Survival of the Friendliest
‘Brilliant, eye-opening, and absolutely inspiring – and a riveting read.’ Cass Sunstein, author of How Change Happens and co-author of Nudge
What is the secret to humanity’s evolutionary success? Could it be our strength, our intellect… or something much nicer?
From the authors of New York Times bestseller The Genius of Dogs comes a powerful new idea about how ‘friendliness’ is the key factor in the flourishing of our species. Hare and Woods present an elegant new theory called self-domestication, looking at examples of co-operation and empathy and what this can tell us about the evolutionary success of Homo sapiens…
Brian Hare is a professor at the department of evolutionary anthropology and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University. He has a BA in Anthropology and Psychology from Emory University, and a PhD from Harvard University in Biological Anthropology. He is the founder of the Hominoid Psychology Research Group and also the Duke Canine Cognition Center.
Vanessa Woods is a research scientist at Duke University and an award-winning journalist who has written for publications including the New Scientist, BBC Wildlife and Australian Geographic. She also writes features for the Discovery Channel. Alongside her award-winning children’s books, she is the author of the memoirs Bonobo Handshake (2011) and It’s Every Monkey for Themselves (2007).
@bharedogguy @bonobohandshake