Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us

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Visit the BioOne Career Center and apply to open positions across the sciences. Log in Admin Help. Avi Tuschman , Our Political Nature: And although the writing style is straight-forward and clear, the content is largely dry. Make no mistake - this is a political science work, with contributions from multiple other disciplines and therefore is not a summer reading material. With respect to the content, the chunk of the book is persuasive.

However, I found some of the inferences to be a stretch, and some works cited seemed cherry-picked to reinforce the author's thesis. There are many interesting, captivating and even counter intuitive findings. For example, in one British research study, the participants were asked to self-identify their political affiliations and then submit to a MRI brain scan. The reason is because political conservatives and liberals have different brain structures identifiable in MRI brain scans; moreover, the size and shape of these structures are likely the result of genes rather than the environment.

There are many twin studies cited, most of which show that when identical twins are separated and raised in different environments and households, their politics remain largely the same. Another interesting finding is that southern cultures tend to be somewhat more conservative than northern cultures, across the world. But the counter intuitive conclusion is that it's not that the climate makes people more liberal or conservative, but rather people's climate preferences correlate to their politics and the migration and settlement patterns reflect that.

That is, people with liberal genetic leanings tend to prefer northern climates, and those with conservative genetic leanings prefer the southern climates. The book is full of these kinds of studies and findings, as it tries to isolate the factors that contribute to our politics. And while the book seems solid on most points, some inferences seem far fetched. For example, the author cites Daniel Goldhagen's book, "Hitler's Willing Executioners", in order to demonstrate that the German society was predisposed to anti-Semitism prior to Hitler's ascension.

This citation is to support the proposition that the Germanic society had a genetic predisposition toward anti-Semitism. The problem with Goldhagen's book and thesis however, is that it has been roundly refuted and discredited by most of the top and mainstream scholars in the field. Therefore, if the Germanic society was not in fact predisposed toward anti-Semitism at least not more so than other societies , then the argument that it is rooted in genes collapses.

Essentially, when it comes to social issues, conservatives and liberals are vastly different and the difference can be explained substantially on the basis of different gene sets of conservatives and liberals. However, on economics, there is virtually no correlation between how one's beliefs with respect to economics and one's political party affiliation.

Thus, in the US exit polls and other studies show that people don't necessarily vote based on their income or other financial interests, but rather on how they feel about the various social issues. The major problem with the book, aside from some of its far fetched assertions, is that the author doesn't do a good job of pulling all of the disparate sources together to produce a readable and persuasive narrative.

Much of the book feels like a set of disjointed summaries of research studies, organized by chapters and sub-chapters. Since this book crosses many different disciplines, it's important to keep an eye on the big picture and not lose the forest for the trees. But in order to understand how all of the parts fit together requires for an author to synthesize the disparate sources and data and relate them to each other in a way that is comprehensive.

The author did a mediocre job handling this task. Despite its shortcomings, much of the book is still interesting and in parts even compelling, even if it's not the final word on the subject - which it surely is not. Oct 08, Steve rated it liked it. Very hard to rate this book. I think the subject matter is fascinating and not seriously written about enough. Tuschsman has clearly worked hard on this book and has done a ton of academic research for it, and he's not a bad writer. I think he's overly ambitious with the scope of the book, and it shows, because some sections are very weak.

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In some parts he seems scrupulously scientific, but in other parts he makes sweeping statements based on what seems like little evidence. Also, the copy Very hard to rate this book.

• Politics and the Life Sciences.
• Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us by Avi Tuschman.
• A Hero of Our Time.

Also, the copy-editing was crappy - didn't someone know the difference between heel and heal? Sep 27, Pavlo Illashenko rated it it was amazing. Everybody is expert regarding politics, right? With all my modesty, I can say that I knew at least something about politics because of exposure to behavioral and cognitive science of decision making more broadly, and because of my exposure to modern studies of morality, values, evolution, human origins and history.

However, after reading the book I felt that I knew almost nothing. Oct 14, Jason rated it really liked it. An interesting look into liberalism and conservatism from biological, psychological and evolutionary roots, and how similar the extremes really are.

Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us | Politics and the Life Sciences

A bit dry in the middle, but overall a great book. Feb 06, Nicole rated it it was amazing. My review on this book is up on my YouTube channel for your viewing pleasure, as I don't like writing book reviews: Informative and authoritative, it probes basic questions and the consequences of their answers, while assessing and testing the validity of what results. Written in an accessible, engaging narrative, it does an excellent job of weaving together research from several disciplines, describing basic concepts, relationships, and the chains of "Our Political Nature" is a sweeping survey of the current state of knowledge and understanding about what shapes people's political orientations and behaviors.

Written in an accessible, engaging narrative, it does an excellent job of weaving together research from several disciplines, describing basic concepts, relationships, and the chains of logic and observations that support them or call them into question.

Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us

Of particular importance, the research disproves several common and often-repeated beliefs about the subject, replacing them with understanding rooted in natural science. Since politics shapes public policy, and public policy plays a vital role in both the duration and quality of our lives, accurately comprehending what drives it is critical to determining what's necessary to ultimately improve our lives.

This book goes a long way toward assisting that comprehension. For those interested in using this knowledge to attain political objectives, it offers little or no hope of convincing people to change their basic orientation. Instead, it provides a multitude of historical examples of how political outcomes have been forced or manipulated through deception. Mainly, the author counsels readers to better live together by recognizing their own biases, and learning about and respecting people who do not share their views.

I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in what shapes human behavior, especially why we organize our societies the way we do. Nov 13, Scott rated it it was amazing. Considering what we have just gone through, this book might help in understanding human nature and political practices which seem difficult to understand on the surface. An important read for academics but it would also of interest to intelligent and thoughtful people who are not involved in social science research.

Although the author might show a little an Considering what we have just gone through, this book might help in understanding human nature and political practices which seem difficult to understand on the surface. Although the author might show a little anti-conservative US version of conservatism bias in use of examples, the work takes a refreshingly scientific look at political orientation. The book covers a wide range of topics and the concepts are supported by both empirical studies and real world examples. It is definitely readable and even if a person disagrees with some of the conclusions, it provides some heavy food for thought.

If I person is looking for simple answers or wants his or her political beliefs supported, ignore this work. But if approached with an open mind, one might not find all the answers one is looking for, but one is likely to find some really interesting questions to ponder. Jun 23, Gerry rated it it was amazing. The author provides convincing explanation of human nature, and argues that a population of humans with some having a "liberal" outlook and others having a "conservative" outlook is inevitable.

The insights I've gained echo in my mind whenever I watch the News, and I feel like an ancient chemist who's been presented for the first time with Mendeleev's Periodic Table of the Elements. What used to seem like random bickering among factions now appears to make sense, to the extent that it all arises The author provides convincing explanation of human nature, and argues that a population of humans with some having a "liberal" outlook and others having a "conservative" outlook is inevitable. What used to seem like random bickering among factions now appears to make sense, to the extent that it all arises from human traits that have evolved through a Darwinian process.

But it's sad that humanity may be doomed to continual war. Jan 03, Randon rated it it was amazing Shelves: I was genuinely surprised at how much I learned from this book, considering I have read some of the material this one pulls from. Instead of a rehash, Tuschman put his own polish on the information gleaned and gives us a well written tome. The interesting tug-of-war of different aspects, biological and environmental, that shape everyone's political nature is clearly conveyed. It helped me understand people I disagree with better, especially parents and siblings.

The conclusion was an excellent s I was genuinely surprised at how much I learned from this book, considering I have read some of the material this one pulls from. The conclusion was an excellent summation of the information communicated in the book.