What a big brain we have for all the small talk we make. It's an evolutionary riddle that at long last makes sense in this intriguing book about what gossip has done for our talkative species. Psychologist Robin Dunbar looks at gossip as an instrument of social order and cohesion--much like the endless grooming with which our primate cousins tend to their social relationships. ...
What a big brain we have for all the small talk we make. It's an evolutionary riddle that at long last makes sense in this intriguing book about what gossip has done for our talkative species. Psychologist Robin Dunbar looks at gossip as an instrument of social order and cohesion--much like the endless grooming with which our primate cousins tend to their social relationships. Apes and monkeys, humanity's closest kin, differ from other animals in the intensity of these relationships. All their grooming is not so much about hygiene as it is about cementing bonds, making friends, and influencing fellow primates. But for early humans, grooming as a way to social success posed a problem: given their large social groups of 150 or so, our earliest ancestors would have had to spend almost half their time grooming one another--an impossible burden. What Dunbar suggests--and his research, whether in the realm of primatology or in that of gossip, confirms--is that humans developed language to serve the same purpose, but far more efficiently. It seems there is nothing idle about chatter, which holds together a diverse, dynamic group--whether of hunter-gatherers, soldiers, or workmates. Anthropologists have long assumed that language developed in relationships among males during activities such as hunting. Dunbar's original and extremely interesting studies suggest otherwise: that language in fact evolved in response to our need to keep up to date with friends and family. We needed conversation to stay in touch, and we still need it in ways that will not be satisfied by teleconferencing, email, or any other communication technology. As Dunbar shows, the impersonal world of cyberspace will not fulfill our primordial need for face-to-face contact. From the nit-picking of chimpanzees to our chats at coffee break, from neuroscience to paleoanthropology, "Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language" offers a provocative view of what makes us human, what holds us together, and what sets us apart.
Robin Dunbar is Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology and Director of the Institute of Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford.
目录
· · · · · ·
Acknowledgements
1. Talking Heads
2. Into the Social Whirl
3. The Importance of Being Earnest
4. Of Brains and Groups and Evolution
5. The Ghost in the Machine
· · · · · ·
(更多)
Acknowledgements
1. Talking Heads
2. Into the Social Whirl
3. The Importance of Being Earnest
4. Of Brains and Groups and Evolution
5. The Ghost in the Machine
6. Up through the Mists of Time
7. First Words
8. Babel’s Legacy
9. The Little Rituals of Life
10. The Scars of Evolution
Bibliography
Index
· · · · · · (收起)
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0 有用 曼 2011-09-13 11:09:14
An evolutionary explanation on the (social) origin of language. An interesting attempt to connect sociality to biological discoveries.
0 有用 数据分析后生 2017-08-09 22:11:06
The first half of the pages bears informative interesting descriptions and analysis of grooming behaviours among some primates, which lays..
0 有用 终朝采绿 2017-04-25 07:26:59
脑子放烟花
1 有用 doodlebug 2010-07-29 23:52:38
部分阅读
0 有用 daffodils 2018-07-20 19:19:25
九十年代的书，主要还是从生物进化论角度探讨语言的起源，涉及一些大脑神经学和古生物学当年的初步探索。观察研究各种猿类和猴子的部分是精华，较有参考价值
0 有用 小狗牌鲜花快送 2021-06-05 23:17:03
3.5星。还不错，有的观点在当时应该很新颖，学到了一些有意思的fun facts，但讲的东西挺浅的。
0 有用 daffodils 2018-07-20 19:19:25
九十年代的书，主要还是从生物进化论角度探讨语言的起源，涉及一些大脑神经学和古生物学当年的初步探索。观察研究各种猿类和猴子的部分是精华，较有参考价值
0 有用 数据分析后生 2017-08-09 22:11:06
The first half of the pages bears informative interesting descriptions and analysis of grooming behaviours among some primates, which lays..
1 有用 thor 2017-04-26 10:07:59
从梳毛到八卦，从身体到内心。多巴胺的进化也是神奇。人这种东西把无中生有发展到了极致。
0 有用 终朝采绿 2017-04-25 07:26:59
脑子放烟花