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Book Review: Mean Genes
Mean Genes by Terry Burnham & Jay Phelan is an interesting nonfiction work which identifies several genetic and biochemical reasons why humans behave the way we do. From Sex to Money, Food and Addiction - it gives clever insight to many common human behavioral ailments and very useful strategies for dealing with them in order to improve our lot.
The first two sections cover debt and obesity. Interestingly enough these two problems are related. Our genes evolved in a world where saving wasn't really the best option. Given that food was hard to come by, and costly in terms of energy, it was always best to eat lots and often if possible. This lead to healthier individuals who could breed more, and thus we've inherited their genes. One quick strategy they give for the financial side is to get a second or third bank account, and have some of your money direct deposited in it before going to your primary account. This way, assuming you don't glance at your secondary and tertiary accounts all the time, you'll trick yourself into saving. For Fooding - they suggest preempting your cravings with something healthy, acknowledge the fact that you're going to eat, but know when those cravings will hit and have something healthy, rice cake, fruit, on hand.
They then demonstrate how our neural setup for pleasure can be hijacked by Drugs, Risks, and Greed. Drugs are basically a short cut to our brain's dopamine supplies, a natural hormone that causes us to feel good. Alcohol is also a very popular drug in our culture and it's method of action is explained. Risk taking is also explained as evolutionarily advantageous, and thus our inherent biological drive toward such behaviors. Some individuals are even hard-wired for it - they have a gene that wires their brain in a certain way, making them 'novelty seekers'. They also demonstrate we grossly overestimate our odds of success, thus the appeal of gambling and the lottery. Greed is merely a by-product of our evolution - those who worked harder, farmed more, produced more food, had more wealth typically had more babies.
They continue, explaining some of the biochemical differences between men and women, and thus why we behave differently in certain situations. I like this section because it gives a lot of insight into our mating behaviors, or as I like to call it - our propensity to fuck, a lot. They also give examples from the animal kingdom and various tribal cultures, which I found interesting. They give some brief explanation of homosexuality, noting a strong genetic correlation, but otherwise leave it kind of open, since very little is known/understood about it. Continuing they delve into Beauty and attraction, why we find certain characteristics attractive. They also give differences between men and women. They have a section on infidelity which was fun, it gives a lot of explanation into cheating and why it happens.
The last section is on Friends, Family and Foes and it's pretty comprehensive and enlightening. A little boring, but good information if your interested in understanding relationships between people.
Overall I really liked the book, however it does have one major flaw - it completely lacks any information on psychopathic personalities and other personality disorders. While I can understand that it's a book about 'normal' people and 'normal' behaviors, it would have been wise to include a disclaimer, acknowledging the existence of certain types of people and encouraging the reader to seek information on his or her own if pathology might be suspected, because otherwise it really threatens the naive reader with an incomplete understanding of a given phenomenon.
The first two sections cover debt and obesity. Interestingly enough these two problems are related. Our genes evolved in a world where saving wasn't really the best option. Given that food was hard to come by, and costly in terms of energy, it was always best to eat lots and often if possible. This lead to healthier individuals who could breed more, and thus we've inherited their genes. One quick strategy they give for the financial side is to get a second or third bank account, and have some of your money direct deposited in it before going to your primary account. This way, assuming you don't glance at your secondary and tertiary accounts all the time, you'll trick yourself into saving. For Fooding - they suggest preempting your cravings with something healthy, acknowledge the fact that you're going to eat, but know when those cravings will hit and have something healthy, rice cake, fruit, on hand.
They then demonstrate how our neural setup for pleasure can be hijacked by Drugs, Risks, and Greed. Drugs are basically a short cut to our brain's dopamine supplies, a natural hormone that causes us to feel good. Alcohol is also a very popular drug in our culture and it's method of action is explained. Risk taking is also explained as evolutionarily advantageous, and thus our inherent biological drive toward such behaviors. Some individuals are even hard-wired for it - they have a gene that wires their brain in a certain way, making them 'novelty seekers'. They also demonstrate we grossly overestimate our odds of success, thus the appeal of gambling and the lottery. Greed is merely a by-product of our evolution - those who worked harder, farmed more, produced more food, had more wealth typically had more babies.
They continue, explaining some of the biochemical differences between men and women, and thus why we behave differently in certain situations. I like this section because it gives a lot of insight into our mating behaviors, or as I like to call it - our propensity to fuck, a lot. They also give examples from the animal kingdom and various tribal cultures, which I found interesting. They give some brief explanation of homosexuality, noting a strong genetic correlation, but otherwise leave it kind of open, since very little is known/understood about it. Continuing they delve into Beauty and attraction, why we find certain characteristics attractive. They also give differences between men and women. They have a section on infidelity which was fun, it gives a lot of explanation into cheating and why it happens.
The last section is on Friends, Family and Foes and it's pretty comprehensive and enlightening. A little boring, but good information if your interested in understanding relationships between people.
Overall I really liked the book, however it does have one major flaw - it completely lacks any information on psychopathic personalities and other personality disorders. While I can understand that it's a book about 'normal' people and 'normal' behaviors, it would have been wise to include a disclaimer, acknowledging the existence of certain types of people and encouraging the reader to seek information on his or her own if pathology might be suspected, because otherwise it really threatens the naive reader with an incomplete understanding of a given phenomenon.
