Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us

by Avi Tuschman

$17.00

Account Type

Format

Quantity

Author: Avi Tuschman

Publisher: Prometheus

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 1633885704
ISBN 13: 978-1633885707

Hardcover:
ISBN 10: 1616148233
ISBN 13: 978-1616148232

""[The] best book I've read on [this topic].”―Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, monthly columnist for Scientific American, Presidential Fellow at Chapman University, and author of The Moral Arc and Heavens on Earth“Tuschman clearly makes a unique and important contribution to the field...[in] this immensely engaging book.”―Political Science Quarterly“Tuschman's book attempts a feat that those of us monitoring the emerging science of politics have long been waiting for―explaining the now well-documented psychological, biological, and genetic differences between liberals and conservatives with reference to human evolution and the differential strategies of mate choice and resource allocation that have been forced on us by the pressures of surviving and reproducing on a quite dangerous planet. . . . If he's right, a dramatic new window opens on who we are and why we behave as we do.”―Washington Monthly“Our Political Nature shows us that there are evolutionary underpinnings to our political attitudes, and that being liberal or conservative may reflect much deeper tendencies than we are inclined to think. Important reading for anyone trying to understand the sources of our present-day political world." ―Francis Fukuyama, New York Times-bestselling author of The Origins of Political Order“At a time when unexpected political turmoil and economic crashes have exposed how feeble is our understanding of the forces that drive these crises, Our Political Nature provides a welcome respite from the intellectual confusion now reigning. A fascinating perspective on the deepest roots of the clashes that are changing our world.”―Moisés Naím, Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Endowment, and author of The End of Power“In a remarkable interdisciplinary tour de force, evolutionary anthropologist Avi Tuschman integrates findings from social psychology, genetics, and neuroscience to provide a rich understanding of the polarization in politics throughout history, and of man's inhumanity to man. In Our Political Nature he makes clear that be it vote choice or the decision to go to war, our politics are the product of the passions that drive us, which are deeply rooted in humanity's evolutionary origins.”--Jerrold M. Post, MD, Director, Political Psychology Program at George Washington University, and author of Leaders and Their Followers in a Dangerous World

Review

"Best book I've read on [the topic]."

--MICHAEL SHERMER, Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, and columnist for Scientific American

"Tuschman clearly makes a unique and important contribution to the field...[in] this immensely engaging book."

--JOHN HIBBING, Professor of Political Science, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and author of Predisposed, in Political Science Quarterly

"Tuschman's book attempts a feat that those of us monitoring the emerging science of politics have long been waiting for -- explaining the now well-documented psychological, biological, and genetic differences between liberals and conservatives with reference to human evolution and the differential strategies of mate choice and resource allocation that have been forced on us by the pressures of surviving and reproducing on a quite dangerous planet. ...If he's right, a dramatic new window opens on who we are and why we behave as we do."

--CHRIS MOONEY, Award-winning author and science and political journalist, in Washington Monthly

"Political pundits on the left and right are rushing to grab pieces of Our Political Nature to substantiate their own biases, and this is understandable enough: this is a book of stunning scope and importance. The canvas here is global, and to put it bluntly I've never read anything this fascinating or compelling. I suspect this book will be a cause for heated debate in political and intellectual circles for a long time to come."

--PAUL CHUTKOW, Author and journalist

"Think of this book as the next step after Jonathan Haidt."
--TYLER COWEN, Professor of Economics, George Mason University

"The first book I've read that credibly attempts to present a unified view of political science, anthropology, genetics, neuroscience, and primatology. ...offers a penetrating explanation for why Americans (and the rest of the world) vote on a left-right spectrum, even against self and economic interest."
--CEDRIC MUHAMMAD, Forbes

"A tour de force interdisciplinary work of cross-cultural insights that is at the same time disquieting, stimulating, and hopeful in its observations about humankind's evolutionary heritage and future. ...this book may provide the starting point for the political equivalent of the American Psychology Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by allowing citizens to identify extremists on both sides of the political spectrum. And sadly, this may be an increasingly necessary tool."

--PATRICK A. STEWART, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Arkansas

"Tuschman's book will change the way you see yourself, the way you hear the news, and perhaps the way you behave as a political agent. We are living in a time of alarming partisanship, but Tuschman's ideas left me with a surprising respect for the spectrum of political attitudes. Both liberals and conservatives embody behaviors tested by human needs over eons of time. In all our predictable diversity, we human beings are the inarguable descendants of life's winners, those who have found a path to the present moment, a hard-won existence, a tentative victory. But the same triumphant attitudes that have brought us to this place could also lead us blindly to our destruction. Beginning to glimpse and understand who we are has never been more important. Read this book."

--TERESA BUCZINSKY, High school teacher, Arlington Heights, Illinois

"Je recommande fortement cet excellent ouvrage d'Avi Tuschman, auquel je suis loin de rendre justice dans ce court article. C'est sérieusement une lecture incontournable."
--LE MINARCHISTE, dans la revue Contrepoints

"Sin duda, es uno de los libros más interesantes que jamás he comentado...Nuestra naturaleza política se adentra en un tema de extraordinaria importancia política pero que, en realidad, es un auténtico desconocido para el común de los mortales: ¿qué hay detrás de nuestras tendencias políticas?"
-- JUAN DIEGO SÁNCHEZ, Comunicación a la Deriva

About the Author

Avi Tuschman is an internationally recognized expert on heritable psychometric traits. His research on the bioscience of human political personality has been covered in both mainstream and peer-reviewed media from 24 countries. Tuschman began his career as the youngest advisor in the government palace in Lima, Peru. He subsequently advised 18 former heads of state, multilateral banks, and corporations on shaping public opinion. More recently, Tuschman founded Pinpoint Predictive, which has brought to market the first privacy-safe and commercial applications of Psychometric AI. He holds a doctorate in evolutionary anthropology from Stanford University.

See all Editorial Reviews

Filters

Evolutionary Psychology

Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us