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Our Kind: Who We Are, Where We Came From, Where We Are Going
Writing with the same wit, humor, and style of his earlier bestsellers, noted anthropologist Marvin Harris traces our roots and views our destiny.
547 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Marvin Harris
40 books213 followersAmerican anthropologist Marvin Harris was born in Brooklyn, New York. A prolific writer, he was highly influential in the development of cultural materialism. In his work he combined Karl Marx's emphasis on the forces of production with Malthus's insights on the impact of demographic factors on other parts of the sociocultural system. Labeling demographic and production factors as infrastructure, Harris posited these factors as key in determining a society's social structure and culture.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
April 17, 2008
With this book, Harris accomplished an undertaking that few could achieve. He produced an overview of human biological and cultural evolution up to the present day that duly incorporates evidence from every field of anthropology in a way that is both entertaining and comprehensible for the general and academic reader.
After covering the biological evolution of modern humans from the earliest hominins, Harris begins presenting his case that after a certain point he calls "cultural takeoff" (35-40,000 years ago) cultural selection began serving as a proxy for natural selection in most facets of social life. He argues that many widespread human behaviors do not serve to maximize individual reproductive success, and it is actually minimized by such universal practices as female infanticide, abortion, contraception. His explanation for the shift is that, through cultural selection, the sexual instinct has been "decoupled" from the reproductive instinct, so investment in reproductive success is no longer a priority.
As one might expect, who is familiar with his work, Harris restricts his discussion of culture to functional explanations of why diverse traditions are best suited to given ecological and social environments. His theoretical perspective is decidedly evolutionary though not in the narrow sociobiological sense. Since the theme of the book is the evolution of culture, Harris is in his element, and the explanation he gives for the transition from redistributive chiefdoms to states, though admittedly anecdotal, has me completely convinced.
One of my favorite sections is titled "Was there life before chiefs?" Harris describes a few of countless examples of hunting and gathering societies which functioned without permanent positions of authority. Granting that societies with reciprocal exchange are economically egalitarian, Harris does not romanticize arguing that, in at least some of these, women are subordinate to men. He attributes this to the slight physical advantage of males over females.
The book ends on a dark note, reminding readers that, while human choice has been involved in every moment of the process of cultural selection, the major transformations of human societies have not been chosen as the big picture has always seemed to elude us. The last century has demonstrated this failure of foresight as new technologies have managed to threaten human and non-human life in new more acute ways than ever before. He poses the problem of how humans might gain some control over the process of cultural evolution before it kills us.
After covering the biological evolution of modern humans from the earliest hominins, Harris begins presenting his case that after a certain point he calls "cultural takeoff" (35-40,000 years ago) cultural selection began serving as a proxy for natural selection in most facets of social life. He argues that many widespread human behaviors do not serve to maximize individual reproductive success, and it is actually minimized by such universal practices as female infanticide, abortion, contraception. His explanation for the shift is that, through cultural selection, the sexual instinct has been "decoupled" from the reproductive instinct, so investment in reproductive success is no longer a priority.
As one might expect, who is familiar with his work, Harris restricts his discussion of culture to functional explanations of why diverse traditions are best suited to given ecological and social environments. His theoretical perspective is decidedly evolutionary though not in the narrow sociobiological sense. Since the theme of the book is the evolution of culture, Harris is in his element, and the explanation he gives for the transition from redistributive chiefdoms to states, though admittedly anecdotal, has me completely convinced.
One of my favorite sections is titled "Was there life before chiefs?" Harris describes a few of countless examples of hunting and gathering societies which functioned without permanent positions of authority. Granting that societies with reciprocal exchange are economically egalitarian, Harris does not romanticize arguing that, in at least some of these, women are subordinate to men. He attributes this to the slight physical advantage of males over females.
The book ends on a dark note, reminding readers that, while human choice has been involved in every moment of the process of cultural selection, the major transformations of human societies have not been chosen as the big picture has always seemed to elude us. The last century has demonstrated this failure of foresight as new technologies have managed to threaten human and non-human life in new more acute ways than ever before. He poses the problem of how humans might gain some control over the process of cultural evolution before it kills us.
April 12, 2020
Verdaderamente increíble. Desde pequeño siempre quise ser historiador, antropólogo. Lamento mucho no haber leído a Marvin Harris a una temprana edad. Él coincide con Robert Malthus, con Carl Sagan, con Richard Dawkins, con David Adams, Yuval Noah Harari; es simplemente un punto de vista que merece ser reconocido por todos nosotros ya que es el más cercano a la realidad de la civilización humana. El enfoque de su narrativa es claro, es extremadamente real, y destila la versatilidad para diversas temáticas. Ha despertado nuevamente la curiosidad del ser humano en el medio ambiente, y me hace preguntar, hoy 12 de abril de 2020, con una pandemia que ya va contagiando a más de un millón de personas en el mundo ¿Tan sensible es la civilización?.
Cada vez que se lee un libro sobre la civilización, sea de Mc Neil, Noah Harari, de Asimov, de Sagan, de Stuart Piggot, o de quién sea, verdaderamente, veo que los "espacios de tiempo" son cada vez más pequeños. Me refiero con esto a que, cada vez que leo sobre la civilización humana, me doy cuenta de que menos tiempo ha pasado al día de hoy. Antes me percataba de que aún vivimos en la Edad Media, pero ¿y si aún vivimos en una gran aldea mundial? Ni siquiera hemos definido por completo una religión, los tabúes, los gustos alimenticios, nuestras mujeres aún son víctimas de abuso sexual y de misoginia, aún tenemos líderes beligerantes, los niños sufren también de hambre y abuso sexual..... esto me hace reflexionar y tener dos caminos: 1) la civilización humana aún está en una temprana pubertad tecnológica y aún tenemos tiempo para poder avanzar, o 2) todo cerebro humano viene con un fallo cerebral, o con vestigios evolutivos que no nos permiten cambiar.
La pandemia ha puesto de rodillas a todo sistema económico, a sistemas de control, a políticas de derecha, a políticas de izquierda, a sistemas religiosos, entonces ¿Qué falla? Verdaderamente creo, y creo que coincido con Carl Sagan y Marvin Harris, en que la educación es la manera en la que la extinción se puede evitar. Gracias a la falta de conocimiento ocurre o ocurrió (esto que escribiré es lo que se me ha venido a la mente de manera inmediata, ni siquiera investigando):
- el desollamiento de Hipólita y la quema de la Biblioteca de Alejandría;
- la creación de prácticamente todo culto, sea este ecuménico o práctica pagana;
- muerte por mala práctica;
- pandemias peores de la que actualmente azota a la humanidad;
- la esclavitud de los afrodescendientes;
- la estigmatización de los homosexuales;
- la persecusión, la quema y la históricamente demostrada categorización de la mujer como un ser inferior, hasta nuestros días;
- las muertes, guerras y suicidios por fundamentalismo religioso;
- práticas de selección cultural que permiten: el abuso sexual de menores, la transgresión de la dignidad de seres vivos, la extinción de especies masiva, la deforestación, la contaminación, el calentamiento global;
En fin, un sinnúmero de eventos que se pueden enlistar con total facilidad, provenientes de prácticas decimonónicas que aún continúan en vigencia. La educación de nuestros niños, la inocencia envestida de pensamiento crítico es lo único que sepultará el estigma de que somos una civilización dispuesta a autodestruirse.
Cada vez que se lee un libro sobre la civilización, sea de Mc Neil, Noah Harari, de Asimov, de Sagan, de Stuart Piggot, o de quién sea, verdaderamente, veo que los "espacios de tiempo" son cada vez más pequeños. Me refiero con esto a que, cada vez que leo sobre la civilización humana, me doy cuenta de que menos tiempo ha pasado al día de hoy. Antes me percataba de que aún vivimos en la Edad Media, pero ¿y si aún vivimos en una gran aldea mundial? Ni siquiera hemos definido por completo una religión, los tabúes, los gustos alimenticios, nuestras mujeres aún son víctimas de abuso sexual y de misoginia, aún tenemos líderes beligerantes, los niños sufren también de hambre y abuso sexual..... esto me hace reflexionar y tener dos caminos: 1) la civilización humana aún está en una temprana pubertad tecnológica y aún tenemos tiempo para poder avanzar, o 2) todo cerebro humano viene con un fallo cerebral, o con vestigios evolutivos que no nos permiten cambiar.
La pandemia ha puesto de rodillas a todo sistema económico, a sistemas de control, a políticas de derecha, a políticas de izquierda, a sistemas religiosos, entonces ¿Qué falla? Verdaderamente creo, y creo que coincido con Carl Sagan y Marvin Harris, en que la educación es la manera en la que la extinción se puede evitar. Gracias a la falta de conocimiento ocurre o ocurrió (esto que escribiré es lo que se me ha venido a la mente de manera inmediata, ni siquiera investigando):
- el desollamiento de Hipólita y la quema de la Biblioteca de Alejandría;
- la creación de prácticamente todo culto, sea este ecuménico o práctica pagana;
- muerte por mala práctica;
- pandemias peores de la que actualmente azota a la humanidad;
- la esclavitud de los afrodescendientes;
- la estigmatización de los homosexuales;
- la persecusión, la quema y la históricamente demostrada categorización de la mujer como un ser inferior, hasta nuestros días;
- las muertes, guerras y suicidios por fundamentalismo religioso;
- práticas de selección cultural que permiten: el abuso sexual de menores, la transgresión de la dignidad de seres vivos, la extinción de especies masiva, la deforestación, la contaminación, el calentamiento global;
En fin, un sinnúmero de eventos que se pueden enlistar con total facilidad, provenientes de prácticas decimonónicas que aún continúan en vigencia. La educación de nuestros niños, la inocencia envestida de pensamiento crítico es lo único que sepultará el estigma de que somos una civilización dispuesta a autodestruirse.
August 9, 2016
Way back in human history, one brave soul decided to take the first upright step and such was the beginning of "our kind". Marvin Harris takes us through the evolution of humankind very thoroughly in this book with chapters geared toward specific areas that all lead back to the tree of hominids.
For instance, Harris looks at redistribution among tribes and how this allowed some men to become leaders. The theory is that by giving more away than keeping, a man can become a chief because he is essentially buying his constituency, something which worked with the very ancient kingdoms. It's these types of a-ha moments that make this book somewhat entertaining to read.
Book Season = Winter
For instance, Harris looks at redistribution among tribes and how this allowed some men to become leaders. The theory is that by giving more away than keeping, a man can become a chief because he is essentially buying his constituency, something which worked with the very ancient kingdoms. It's these types of a-ha moments that make this book somewhat entertaining to read.
Book Season = Winter
August 2, 2015
Marvin Harris offers a lot of perspective on why cultures are the way they are. Due to my lack of scientific background and qualifications and the book's publish date, I'm not sure how up-to-date this is with the latest scientific evidence. Even if some of the theories didn't hold up to the latest evidence, I still think this adds a lot of perspective to culture I see every day.
A little slow at times, but some fun theories such as human brain size evolved in response to long distance running which required redundant wiring to compensate for overheating. I also like the theory on why those in poverty in the U.S. have incentive to have more kids and remain on welfare; I like to think (in other words, I'm biased) that people don't choose those lifestyles because they're "lazy" or "don't care about everyone else" or some other over attribution, but that they're playing the game using the rules of the system we've all agreed upon to the best of their ability.
A little slow at times, but some fun theories such as human brain size evolved in response to long distance running which required redundant wiring to compensate for overheating. I also like the theory on why those in poverty in the U.S. have incentive to have more kids and remain on welfare; I like to think (in other words, I'm biased) that people don't choose those lifestyles because they're "lazy" or "don't care about everyone else" or some other over attribution, but that they're playing the game using the rules of the system we've all agreed upon to the best of their ability.
September 6, 2024
From the origin of our species to the modern nuances of our society, this slick read unveils the fascinating path of our kind.
July 7, 2020
Short easy to digest chapters, takes you across the vast span of human history from the very beginnings to modern times.
June 17, 2020
This book is well written and broken up into ~100 short, easy-to-digest chapters that are topical, yet follow a coherent path. I didn’t realize that I was so interested in cultural anthropology, but the way Marvin Harris explains most things really drew me in. I learned a lot about the huge collection of fossils in the Rift Valley in Africa, chimps, why Ancient Greek men engaged in homosexual acts yet most weren’t gay, to why Mayans and Incas didn’t have the same level of cultural take-off as the West. Highly recommended.
January 4, 2011
A little dry but much better than Guns Germs and Steel as far as entertainment value vs dry recitation of a thesis project... great to coread with Born to Run.
Finished it with some effort... still not sure what exactly the point he was trying to make but it has some great correlations between current sociology and anthropology of ancient as well as current societies of hunter gatherers and "egalitarian" societies.
Finished it with some effort... still not sure what exactly the point he was trying to make but it has some great correlations between current sociology and anthropology of ancient as well as current societies of hunter gatherers and "egalitarian" societies.
April 4, 2021
Es e primer libro que tengo oportunidad de leer de Marvin Harris, encuentro en gran cantidad de puntos de coincidencia con Yuval Noah Harari, Richard Dawkins y Steven Pinker, minino motivo para dejarme completamente cautivado.
El desarrollo del libro se basa principalmente desde una perspectiva Antropológica, documentada con una cantidad impresionante de investigaciones, charlas, recopilaciones, libros, etc. Justo por su carácter materialista siento gran afinidad en los temas que desarrolla y creo que su visión sigue siendo contemporánea y valida.
Este tipo de materiales debería de ser parte del plan de estudios en etapas tempranas de la educación (secundaria - preparatoria) pero puedo percibir lo complejo de su implementación en mi país (México) debido a que sin buscarlo trata temas tabú actuales, especialmente lo referente a la religión, en ningún momento es interés del autor desmentir o criticar, simplemente analiza, reflexiona y narra el desarrollo de estas en el devenir de la humanidad, resultando en un ofensa personal para mas de uno.
El desarrollo del libro se basa principalmente desde una perspectiva Antropológica, documentada con una cantidad impresionante de investigaciones, charlas, recopilaciones, libros, etc. Justo por su carácter materialista siento gran afinidad en los temas que desarrolla y creo que su visión sigue siendo contemporánea y valida.
Este tipo de materiales debería de ser parte del plan de estudios en etapas tempranas de la educación (secundaria - preparatoria) pero puedo percibir lo complejo de su implementación en mi país (México) debido a que sin buscarlo trata temas tabú actuales, especialmente lo referente a la religión, en ningún momento es interés del autor desmentir o criticar, simplemente analiza, reflexiona y narra el desarrollo de estas en el devenir de la humanidad, resultando en un ofensa personal para mas de uno.
June 16, 2023
Come sempre, Marvin Harris è una garanzia. Testo di notevole spessore antropologico che riassume, sinteticamente ma in modo conciso e preciso i punti chiave che determinano "l'anima" della nostra cultura, dal rapporto con il cibo alla religione, dalla formazione degli Stati ad altri aspetti estremamente interessanti, incrociando archeologia, biologia, evoluzione, statistica e una serie di altre discipline, facendole sfociare in quel calderone estremamente eterogeneo, ma fondamentalmente unito della cultura sull'essere umano. È un must read soprattutto per chi non abbia avuto il tempo di leggere altri testi che approfondiscono molto delle questioni da lui citate. Tanto di cappello, quindi, eccetto per le solite visioni distorte che favoreggiano i femminismi, e una visione sul colonialismo non propriamente obiettiva
April 12, 2023
¡Me encanta! Es un libro maravilloso, jamás titubea, es bien pensado, fundamentado, organizado; una línea de tiempo donde converge el humano desde sus aspectos genéticos, el humano desde sus aspectos ambientales, el humano desde sus aspectos culturales, y el humano desde su moralidad.
Nos presenta los hilos que sujetan a esta marioneta llamada humanidad.
Amé la forma tan amigable que Marvin Harris relata la historia antropológica de nuestra especie, cómo talló cada pieza y cierra el libro uniendo cada una de ellas de forma precisa y plausible.
Un libro necesario hablando sociológicamente, históricamente, biológicamente y fenomenológicamente.
Nada aburrido, nada tedioso... te toma de la mano para recorrer cada una de sus líneas.
Nos presenta los hilos que sujetan a esta marioneta llamada humanidad.
Amé la forma tan amigable que Marvin Harris relata la historia antropológica de nuestra especie, cómo talló cada pieza y cierra el libro uniendo cada una de ellas de forma precisa y plausible.
Un libro necesario hablando sociológicamente, históricamente, biológicamente y fenomenológicamente.
Nada aburrido, nada tedioso... te toma de la mano para recorrer cada una de sus líneas.
May 20, 2022
A pesar de negar el matriarcado y postular una teoría deficiente sobre el origen del machismo, Harris enuncia una serie de postulados memorables acerca de la genética, el color de piel, los genes, la estructura nerviosa, la evolución y anatomía humana.
En pocas palabras, es un resumen excelente de su obra (con sus logros y vicios).
En pocas palabras, es un resumen excelente de su obra (con sus logros y vicios).
April 6, 2024
Interrogantes que nos planteamos de nuestra especie se abordan en este libro. ¿Cuándo y cómo surgió la vida humana? ¿cómo eran las primeras sociedades y lenguajes humanos? ¿qué aspectos de la condición humana están inscritos en nuestros genes y cuáles forman parte de la herencia cultural?
Puntuación: 8
Puntuación: 8
April 19, 2023
Brilliant book. It has a great development, originating in extremely basic human, physic, biologic concepts, it develops to more complex social structures, and ideologies.
RECOMENDED READING. Easy read and easy understanding.
RECOMENDED READING. Easy read and easy understanding.
March 25, 2017
Accessible yet profound -- an insightful overview of human nature's scientific roots.
September 12, 2018
one of the books that "opened" my mind to the wonder and complexity of ourselves and our world
October 21, 2018
El mejor libro de Marvin Harris.
April 25, 2019
I love this book. I love it. I just do.
March 12, 2022
Una buena panorámica antropológica, pero dependiendo del artículo se juega con información anticuada o interpretaciones limitadas
October 7, 2022
Need 6 stars. This book convinced me that maybe, just maybe, I could be a runner. So I ran. Then I became a runner.
October 9, 2023
Man. Vaya librazo. Catàrtic. I passarà a ser obvi el que abans ignorava. Gràcies Harrison Ford pels teus coneixements. Ara mateix, ets el meu déu.
January 22, 2024
De los mejores libros que he leído
September 3, 2021
A book about humanity. And one which restores my faith in it.
April 1, 2013
Back in the beginning of 2011, I had taken American Mosaic an Anthropology class on America. The bookstore had mixed up the books for a Cultural Anthropology class and the American Mosaic one. My teacher had sung this books praises and I decided to keep the book and read it a later date.
I must admit, the author does partake in a wide scope of topics covered from evolutionary Anthropology with different hominids to cannibalism to state societes to religion to explaining Harris' hypothesis as to why Pre-Columbian Indians didn't have industrialization etc.
When this book first came out, I'm sure it was pretty mind blowing to have all of these different topics at your finger tips. However, one thing that bugs me about this book is that it hasn't been updated at all. It was written back in 1989 and the book I have was published in September, 1990. Why does this bug me? Well, the world, not to mention the Anthropology world, has changed alot since this books inception.
Here are some things me want to stop reading it:
-Berdache. I actually choked on my tea when I came across this topic in Harris' book. The term is really outdated and offensive. Berdache is based on the French word Bardache, a male prostitute or calamite. Back in 1990 the term Two-Spirit started to gain popularity and replaced Berdache. I don't know if Harris would have been aware of the change that had started to occur or if he did maybe he didn't have the time to correct it.
-Harris states all tribes have Two-Spirits. To my recollection, this is not true. Not all tribes had alternative gender or Two-Spirits in their tribes such as certain Apache bands, Eyak, and Comanche (however, I must point out the Eyak had a report in 1938 stating that they never had this occurrence and such individuals were held in low esteem. A possibility exists that this is due to acculturation).
-Harris states teenage girls want to get pregnant cause they want to be “welfare queens”. No reference of inadequate sex education or contraception.
-Harris was linking to scientific beliefs to that of religion. I understand this but he wrote this:“… more scientific testing has gone into the study of gravity than into the study of mana, but the degree of scientific testing to which a theory has been subjected cannot make the difference between whether it is a religious or a scientific belief. If it did, then every untested or inadequately tested theory in science would be a religious beliefs”. Since Harris was a Sociocultural Anthropologist I'm sure he wasn't a stranger to the Scientific Method. His statement is irksome to me, he is talking about science and so I would expect him to use the scientific theory and not the layman's theory (meaning a guess). An untested theory is not a theory, but rather a hypothesis. It's a pet peeve of mine when books or tv shows that are scientific in nature misuse theory.
For the most part, the book was interesting but also read it with a grain of salt.
I must admit, the author does partake in a wide scope of topics covered from evolutionary Anthropology with different hominids to cannibalism to state societes to religion to explaining Harris' hypothesis as to why Pre-Columbian Indians didn't have industrialization etc.
When this book first came out, I'm sure it was pretty mind blowing to have all of these different topics at your finger tips. However, one thing that bugs me about this book is that it hasn't been updated at all. It was written back in 1989 and the book I have was published in September, 1990. Why does this bug me? Well, the world, not to mention the Anthropology world, has changed alot since this books inception.
Here are some things me want to stop reading it:
-Berdache. I actually choked on my tea when I came across this topic in Harris' book. The term is really outdated and offensive. Berdache is based on the French word Bardache, a male prostitute or calamite. Back in 1990 the term Two-Spirit started to gain popularity and replaced Berdache. I don't know if Harris would have been aware of the change that had started to occur or if he did maybe he didn't have the time to correct it.
-Harris states all tribes have Two-Spirits. To my recollection, this is not true. Not all tribes had alternative gender or Two-Spirits in their tribes such as certain Apache bands, Eyak, and Comanche (however, I must point out the Eyak had a report in 1938 stating that they never had this occurrence and such individuals were held in low esteem. A possibility exists that this is due to acculturation).
-Harris states teenage girls want to get pregnant cause they want to be “welfare queens”. No reference of inadequate sex education or contraception.
-Harris was linking to scientific beliefs to that of religion. I understand this but he wrote this:“… more scientific testing has gone into the study of gravity than into the study of mana, but the degree of scientific testing to which a theory has been subjected cannot make the difference between whether it is a religious or a scientific belief. If it did, then every untested or inadequately tested theory in science would be a religious beliefs”. Since Harris was a Sociocultural Anthropologist I'm sure he wasn't a stranger to the Scientific Method. His statement is irksome to me, he is talking about science and so I would expect him to use the scientific theory and not the layman's theory (meaning a guess). An untested theory is not a theory, but rather a hypothesis. It's a pet peeve of mine when books or tv shows that are scientific in nature misuse theory.
For the most part, the book was interesting but also read it with a grain of salt.
July 2, 2007
This book is similar to Cannibals and Kings in that it takes a broad look at much of human history. But in this text, made up of about sixty short chapters, Harris tries to teach his reader everything he knows about the development of homo sapiens - or "our kind" as he commonly calls us.
This book is incredibly easy to read. He does explain early evolutionary patterns from primates to aferensis to homo sapiens, but he does it in a way that reads very conversationally instead of "science-y." And once Harris' work gets to explanations of human cultural and behavioral traditions, it begins to really take off.
As a teacher, I find this book to be incredibly useful for classroom supplements. By typing up several of his chapters and adding footnotes and other explanatory help for students, Harris' work adds great depth to many of the themes and behaviors we read about in other texts. Using about four or five chapters, the students read about how the human body evolved to need, store, and utilize food. Using another three or four chapters, my students read about the arbitrary nature of "race" - from a standpoint of genetics or physical traits - and the scientific idiocy of racism. This is really made possible because of the book's short, accessible chapters and colloquial language.
This book is incredibly easy to read. He does explain early evolutionary patterns from primates to aferensis to homo sapiens, but he does it in a way that reads very conversationally instead of "science-y." And once Harris' work gets to explanations of human cultural and behavioral traditions, it begins to really take off.
As a teacher, I find this book to be incredibly useful for classroom supplements. By typing up several of his chapters and adding footnotes and other explanatory help for students, Harris' work adds great depth to many of the themes and behaviors we read about in other texts. Using about four or five chapters, the students read about how the human body evolved to need, store, and utilize food. Using another three or four chapters, my students read about the arbitrary nature of "race" - from a standpoint of genetics or physical traits - and the scientific idiocy of racism. This is really made possible because of the book's short, accessible chapters and colloquial language.
June 16, 2022
Marvin Harris explains culture by knotting a beadchain. He starts at the beginning with the emergence of mankind, putting one chapter after the other without dropping the thread until he reaches the most complex topics of culture. This expert in Cultural Anthropology has a very likable attitude to teach Culture in words everyone can understand, even if they never concerned themselves with the issue before. You do not need basic knowledge to get his point, he will take you by the hand and lead you there. Sometimes you may not know where he is going, but at the end of each chapter you will think "But of course, I knew it, just never thought of it!"
A great advantage of this course is that there is hardly a chapter longer than 5 pages. Even though there are a lot of topics, you can comfortably read one chapter before sleeping, on the bus or during lunch break. It is neither dry, nor boring. Harris never stuffs your head with information you do not need immediately. It is a wonderful book for those who would like to get a general overview on the development and facets of the human culture, or to get inspired to study certain topics further.
A great advantage of this course is that there is hardly a chapter longer than 5 pages. Even though there are a lot of topics, you can comfortably read one chapter before sleeping, on the bus or during lunch break. It is neither dry, nor boring. Harris never stuffs your head with information you do not need immediately. It is a wonderful book for those who would like to get a general overview on the development and facets of the human culture, or to get inspired to study certain topics further.
April 27, 2013
Marvin Harris argues with such an even-toned sense of consideration that he could probably make the outlandish seem plausible. However, that sort of radical sophistry doesn't seem his aim in this work. Rather, he lays out the varied topics of cultural anthropology along with his thoughts on those matters in a casual way that eschews even the radical framing of his Cannibals and Kings. I found all of his points both worth making and quite possible, even if there is always plenty of room to be incorrect in such matters, no matter how sensible you may sound. (Nor how correct your argument may be -- nature observes no particular need to heed all elegant arguments.)
Regardless of the relative "age" of this book, it is still in my opinion a must-read in any introductory course (academic or otherwise) dealing with the issues of the overlap of culture, biology, evolution, and environment.
Review from http://www.modernmythology.net
Regardless of the relative "age" of this book, it is still in my opinion a must-read in any introductory course (academic or otherwise) dealing with the issues of the overlap of culture, biology, evolution, and environment.
Review from http://www.modernmythology.net
July 8, 2015
This book was excellent. I can't even begin to imagine the sheer amount of knowledge it would take to chronicle the span of the human race both evolutionarily and culturally. I'm already adding it to my Re-read shelf, and probably should create a "to own" shelf for it as well.
I have no background in this subject, so I can't compare this book with anything else. But for me, it introduced a lot of concepts and built those into more advanced concepts that I could definitely understand. The format of the book was perfect for me- small, bite sized chapters on certain topics following a general timeline of ideas. There were a few instances where I wanted more information, but generally I got exactly what I wanted out of each chapter.
This was written in the early 90s, so some of it is a little dated. But the concepts are all there. This was great as an introductory course for me, but I could see it also being a great resource for intermediate scholars. Highly recommended.
I have no background in this subject, so I can't compare this book with anything else. But for me, it introduced a lot of concepts and built those into more advanced concepts that I could definitely understand. The format of the book was perfect for me- small, bite sized chapters on certain topics following a general timeline of ideas. There were a few instances where I wanted more information, but generally I got exactly what I wanted out of each chapter.
This was written in the early 90s, so some of it is a little dated. But the concepts are all there. This was great as an introductory course for me, but I could see it also being a great resource for intermediate scholars. Highly recommended.
August 28, 2011
An interesting introductory exploration of a wide variety of cultural and societal topics. It ranges from very brief explorations of our evolutionary history which lead to us being a culture bearing species, to refutations of various myths being peddled by sociobiologists. Some of the myths which Dr Harris responds to include genetic explantions for incest and sexual stratification. While this is as I mentioned simply an introductory exploration, it still raises views which would be of great importance to the general public. This being said, he does present his questionable theory of population pressure which could really have been held up to the same scrutiny as he, justly, applies to sociobiology.
January 9, 2021
Really interesting and well-written book. Covers a host of topics and questions that fall under the overarching topic of the biological and cultural evolution of our species. If you liked 'Sapiens' by Yuval Noah Harari, you'll like this (and vice versa). While 'Sapiens' was more of a grand narrative focused on a few large topics, this book is arranged in a large number of short 2-6 page chapters, each addressing one specific topic/question. The chapters are arranged well with related topics clustered together. I highly recommend this book to anyone.
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