As If By Design
How Creative Behaviors Really Evolve
Published on 22. July 2021
Book
Hardback
328 pages
978-1-108-47776-5 (ISBN)
Description
The eureka moment is a myth. It is an altogether naive and fanciful account of human progress. Innovations emerge from a much less mysterious combination of historical, circumstantial, and accidental influences. This book explores the origin and evolution of several important behavioral innovations including the high five, the Heimlich maneuver, the butterfly stroke, the moonwalk, and the Iowa caucus. Such creations' striking suitability to the situation and the moment appear ingeniously designed with foresight. However, more often than not, they actually arise 'as if by design.' Based on investigations into the histories of a wide range of innovations, Edward A. Wasserman reveals the nature of behavioral creativity. What surfaces is a fascinating web of causation involving three main factors: context, consequence, and coincidence. Focusing on the process rather than the product of innovation elevates behavior to the very center of the creative human endeavor.
Reviews / Votes
'This is a delightful embrace of evolutionary thinking; one trial, one error, and one human achievement at a time.' Gregory J. Madden, co-author of An Introduction to Behavior Analysis, and Editor-in-Chief of the APA Handbook of Behavior Analysis 'Edward Wasserman's fascinating book provides compellingly fresh insights into the meaning, nature, and process of invention and design.' Henry Petroski, author of Design Paradigms 'Edward Wasserman's original book is about the way in which new habits emerge: through the law of effect. This book is stuffed full of intriguing and lively stories about everything from violins to high jumps, all pointing to a valuable insight: that people do more of things that work and less of things that don't, thus causing human society to evolve.' Matt Ridley, author of How Innovation Works 'The book provides a series of vignettes to explain how apparently complex behaviors and outcomes are the result of simpler forces. It is a must-read for anyone interested in why we behave the way we do. Fascinating, beautifully written, and gets you thinking!' Anna Wilkinson, Professor of Animal Cognition, University of Lincoln, UK 'Recommended.' R. M. Davis, CHOICEMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
636 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-108-47776-5 (9781108477765)
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
Book
07/2021
Cambridge University Press
€43.80
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
07/2021
Cambridge University Press
€21.99
Available for download
E-Book
07/2021
Cambridge University Press
€23.49
Available for download
Person
Edward A. Wasserman is Professor of Psychology at the University of Iowa, USA, and has held visiting appointments in England, Russia, Japan, and France. He has published widely and received several prestigious awards in the areas of learning, memory, and cognition in people and animals.
Content
Section I. Introduction; Section II. The Vignettes; Part I. Sports; 1. Dick Fosbury's High Jump was No Flop!; 2. Shedding Fresh Light on the History of the Butterfly Stroke; 3. The Monkey Crouch: Jockeying for Position; 4. Riding Acey-Deucy; 5. The High Five: One Singular Sensation; Part II. Medicine; 6. The Apgar Score: 'Millions Have Been Saved'; 7. The Ponseti Method: Effective Treatment for Clubfoot Only 2,400 Years in the Making; 8. The Heimlich Maneuver; 9. Eating to Live: The Lifesaving Contribution of Stanley Dudrick; 10. What's in a (Drug) Name?; 11. Self-Medication by People and Animals; 12. Personalized Medicine: The End of Trial-and-Error Treatment?; Part III. Hygiene; 13. Florence Nightingale: Advancing Hygiene through Data Visualization; 14. Taking Mental Floss to Dental Floss; 15. A Very Close Shave; Part IV. Arts, Entertainment, and Culture; 16. Ansel Adams: Art for Art's Sake?; 17. Basil Twist: 'Genius' Puppeteer; 18. Moonwalking: And More Mundane Modes of Moving; 19. Play on Words; 20. Cuatro Festivals Espanoles; 21. Tchaikovsky: Puzzles of the Pathetique; 22. The Evolution of the Violin: Survival of the Fittest or the Fondest Fiddle?; Part V. Is This Heaven? No, It's Iowa!; 23. The Rise and the Demise of the Iowa Caucus; 24. Iowa's Blackout Plates: Artistic License Hits the Road; 25. If I Write It, They Will Build It; Section III. Putting It Together; 26. Context, Consequence, and Coincidence; 27. Are We Just Making It Up as We Go Along?