The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness

The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness
Author: Oren Harman
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 462
Release: 2011-06-20
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0393339998

Describes the intellectual journey of eccentric American genius George Price, who tried to answer the evolutionary riddle of why people are nice, and eventually gave away all his belongings and took his own life in a squatter's flat.


The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness

The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness
Author: Oren Harman
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 461
Release: 2010-06-17
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0393079236

"Enthralling." —Frans de Waal, New York Times Book Review Survival of the fittest or survival of the nicest? Since the dawn of time man has contemplated the mystery of altruism, but it was Darwin who posed the question most starkly. From the selfless ant to the stinging bee to the man laying down his life for a stranger, evolution has yielded a goodness that in theory should never be. Set against the sweeping tale of 150 years of scientific attempts to explain kindness, The Price of Altruism tells for the first time the moving story of the eccentric American genius George Price (1922–1975), as he strives to answer evolution's greatest riddle. An original and penetrating picture of twentieth century thought, it is also a deeply personal journey. From the heights of the Manhattan Project to the inspired equation that explains altruism to the depths of homelessness and despair, Price's life embodies the paradoxes of Darwin’s enigma. His tragic suicide in a squatter’s flat, among the vagabonds to whom he gave all his possessions, provides the ultimate contemplation on the possibility of genuine benevolence.


The Price Of Altruism

The Price Of Altruism
Author: Oren Harman
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 466
Release: 2010-11-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 1407085247

When George Price died in January 1975, his funeral in London was attended by five homeless men. Alongside them were Bill Hamilton and John Maynard Smith, two distinguished British evolutionary biologists. All seven men had come to mourn an eccentric American genius who helped to unpick the riddle of how altruism, or unselfish concern for the welfare of others, could exist in a world driven by survival of the fittest and who committed suicide aged just 52. In The Price of Altruism Price's personal and professional journey is intricately woven into a sweeping arc of modern politics and science that takes us from Darwin's Beagle to the court of the Russian Tsar, from Marxist manifestos to Nazi heresies, and from First World War trenches to Vietnam demonstrations. Featuring some of the most brilliant minds of the modern age, it is the riveting tale of mankind's search for the origins of kindness.


SuperCooperators

SuperCooperators
Author: Martin Nowak
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2012-03-27
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1451626630

Looks at the importance of cooperation in human beings and in nature, arguing that this social tool is as important an aspect of evolution as mutation and natural selection.


The Selfish Gene

The Selfish Gene
Author: Richard Dawkins
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 372
Release: 1989
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780192860927

Science need not be dull and bogged down by jargon, as Richard Dawkins proves in this entertaining look at evolution. The themes he takes up are the concepts of altruistic and selfish behaviour; the genetical definition of selfish interest; the evolution of aggressive behaviour; kinshiptheory; sex ratio theory; reciprocal altruism; deceit; and the natural selection of sex differences. 'Should be read, can be read by almost anyone. It describes with great skill a new face of the theory of evolution.' W.D. Hamilton, Science


Wired for Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind

Wired for Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind
Author: Mark Pagel
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 431
Release: 2012-02-07
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0393065871

A fascinating, far-reaching study of how our species' innate capacity for culture altered the course of our social and evolutionary history. A unique trait of the human species is that our personalities, lifestyles, and worldviews are shaped by an accident of birth—namely, the culture into which we are born. It is our cultures and not our genes that determine which foods we eat, which languages we speak, which people we love and marry, and which people we kill in war. But how did our species develop a mind that is hardwired for culture—and why? Evolutionary biologist Mark Pagel tracks this intriguing question through the last 80,000 years of human evolution, revealing how an innate propensity to contribute and conform to the culture of our birth not only enabled human survival and progress in the past but also continues to influence our behavior today. Shedding light on our species’ defining attributes—from art, morality, and altruism to self-interest, deception, and prejudice—Wired for Culture offers surprising new insights into what it means to be human.


Evolutions

Evolutions
Author: Oren Harman
Publisher: INTERNATIONAL EDITION
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2018-06-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0374150702

"An artful exploration of how the language of science has replaced old mythologies" --


The Altruistic Brain

The Altruistic Brain
Author: Donald W. Pfaff
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2015
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 0199377464

"Unlike any other study in its field, The Altruistic Brain synthesizes into one theory the most important research into how and why - by purely physical mechanisms - humans empathize with one another and respond altruistically."--Jacket.


Search Inside Yourself

Search Inside Yourself
Author: Chade-Meng Tan
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2012-04-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0062121421

With Search Inside Yourself, Chade-Meng Tan, one of Google’s earliest engineers and personal growth pioneer, offers a proven method for enhancing mindfulness and emotional intelligence in life and work. Meng’s job is to teach Google’s best and brightest how to apply mindfulness techniques in the office and beyond; now, readers everywhere can get insider access to one of the most sought after classes in the country, a course in health, happiness and creativity that is improving the livelihood and productivity of those responsible for one of the most successful businesses in the world. With forewords by Daniel Goleman, author of the international bestseller Emotional Intelligence, and Jon Kabat-Zinn, renowned mindfulness expert and author of Coming To Our Senses, Meng’s Search Inside Yourself is an invaluable guide to achieving your own best potential.