I’m not sure this is a good choice. From what I recall there are a lot of details that are wrong in here. Anyone who’s read it more recently? Can you fill us in?
I read this last year. It contained many of the important insights from ev. psych, especially in the area of mating strategies. It was far too wordy and long to justify its informational content. Robert Wright snagged most of the ideas from scientists, but he is a journalist, so he tends to mangle concepts and play up spurious “angles” of the “story.” This was the most tedious thing I’ve read on the subject. Pinker is somewhat better.
It’s a good and enjoyable book for a beginner who’s unfamiliar with (and perhaps skeptical of) evolutionary psychology; there are of course higher rungs on the ladder of ev-psych books.
The Moral Animal, by Robert Wright
I’m not sure this is a good choice. From what I recall there are a lot of details that are wrong in here. Anyone who’s read it more recently? Can you fill us in?
I read this last year. It contained many of the important insights from ev. psych, especially in the area of mating strategies. It was far too wordy and long to justify its informational content. Robert Wright snagged most of the ideas from scientists, but he is a journalist, so he tends to mangle concepts and play up spurious “angles” of the “story.” This was the most tedious thing I’ve read on the subject. Pinker is somewhat better.
It’s a good and enjoyable book for a beginner who’s unfamiliar with (and perhaps skeptical of) evolutionary psychology; there are of course higher rungs on the ladder of ev-psych books.
What sort of mistakes did you see in it?
agreed. Good intro to EvPsych.