The Lemurs' Legacy: The Evolution of Power, Sex, and Love - Hardcover

9780874777147: The Lemurs' Legacy: The Evolution of Power, Sex, and Love
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Examines the biological roots of human psychology by tracing them back to early ancestors, beginning with the lemurs and showing the origins of bonding, mating, status seeking, courtship, aggression, and other behaviors.

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From Kirkus Reviews:
A brief for a new discipline known as ``evolutionary psychology''--as well as a pessimistic assessment of the human condition, based on the alleged biological sources of social customs in lemurs and other primates. Russell (an independent scientific researcher specializing in lemurs) traces human mating and aggressive behavior from their roots in the earliest primates. In lemurs, he sees the origin of the mother-daughter bond and a pattern of stable female groups and bands of roving males; the beginning of the consort bond--which is, he says, the source of human romantic love; and the often observed conflict between male and female reproductive strategies: Males perpetuate their genes best by spreading them furthest, females by establishing monogamous bonds. In chimpanzees, Russell notes male bonding in the act of making war, and he asserts that war's primary function in humans is to displace aggression. In humans, he sees language mostly as a means of deception, a way to trick ourselves into belief in love and loyalty. Child abuse and abandonment, incest and infanticide--all are long-established and widespread evolutionary traits, unlikely to be abolished. Fatherhood is a recent development, with which we're still uncomfortable; equality for women causes impotence in men; feeding the starving worsens our population problems; and we can say goodbye to free will. While evolutionary psychology may be a valid concept, Russell's particular assertions seem no more conclusive than those of, say, Desmond Morris or Havelock Ellis. Brain candy, then, and none too convincing. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From Library Journal:
As an unabashed evolutionary psychologist committed to science, reason, and a multidisciplinary approach, Russell has written a frank but disconcerting introduction to the emergence of human behavior that stresses the indispensable paradigm of organic history. Russell argues that the brain biochemistry and behavioral patterns of our own species can only be correctly interpreted within the perspectives of primate evolution and biological determinism. As such, he surveys the fascinating social relationships in mouse lemurs, both dryopithecine and living apes, fossil hominids, and Homo sapiens of today. Special attention is focused on the crucial shift from solitary males and bachelor groups in female-dominated prosimian societies to dominant and promiscuous hominoid male subgroups exhibiting ritualized aggression in hunting and warfare. Other topics include language, free will, human gender differences, cultural values, ecology, and extinction. A provocative work of ideas, this book is essential reading for students, scientists, and philosophers. Highly recommended for all libraries.
- H. James Birx, Canisius Coll., Buffalo, N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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