Liars, Lovers, and Heroes: What the New Brain Science Reveals About How We Become Who We Are – Understanding Cultural Biology and the Ancient Systems Behind Our Humanity

by Steven R. Quartz

This book combines cutting-edge findings in neuroscience with examples from history and the headlines to introduce the new science of cultural biology, born of advances in brain imaging, computer modeling, and genetics. Doctors Quartz and Sejnowski show how both our noblest and darkest traits are rooted in brain systems so ancient that we share them with insects. They then demystify the dynamic engagement between brain and world that makes us something far beyond the sum of our parts. The authors show how our humanity unfolds in precise stages as brain and world engage on increasingly complex levels. Their discussion embraces shaping forces as ancient as climate change over millennia and events as recent as the terrorism and heroism of September 11, and offers intriguing answers to some of our most enduring questions, including why we live together, love, kill -- and sometimes lay down our lives for others.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Psychology, Neuroscience

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[SDest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I only got about two-thirds of the way through this book, I am very glad that I read to the point that I did wear the idea of changeable and moving intelligence is discussed. sewing notion of Intelligence being fixed which never did sound very reasonable in fact is not reasonable. This is good to know for a variety of reasons. I think this is a good book to read for those who worry about the impact of Intelligence on our society and what we can do about it in terms of making a place with dignity for everyone.

[Matthew Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the authors don't say anything wrong exactly, they end up putting together something that feels a little lacking. It felt like it was built on a sort of scattered foundation, a little neuroscience, a little sociology, a little psychology, a little common sense, and so the details were likewise kind of scattered. While it wasn't an awful book, neither did I feel like it was particularly good.

[Iyad Atuan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers a captivating exploration of human behavior through the lens of neuroscience. The authors adeptly present complex concepts in an accessible manner, even for those without a background in psychology such as myself, by combining research from various disciplines for a holistic understanding of our actions and emotions.

Although the pacing can be uneven at times and some content may appear dated, the book remains a thought-provoking and worthwhile read. Its accessible approach enables readers from all backgrounds to comprehend the intricacies of brain science, making it an enjoyable journey into the factors that shape our identities and relationships.

[Hélio Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

19 years in and this book is still relevant and interesting. Part of this is certainly due to the fact that most of the empirical evidence Quartz and Sejnowski rely on is still vindicated, some of it even strenghtened after further research. But another major part of it is that the authors are very sensitive to an integrative approach to understanding human nature and development. Professionally both are (very important) neuroscients, but they're well aware of how multidisciplinary their project is, and as a result they make a lot of effort to integrate then-state-of-the-art neuroscience with cognitive science more broadly and with social sciences the philosophical dimension of this synthetic work.

It's funny how back when it was published Ramachandran called the book a "breath of fresh air" and then after all this time I've felt exactly like it while reading, especially comparing to other popular books written by neuroscientists. The neuroscience book most directly comparable to it I've read this year is Lisa Feldman Barrett's Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain. In all fairness, Barrett's book is much shorter and more updating-centered, but still she walks the same path Q&S have walked in several places in her book, especially in its second half, so a useful comparison can be made. I'll just be straightforward and say that Barrett's comparable content comes out as shallow and even ridiculous. Not to be vague and simply offensive, let's quickly review how both books treat human psychological development. In Lesson 6, Barrett draws attention to the fact that in different societies psychological categorizations differ - the sharper separation between emotion and cognition of Western culture is absent in Eastern cultures such as in Bali, where both processes are much more intertwined in their linguistic history and practice; from this Barrett jumps to the conclusion that "there's no human nature, but many". Quartz and Sejnowski accept the same cultural/individual variation premise, but reach a different conclusion: there's a basic, universal human nature which gives individuals and groups enough flexibility to differ. The reason why Barrett's inference is bad and Q&S isn't is that the latter are much more conceptually careful and give more attention both to variability and commonalities in order to see what portrait of humans is possible for us to coherently paint (in other words, they're much more philosophically alert and nuanced than Barrett).

Being from the early 2000's, obviously the book has to be outdated in some respects. Their discussions on violence and on the internet's influence on social alienation, for example, took place when there wasn't much research available, and so they had to engage in some speculation that retropectively isn't so good. But there's a shortcoming that's still relevant today, which is Q&S's rejection of evolutionary psychology. To be sure, they're clear they're rejecting the "canonical" version of evopsych, where the brain is seen as massively modular and modules for all kinds of behaviors are hypothesized to explain these behaviors. This evopsych version in fact isn't well supported (it already wasn't back then, and the case has gotten worse all the way until today), and Q&S provide very good arguments to undermine it. The problem is that they then go overboard and in many important discussions they contrast their "cultural biology" approach with evopsych when they're not incompatible. If one drops the commitment to mind modularity and keeps the behavioral findings, then evopsych can be much more integrated with cultural biology (in fact, in my reading list there's a paper by Quartz proposing what he calls "developmental evolutionary psychology"). We don't need to resort to modularity to explain the convergence of some patterns of behavioral by resorting to evolutionary-fitness explanations like good evopsych researchers do, and a demonstration of that is provided by Q&S themselves in this very book.

All in all, this really is an excellent book. For laypeople unfamiliar with brain science, the book is still very informative, since, as I've mentioned before, the empirical side is to this day mostly correct. And even for people already familiar with some neuroscience it's still valuable because Q&S manage to competently frame issues in an integrative way that enriches the discussions on human development and flourishing, and as a result provides stimulating opportunities for reflection.

[Tony Lawrence]

Excellent, all about the brain and how it makes us who we are - my kind of pop science book :)

This is a brilliant book that tries to explain the development of the human brain and human beings as social animals. Although at times the science was confusing - for me - I got the main thrust. Counter-intuitively us big-brained primates are not born with a complete functional brain that defines us an immutable and unique individual person with a personality (although some traits are around from day 1). We do however have a flexibility and capacity to learn and adapt to changing circumstances, contexts and environmental factors in our long post-natal development, in fact, for life! What is needed to complete ‘us’ is a rich an stimulating social world.

[Oscar Angulo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to understand the human nature. It has lots of good information. It also helps you understand some of the current events. Worth the time reading it.

[Mathemilda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy this book tremendously. I would like to note that the title is a misnomer: here is nothing on why people became liars or heroes, but it does tell history of human brain development and functioning.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

bonobos rule!

[Natacha]

Reliable information, good conclusions, if you want to take the most out of it arm yourself with a pencil and non-stop annotation :)

[José]

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Revisando.

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