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23rd out of 30 books
—
3 voters
How Many Friends Does One Person Need?: Dunbar's Number and Other Evolutionary Quirks
by
Robin Dunbar
Why do men talk and women gossip, and which is better for you? Why is monogamy a drain on the brain? And why should you be suspicious of someone who has more than 150 friends on Facebook?
We are the product of our evolutionary history, and this history colors our everyday lives--from why we joke to the depth of our religious beliefs. In "How Many Friends Does One Person
...moreHardcover, 302 pages
Published
by Faber & Faber
(first published November 1st 2010)
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After 125 pages of attempting to get through this I finally just stopped. It's full of interesting ideas presented as known facts, and rarely (if ever) supported by studies and research. He makes the unforgivable mistake of contrasting the "left brain" and "right brain", uses correlation to prove causation, and seems to only half-bake many of his ideas (or at least only half-explain them). This book tries to peg itself as science, but it comes off as pseudo-science. Disappointing considering Dun...more
Having its origins in newspaper columns written over 14 years, this book ranges over many subjects in the sociobiological approach to evolution. An important theme in the book is Dunbar's Number, the number of friends the human being has evolved to maintain at any one time: 150. Dunbar mentions social networking sites on p. 22, saying that people with over 200 connections know little or nothing about most of the individuals on their list. Hmm. In any case, he does show that tribal clans, Xmas ca...more
This book was recommended to me off of Amazon, and it seemed a sure bet: pop science, original research, and heavy on the sociology. The title refers to Dunbar's number, the supposed maximum number of people that a person can reasonably be expected to know socially. I've heard of this number, and knew something of its background (results from maximum hunter-gatherer tribal sizes and proves that people who have a gazillion friends on FB are just silly). I'd hoped this book would explore similar t...more
Jul 25, 2011
Judyta Szaciłło
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
rate-enjoyable,
gnr-pop-science
I was disappointed with this book. After reading 'Grooming, gossips and the evolution of the language' I expected another good, transparent and well-demonstrated argument, which is accessable and interesting for a non-professional reader. However, accessibility is all what is left. The author jumps from one subject to another, holding them with very weak links and quite often not contributing to the main thought (vague as it was). It would be a nice read if published as a series of short essays...more
The first thing to keep in mind about this book is that it is a collection of essays, most of them originally published elsewhere. Thus, some of the ideas are underdeveloped, and there is some repetition one to another. However, it raises many important ideas about "evolutionary psychology," essentially the long roots at work in our minds and social behavior, such as "Dunbar's Number" in which we tend to best associate in groups of 150, have but a few people in our innermost circle, and act in w...more
Excellent book by evolutionary biologist. Sweet prose. Brief essays on many fascinating subjects, e.g.: Why Eskimos rub noses in greeting (because the way you smell reveals a lot about your genetic qualities); why tall & facially-symmetrical people are more successful (those qualities indicate good health & good genes); .5% of all men alive today, & 8.5% of all men in central Asia, are descended from Genghis Khan & his brothers, who conquered much of the known world in the early...more
A very well written beginners book on evolutionary psychology, which is made accessible throughout by Dunbar's infectious enthusiasm and wit on the subject. Full of lots of little pieces of information that can be regurgitated into general conversation, and creating interesting discussions. All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone wanting an accessible way to introduce themselves to some basic concepts.
This had lots of interesting little tit bits that I enjoyed. In fact I've been pestering my hubby with snippets for a few days now. I did find it was a bit underwritten though - further discussion would have been helpful.
Read 3 of this collection of essays and wasn't impressed. The Scots author tries to inject humor and a paragraph at the end of each linking it to the next. Evidence is presented anecdotally if at all.
This is interesting, written in an engaging and witty style. Much of the content comes from published articles, so unfortunately there is a little repetition, but it's a good read.
Jul 16, 2012
Is
added it
The book actually offers more than the (somewhat) frivoulous title suggests. Little titbits and theories on how we have evolved and ways of the world. Interesting read!
Yes, it's a collection of essays. Not being a science textbook, this book is entertaining to read.
Oct 12, 2011
John
added it
Enjoyed it
This book made many interesting points but I found it a bit disjointed and hard to follow. I have read since that it is actually a collection of essays and that explains it somewhat.
Evolutionary quirks make fun reading materials.
I had not had the opportunity to read any of these essays before picking up this book. I really enjoyed each of them. Dunbar's ability to put evolutionary biology in the context of human psychology makes for some interesting reading.
An interesting twist on many ideas we have about ourselves from an evolutionary anthropologist. A hodgepodge of ideas and studies, it should be read as light and interesting reading that brings some fresh insights into interesting subjects. Since it is a curated collection of essays, it can seem disjointed but it is a scholarly Malcolm Gladwel-like book.
Pleasant enough, somewhat informative.
An entertaining book, better at the beginning than the end.
I was looking forward to reading this, but it disappointed. Its genesis, as popular science writing published in a couple of newspapers, is all too apparent. There's repetition, a popularist slant, and a lack of depth.
2.5 stars. since this was apparently a collection of essays and not actually written in one piece, it is a little disjointed. but over all an easy and enjoyable foray into evolutionary science.
Aug 23, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
read-enough
I learned five new things in the intro of this book alone. SO COOL.
This book makes so many claims but doesn't have a citations page!
150. That it. Not 42.
May 16, 2013
Hermila Loya
marked it as to-read
May 15, 2013
Chelsey
marked it as to-read
May 11, 2013
Stefán Kjartansson
marked it as to-read
May 07, 2013
Beatka
is currently reading it
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Robin Ian MacDonald Dunbar, British anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist. He is a specialist in primate behaviour. Currently Professor of Evolutionary Psychology and head of the Social and Evolutionary Neuroscience Research Group at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford.
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“It's perhaps not so much how your amygdala is tuned that makes you politically extreme, but that your intrinsic nervousness makes you more responsive to things that might seem to threaten your particular social world. Education probably plays an important role in dampening that response by allowing the brain's frontal lobes (where much of the brain's conscious work goes on) to counteract the emotional responses with a more considered view, so explaining why education is invariably the friend of liberal politics.”
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