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The Prehistory of the Mind: The Cognitive Origins of Art, Religion and Science
Here is an exhilarating intellectual performance, in the tradition of Roger Penrose's The Emperor's New Mind and Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct. On the way to showing how the world of our ancient ancestors shaped our modern modular mind, Steven Mithen shares one provocative insight after another as he answers a series of fascinating questions:
-- Were our brains har...more
-- Were our brains har...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
April 1st 1999
by Thames & Hudson
(first published 1996)
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Evolutionary psychologists could use a lesson from Steven Mithen. The Prehistory of the Mind is sweeping in its scope, synthesizing material from a whole array of fields from biology to psychology, and (of course) archaeology. Unlike your average work of evolutionary psychology, Mithen's account is heavily informed by his background in archaeology and the paleoarchaeological record. (In other words, tethered to some semblance of reality.)
However, Mithen trips up a bit when it comes to neuroscien...more
However, Mithen trips up a bit when it comes to neuroscien...more
Very good reading! The only misplaced note was the several times repeated phrase(once toward beginning & once in epilogue but nowhere really written about): "the human mind is a product of evolution, not supernatural creation." I thought the book was his theory of the evolution of the mind not an answer to creationists. Not that it isn't true just that it didn't seem to fit in with the rest of this well-written book, like an opinion that he just had to put in somewhere.
Unlike the Singing Nea...more
Unlike the Singing Nea...more
This is a great book for people who want to learn how to use analogies in the most ineffective and confusing way possible. The idea of a "superchapel" would be better understood if it were spelled "souperchapel", because at least it would then be appropriate for containing "cognitive fluidity".
This is a very engaging read and a fascinating hypothesis of how human cognitive abilities evolved. I particularly enjoyed Mithen's thoughts on the possible differences between the mind of modern humankind on that of Neanderthals.
Simply brilliant. If you want to understand how your mind actually works, why you think, and what thinking really is, read this book.
An A for effort.
Jan 02, 2008
Snicketts
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
archaeologists
Shelves:
non-fiction,
archaeology-etymology
This is a very cool book by a guy who makes the fringes look like the mainstream. His theories are expertly backed-up with cross-discipline illustrations. He dares to take a step further than most and gives a stunning range of "what-ifs".
Apr 02, 2013
Nancy Oddone
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
my students and everybody else
A very important reading! Still amazed by the amount of data that the author has managed to deal with. Lovely stile of writing too!
A benchmark in the theory of human evolution. A must-read for those interested in anthropology.
Jun 16, 2013
Paul Cooper
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