A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2014
This revelatory tour de force by an acclaimed and internationally bestselling science writer upends our understanding of survival of the fittestand invites us all to think and act more altruistically
The phrase survival of the fittest conjures an image of the most cutthroat individuals rising to the top. But Stefan Klein, author of the #1 international bestseller The Science of Happiness, makes the startling assertion that altruism is the key to lasting personal and societal success. In fact, altruism defines us: Natural selection favored those early humans who cooperated in groups, and with survival more assured, our altruistic ancestors were free to devote brainpower to developing intelligence, language, and cultureour very humanity.
Kleins groundbreaking findings lead him to a vexing question: If were really hard-wired to act for one anothers benefit, why arent we all getting along? He believes weve learned to mistrust our instincts because success is so often attributed to selfish ambition, and with an extraordinary array of materialcurrent research on genetics and the brain, economics, social psychology, behavioral and anthropological experiments, history, and modern culturehe makes the case that generosity for its own sake remains the best way to thrive.
This revelatory tour de force by an acclaimed and internationally bestselling science writer upends our understanding of survival of the fittestand invites us all to think and act more altruistically
The phrase survival of the fittest conjures an image of the most cutthroat individuals rising to the top. But Stefan Klein, author of the #1 international bestseller The Science of Happiness, makes the startling assertion that altruism is the key to lasting personal and societal success. In fact, altruism defines us: Natural selection favored those early humans who cooperated in groups, and with survival more assured, our altruistic ancestors were free to devote brainpower to developing intelligence, language, and cultureour very humanity.
Kleins groundbreaking findings lead him to a vexing question: If were really hard-wired to act for one anothers benefit, why arent we all getting along? He believes weve learned to mistrust our instincts because success is so often attributed to selfish ambition, and with an extraordinary array of materialcurrent research on genetics and the brain, economics, social psychology, behavioral and anthropological experiments, history, and modern culturehe makes the case that generosity for its own sake remains the best way to thrive.
