Human beings are capable of extraordinary kindness, creativity, and cooperation. We are also capable of tribalism, self-deception, violence, and cruelty. This book explores both sides of our nature.
Surviving Human Nature takes a pragmatic humanist approach. It considers how our biology, psychology, culture, beliefs, relationships, identities, and social systems shape the people we become and the societies we create.
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How to Navigate This Online Book
Surviving Human Nature is designed to be read online,
using a computer, tablet, or smartphone.
Getting Started
The Table of Contents below is your starting point. Simply click
or tap a chapter title to open that chapter. All chapter titles are linked,
from Part I through the Bibliography in the Addendum.
The Preface section is slightly different: only Preface
and About the Author are clickable links.
Moving Between Chapters
At the bottom of each chapter, you'll find three navigation
links:
- ←
Previous — Return to the preceding chapter or page.
- Next
→ — Continue to the next chapter or page.
- Table
of Contents — Return to the complete chapter listing.
Reading the Book
The book is currently available only online; there is no
printed edition or option to download the entire book as a single document.
Fortunately, most chapters are relatively short, making it
easy to read a little at a time and move around the book as you wish.
Enjoy!
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Table of Contents
Preface
- Beginnings
- Words, Models, and Concepts Caveats
- Why the Brevity?
- Where Are All the Footnotes? What about AI?
- What Can Be Taken as Fact?
- The God and/or Evolution Question
- A Humanistic Perspective
- Self-Reflections: The Tricky Part
- How to Read This Book
Part I: An Introduction to Human Nature
Part II: The Human Nature Process
08. Reality: Whether We Like It or Not
09. Influencers: Truth Tellers and Liars
10. Sensory and Cognitive Limitations
13. Cognitive Biases: Shortcuts and Dead Ends
15. The Truth About Knowledge; Our Knowledge of Truth
16. What We Can Know: The Proximity Factor
22. Emotions: The palette for our lives
24. Intelligence, Reasoning, and Decision Making
27. Consequences, Rationalizations, and Learning
28. Pride (Humble or Hubristic), Embarrassment, Guilt, and Shame
Part III: Identities
Part IV: Social Relations
36. You Are a Social Animal (Except When You're Not)
37. The Hierarchy of Human Relationships
38. One-on-One: Bridges and Barriers
39. Selfishness vs. Selflessness
42. Families (God Bless 'Em) Are Messy
43. Tribes: Just Us or Us vs. Them
46. Myths That Bind the Masses
48. Boundaries, Borders, and the Human Search for Autonomy
50. When Groups Go Horribly Wrong
Part V: Self-Reflections
Part VI: Surviving Human Nature
55. Caring for Our Environment
64. Testing Our Beliefs and Knowledge
66. Renewing Our Personal Values
67. Mastering Our Needs and Motivations
70. Improving Our Reasoning and Decision Making
71. Directing Our Behavior: Doing the Least Harm
72. Finding Pleasure and Happiness
73. Learning from Our Successes and Failures
75. Building Healthy Relationships
76. Discerning Concerns, Influence, and Control
79. When Your Country Goes Wrong