The Human Story by Robin I. M. Dunbar

The Human Story Reviews

• 
  Susan's Reviews

  I read this years ago, and I still have my paperback copy of it. Well written and in such a way that someone without a science background, comme moi, could easily understand. I've often remembered certain passages from this book in any given situation. I remember trying to get through Harari's Sapiens - another great book on the same subject - and kept thinking: hmmm, lots of the same content, but not as many anecdotes as the latter. If you don't have the patience or staying power to read Sapiens, you should definitely give this book a try. A highly enjoyable and informative read.
• 
  Ross

  I obtained two books by the this author at the same time with the hope of being brought up to date on the most recent findings about how we became human. The first was poor and this one is useless regarding an actual findings.
  The book is pure speculation by the author about his pet theories regarding why we developed a large brain and language. The author calls himself an archeologist psychologist and he states that in his discipline you don't need any real evidence to think about the process of how we became human. He goes on and on about how religious beliefs might have shaped our development with no evidence whatever.
  Since I was trained and worked as a physical scientist where evidence is everything, this author's rambling speculations make me aghast. He might as well be talking about his thoughts on the tooth fairy.
• 
  Miła

  Kolejna, fascynującej podróż do początków naszego gatunku.
  Warto zaznaczyć, że rozdziały o języku są powtórzeniem tego co autor napisał wcześniej w książce o jego pochodzeniu, ale poza tym mowa tu także o kulturze, rytuałach i religii. Szczególnie ten ostatni temat zasługuje na uwagę.
  Podobnie jak w innych książkach autora, mamy chwilami wrażenie, że niektóre jego teorie są budowane na wyrost, pod tezę
• 
  Valentin

  not that great.
• 
  Ryszard1963

  A great experience! Wonderful book!
• 
  Kriegslok

  Anthropology, biology, psychology etc examine and thorise about how we got where we are today. A fascinating account of human evolution and our relationship to surving cousins the apes, chimps etc. Looking at culture, language, evolutionary adaptation Dunbar attempts to draw out what made us different and what we share in common. Fascinating areas such as pairbonding and infanticide are examined with some interesting interpretations. Whenever I read such books I am reminded of the delicate balance of humanity. Modern life has detached us from our environment and gives us a false sense of security. The time scales dealt with in this book help to redress the idea that we are significant in evolutionary terms (beyond of course the fact we have eveolved to the point where we can consciously trash our planet and not give a damn).
• 
  Juraj Púchlo

  Dunbar patrí medzi zástancov hypotézy sociálneho mozgu a je známy najmä vďaka Dunbarovmu číslu, čo je – aplikované na ľudí - v skratke maximálna veľkosť sociálnej skupiny ľudí, s ktorými udržiavame vzťah. Kniha síce láka na evolúciu človeka, čerpá z archeológie a antropológie, ale v už od tretej kapitoly je viac o sociológii a porovnávaní správania človeka s hominidmi, ľudoopmi a opicami. Dunbar píše tiež o reči a vzťahoch, o humore a smiechu, či o vnímaní hudby, ktoré ľudí tak odlišujú od zvyšku živočíšnej ríše. V závere potom prepája schopnosť učenia, mágiu, šamanizmus a náboženstvo práve s vývojom reči a tzv. intencionalitou. Žiaľ knižka je písaná dosť zložitým jazykom a keďže bola vydaná ešte v roku 2004, v mnohých smeroch jej chýba aktualizácia.
• 
  Joanna Berlinska

  Undeniably an interesting read - the story of a rise of humans told in an accessible and unconventional way. When I was reading it, my 6-year-old got interested in what I was reading and asked me to tell him 'stories' from the book. I first told him that the book was too serious for him but than i brought him one example that I thought he would understand (on levels of intentionality), and than another, and another... So without the scientific jargon and dry evolution facts, the book was actually quite informative (not only for a 6-years-old) while being entertaining. I liked :)
• 
  Miguel Oliveira

  Ao contrário do que o título sugere, neste livro, Robin Dunbar não conta a história evolutiva do Homem mas sim vários produtos do processo evolutivo da espécie humana, como a teoria da mente, a linguagem ou a cultura.
• 
  Stephen Palmer

  Very good overview of the modern take on human evolution. A really good author, this.
• 
  Steve Carter

  Excellent, how to write about sceince and ideas.Love the idea that language is mostly a form of groomomg and connection binding us naked apes together Explains Facebook I suppose,
• 
  Ryszard1963

  A Classic of Evolution Theory! We are nothing more than Animals ... For sure!
• 
  Dave Schey

  Nice summary of the biological and social/cultural evolution of hominins.
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  Bartlomiej Nie Bartosz

  A bit outdated, but still worth it.
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  Łukasz Rudy

  Too many words.