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The Resource Thinking big : how the evolution of social life shaped the human mind, Clive Gamble, John Gowlett and Robin Dunbar

Thinking big : how the evolution of social life shaped the human mind, Clive Gamble, John Gowlett and Robin Dunbar

Creator
Author
Contributor
Summary
  • When and how did the brains of our hominin ancestors become human minds? When and why did our capacity for language or art, music and dance evolve? It is the contention of this pathbreaking and provocative book that it was the need for early humans to live in ever-larger social groups, and to maintain social relations over ever-greater distances the ability to think big that drove the enlargement of the human brain and the development of the human mind. This social brain hypothesis, put forward by evolutionary psychologists such as Robin Dunbar, one of the authors of this book, can be tested against archaeological and fossil evidence, as archaeologists Clive Gamble and John Gowlett show in the second part of Thinking Big. Along the way, the three authors touch on subjects as diverse and diverting as the switch from finger-tip grooming to vocal grooming or the crucial importance of making fire for the lengthening of the social day. Ultimately, the social worlds we inhabit today can be traced back to our Stone Age ancestors
  • When and how did the brains of our hominin ancestors become human minds? When and why did our capacity for language or art, music and dance evolve? It is the contention of this pathbreaking and provocative book that it was the need for early humans to live in ever-larger social groups, and to maintain social relations over ever-greater distances the ability to think big that drove the enlargement of the human brain and the development of the human mind. This social brain hypothesis, put forward by evolutionary psychologists such as Robin Dunbar, one of the authors of this book, can be tested against archaeological and fossil evidence, as archaeologists Clive Gamble and John Gowlett show in the second part of Thinking Big. Along the way, the three authors touch on subjects as diverse and diverting as the switch from finger-tip grooming to vocal grooming or the crucial importance of making fire for the lengthening of the social day. Ultimately, the social worlds we inhabit today can be traced back to our Stone Age ancestors
  • A closer look at genealogy, incorporating how biological, anthropological, and technical factors can influence human lives We are at a pivotal moment in understanding our remote ancestry and its implications for how we live today. The barriers to what we can know about our distant relatives have been falling as a result of scientific advance, such as decoding the genomes of humans and Neanderthals, and bringing together different perspectives to answer common questions. These collaborations have brought new knowledge and suggested fresh concepts to examine. The results have shaken the old certainties. The results are profound; not just for the study of the past but for appreciating why we conduct our social lives in ways, and at scales, that are familiar to all of us. But such basic familiarity raises a dilemma. When surrounded by the myriad technical and cultural innovations that support our global, urbanized lifestyles we can lose sight of the small social worlds we actually inhabit and that can be traced deep into our ancestry. So why do we need art, religion, music, kinship, myths, and all the other facets of our over-active imaginations if the reality of our effective social worlds is set by a limit of some one hundred and fifty partners (Dunbar{u2019}s number) made of family, friends, and useful acquaintances? How could such a social community lead to a city the size of London or a country as large as China? Do we really carry our hominin past into our human present? It is these small worlds, and the link they allow to the study of the past that forms the central point in this book. --Provided by publisher
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
224 pages
Contents
  • Psychology meets archaeology
  • What it means to be social
  • Ancient social lives
  • Ancestors with small brains
  • Building the human niche : three crucial skills
  • Ancestors with large brains
  • Living in big societies
Isbn
9780500772140
Instance
Label
Thinking big : how the evolution of social life shaped the human mind
Title
Thinking big
Title remainder
how the evolution of social life shaped the human mind
Statement of responsibility
Clive Gamble, John Gowlett and Robin Dunbar
Creator
Contributor
Author
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
  • When and how did the brains of our hominin ancestors become human minds? When and why did our capacity for language or art, music and dance evolve? It is the contention of this pathbreaking and provocative book that it was the need for early humans to live in ever-larger social groups, and to maintain social relations over ever-greater distances the ability to think big that drove the enlargement of the human brain and the development of the human mind. This social brain hypothesis, put forward by evolutionary psychologists such as Robin Dunbar, one of the authors of this book, can be tested against archaeological and fossil evidence, as archaeologists Clive Gamble and John Gowlett show in the second part of Thinking Big. Along the way, the three authors touch on subjects as diverse and diverting as the switch from finger-tip grooming to vocal grooming or the crucial importance of making fire for the lengthening of the social day. Ultimately, the social worlds we inhabit today can be traced back to our Stone Age ancestors
  • When and how did the brains of our hominin ancestors become human minds? When and why did our capacity for language or art, music and dance evolve? It is the contention of this pathbreaking and provocative book that it was the need for early humans to live in ever-larger social groups, and to maintain social relations over ever-greater distances the ability to think big that drove the enlargement of the human brain and the development of the human mind. This social brain hypothesis, put forward by evolutionary psychologists such as Robin Dunbar, one of the authors of this book, can be tested against archaeological and fossil evidence, as archaeologists Clive Gamble and John Gowlett show in the second part of Thinking Big. Along the way, the three authors touch on subjects as diverse and diverting as the switch from finger-tip grooming to vocal grooming or the crucial importance of making fire for the lengthening of the social day. Ultimately, the social worlds we inhabit today can be traced back to our Stone Age ancestors
  • A closer look at genealogy, incorporating how biological, anthropological, and technical factors can influence human lives We are at a pivotal moment in understanding our remote ancestry and its implications for how we live today. The barriers to what we can know about our distant relatives have been falling as a result of scientific advance, such as decoding the genomes of humans and Neanderthals, and bringing together different perspectives to answer common questions. These collaborations have brought new knowledge and suggested fresh concepts to examine. The results have shaken the old certainties. The results are profound; not just for the study of the past but for appreciating why we conduct our social lives in ways, and at scales, that are familiar to all of us. But such basic familiarity raises a dilemma. When surrounded by the myriad technical and cultural innovations that support our global, urbanized lifestyles we can lose sight of the small social worlds we actually inhabit and that can be traced deep into our ancestry. So why do we need art, religion, music, kinship, myths, and all the other facets of our over-active imaginations if the reality of our effective social worlds is set by a limit of some one hundred and fifty partners (Dunbar{u2019}s number) made of family, friends, and useful acquaintances? How could such a social community lead to a city the size of London or a country as large as China? Do we really carry our hominin past into our human present? It is these small worlds, and the link they allow to the study of the past that forms the central point in this book. --Provided by publisher
Cataloging source
CDX
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Gamble, Clive
Dewey number
155.7
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
LC call number
BF698.95
LC item number
.G36 2014
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorDate
1947-
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
  • Gowlett, John
  • Dunbar, R. I. M.
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Evolutionary psychology
  • Social evolution
  • Human evolution
  • Brain
  • Cognition and culture
  • Biological Evolution
  • Cultural Evolution
  • Social Behavior
  • Social Environment
Label
Thinking big : how the evolution of social life shaped the human mind, Clive Gamble, John Gowlett and Robin Dunbar
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-215) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
  • text
  • still image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent.
  • rdacontent.
Contents
Psychology meets archaeology -- What it means to be social -- Ancient social lives -- Ancestors with small brains -- Building the human niche : three crucial skills -- Ancestors with large brains -- Living in big societies
Control code
880685676
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
224 pages
Isbn
9780500772140
Isbn Type
(electronic bk.)
Lccn
2013950868
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)880685676
Label
Thinking big : how the evolution of social life shaped the human mind, Clive Gamble, John Gowlett and Robin Dunbar
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-215) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
  • text
  • still image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent.
  • rdacontent.
Contents
Psychology meets archaeology -- What it means to be social -- Ancient social lives -- Ancestors with small brains -- Building the human niche : three crucial skills -- Ancestors with large brains -- Living in big societies
Control code
880685676
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
224 pages
Isbn
9780500772140
Isbn Type
(electronic bk.)
Lccn
2013950868
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)880685676

Subject

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