
Our Story
How Cultures Shaped People to Get Things Done
W. Penn Handwerker(Author)
Left Coast Press Inc
1st Edition
Published on 15. February 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
128 pages
978-1-59874-678-5 (ISBN)
Description
The story of human evolution, or Our Story, is about the development and refinement of cultures. Individuals cannot do things on their own, this book argues; their choices are driven by heuristics, biases, illogical preferences, and irrational assumptions about the nature of reality. So how did humanity survive? By forming more and more successful cultures, which are teams of people who share a specific vision of the world. Because cultures-as-teams are more effective if there is a strong correspondence among the members, they select individuals who clarify the team's vision and force compliance to that vision. Thus, cultures-as-teams are powerful agents for change in the world. They offer the individual the opportunity to accomplish unimaginable goals, but they can also destroy him or her in the process.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Walnut Creek
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 151 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
218 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-59874-678-5 (9781598746785)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2016
Routledge
€53.99
Available for download

E-Book
06/2016
Routledge
€53.99
Available for download

Book
02/2015
1st Edition
Left Coast Press Inc
€193.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
W. Penn Handwerker , a professor of anthropology at the University of Connecticut, USA trained as a general anthropologist with an emphasis on the intersection of biological and cultural anthropology, has published in all five fields of anthropology (applied, archaeological, biological, cultural, and linguistic). He has done field research in West Africa, the West Indies, the Russia, and various regions of the United States. He developed new methods for studying cultures while doing research on human fertility, entrepreneurship, corruption, and both inter- and intra-generational power differences. His current research focuses on the possibility that the most effective collective action for community sustainability must be consistent with the cultural assumption that each person knows what's best for him or herself.
Content
Chapter 1 Introduction Still Looking After All These Years ~ 150 Years! Drives You Crazy; Part I On Cultures; Chapter 1a Cultures Originate in Intelligent Minds; Chapter 2 Cultures Establish Moral Orders; Chapter 3 Morally Ordered Behavior Gives Cultures Agency; Chapter 4 Living Requires Many Cultures, Thriving Requires They Be Well-Designed; Part II On the Properties of mind that Produce Agency; Chapter 5 Coercive Force Yields Morally Ordered Behavior; Chapter 6 Cognitive Coercion May Kill You Before You Get Anywhere; Chapter 7 Intelligence Makes for Disturbing Irony; Chapter 9 Lessons Learned Cultures Aren't Merely Curiosities, and How 'oeOthers'? Think and Act;