -0700 2007
Sandra]]> 3 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 23 09:44:13 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 24 17:39:23 -0700 2007 I wish I could remember how I came across this book, but the genes which controlled the development of my memory have not been enticed by natural selection to provide a perfect memory. Oh well, I guess all my ancestors didn’t really need one either. Mean Genes: From Sex to Money to Food: Tam...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Sep 16 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 26 08:17:08 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 26 08:18:13 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Mon Jul 21 12:31:19 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 12:38:22 -0700 2008
One of the things this book talked about: how physical attraction can arise from significant genetic differences. If I remember correctly one story illustrated that people detect different immune markers and seek partners suff...more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Aug 24 21:42:28 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 22:36:42 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 23:04:34 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 19:00:02 -0700 2009 Taleb has borrowed more than couple of citations research samples from this book evidently for his book "Fooled by randomness".]]> 3 0 false false Sat Nov 22 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Oct 30 13:36:49 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 22 09:01:19 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Feb 06 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 29 20:49:59 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 12 20:17:24 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Mon Aug 10 17:17:19 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 17:10:27 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 17:17:19 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Feb 21 00:37:38 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 29 03:20:05 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Tue Sep 18 09:42:50 -0700 2007 Sat Dec 29 13:43:24 -0800 2007 4 0 false false Fri Apr 02 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Mon Aug 25 17:43:21 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 25 17:44:40 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Fri Oct 17 15:17:18 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 17 15:18:08 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Jul 13 21:27:04 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 13 21:27:47 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Mon Aug 20 17:26:30 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 20 17:26:40 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Tue Nov 24 23:38:54 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 24 23:40:44 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=261592