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| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Age of Empathy Frans de Waal, 2010-09-07 In this thought-provoking book, the acclaimed author of Our Inner Ape examines how empathy comes naturally to a great variety of animals, including humans. Are we our brothers' keepers? Do we have an instinct for compassion? Or are we, as is often assumed, only on earth to serve our own survival and interests? By studying social behaviors in animals, such as bonding, the herd instinct, the forming of trusting alliances, expressions of consolation, and conflict resolution, Frans de Waal demonstrates that animals–and humans–are preprogrammed to reach out. He has found that chimpanzees care for mates that are wounded by leopards, elephants offer reassuring rumbles to youngsters in distress, and dolphins support sick companions near the water's surface to prevent them from drowning. From day one humans have innate sensitivities to faces, bodies, and voices; we've been designed to feel for one another. De Waal's theory runs counter to the assumption that humans are inherently selfish, which can be seen in the fields of politics, law, and finance. But he cites the public's outrage at the U.S. government's lack of empathy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as a significant shift in perspective–one that helped Barack Obama become elected and ushered in what perhaps could become an Age of Empathy. Through a better understanding of empathy's survival value in evolution, de Waal suggests, we can work together toward a more just society based on a more generous and accurate view of human nature. Written in layman's prose with a wealth of anecdotes, wry humor, and incisive intelligence, The Age of Empathy is essential reading for our embattled times. An important and timely message about the biological roots of human kindness.—Desmond Morris, author of The Naked Ape |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Good Natured Frans B. M. DE WAAL, F. B. M. de Waal, 2009-06-30 To observe a dog's guilty look. to witness a gorilla's self-sacrifice for a wounded mate, to watch an elephant herd's communal effort on behalf of a stranded calf--to catch animals in certain acts is to wonder what moves them. Might there he a code of ethics in the animal kingdom? Must an animal be human to he humane? In this provocative book, a renowned scientist takes on those who have declared ethics uniquely human Making a compelling case for a morality grounded in biology, he shows how ethical behavior is as much a matter of evolution as any other trait, in humans and animals alike. World famous for his brilliant descriptions of Machiavellian power plays among chimpanzees-the nastier side of animal life--Frans de Waal here contends that animals have a nice side as well. Making his case through vivid anecdotes drawn from his work with apes and monkeys and holstered by the intriguing, voluminous data from his and others' ongoing research, de Waal shows us that many of the building blocks of morality are natural: they can he observed in other animals. Through his eyes, we see how not just primates but all kinds of animals, from marine mammals to dogs, respond to social rules, help each other, share food, resolve conflict to mutual satisfaction, even develop a crude sense of justice and fairness. Natural selection may be harsh, but it has produced highly successful species that survive through cooperation and mutual assistance. De Waal identifies this paradox as the key to an evolutionary account of morality, and demonstrates that human morality could never have developed without the foundation of fellow feeling our species shares with other animals. As his work makes clear, a morality grounded in biology leads to an entirely different conception of what it means to he human--and humane. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Ghost Tree Christina Henry, 2020-09-08 When people go missing in the sleepy town of Smith’s Hollow, the only clue to their fate comes when a teenager starts having terrifying visions, in a chilling horror novel from national bestselling author Christina Henry. When the bodies of two girls are found torn apart in the town of Smiths Hollow, Lauren is surprised, but she also expects that the police won't find the killer. After all, the year before her father's body was found with his heart missing, and since then everyone has moved on. Even her best friend, Miranda, has become more interested in boys than in spending time at the old ghost tree, the way they used to when they were kids. So when Lauren has a vision of a monster dragging the remains of the girls through the woods, she knows she can't just do nothing. Not like the rest of her town. But as she draws closer to answers, she realizes that the foundation of her seemingly normal town might be rotten at the center. And that if nobody else stands for the missing, she will. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Peacemaking among Primates Frans B. M. DE WAAL, F. B. M. de Waal, 2009-06-30 Examines how simians cope with aggression, and how they make peace after fights. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Empathy Roman Krznaric, 2014-11-04 Discover the Six Habits of Highly Empathic People A popular speaker and co-founder of The School of Life, Roman Krznaric has traveled the world researching and lecturing on the subject of empathy. In this lively and engaging book, he argues that our brains are wired for social connection. Empathy, not apathy or self-centeredness, is at the heart of who we are. By looking outward and attempting to identify with the experiences of others, Krznaric argues, we can become not only a more equal society, but also a happier and more creative one. Through encounters with groundbreaking actors, activists, designers, nurses, bankers and neuroscientists, Krznaric defines a new breed of adventurer. He presents the six life-enhancing habits of highly empathic people, whose skills enable them to connect with others in extraordinary ways – making themselves, and the world, more truly fulfilled. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves Frans de Waal, 2019-03-12 A New York Times Bestseller and winner of the PEN / E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Game-changing. —Sy Montgomery, New York Times Book Review Mama’s Last Hug is a fascinating exploration of the rich emotional lives of animals, beginning with Mama, a chimpanzee matriarch who formed a deep bond with biologist Jan van Hooff. Her story and others like it—from dogs “adopting” the injuries of their companions, to rats helping fellow rats in distress, to elephants revisiting the bones of their loved ones—show that humans are not the only species with the capacity for love, hate, fear, shame, guilt, joy, disgust, and empathy. Frans de Waal opens our hearts and minds to the many ways in which humans and other animals are connected. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Kindness of Strangers Michael E. McCullough, 2020-07-21 A fine achievement.--Peter Singer, author of The Life You Can Save and The Most Good You Can Do A sweeping psychological history of human goodness -- from the foundations of evolution to the modern political and social challenges humanity is now facing. How did humans, a species of self-centered apes, come to care about others? Since Darwin, scientists have tried to answer this question using evolutionary theory. In The Kindness of Strangers, psychologist Michael E. McCullough shows why they have failed and offers a new explanation instead. From the moment nomadic humans first settled down until the aftermath of the Second World War, our species has confronted repeated crises that we could only survive by changing our behavior. As McCullough argues, these choices weren't enabled by an evolved moral sense, but with moral invention -- driven not by evolution's dictates but by reason. Today's challenges -- climate change, mass migration, nationalism -- are some of humanity's greatest yet. In revealing how past crises shaped the foundations of human concern, The Kindness of Strangers offers clues for how we can adapt our moral thinking to survive these challenges as well. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates Henry Cabot Lodge (Jr.), Frans B. M. Waal, 2013-03-25 Moral behavior does not begin and end with religion but is in fact a product of evolution. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? Frans de Waal, 2016-04-25 A New York Times bestseller: A passionate and convincing case for the sophistication of nonhuman minds. —Alison Gopnik, The Atlantic Hailed as a classic, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? explores the oddities and complexities of animal cognition—in crows, dolphins, parrots, sheep, wasps, bats, chimpanzees, and bonobos—to reveal how smart animals really are, and how we’ve underestimated their abilities for too long. Did you know that octopuses use coconut shells as tools, that elephants classify humans by gender and language, and that there is a young male chimpanzee at Kyoto University whose flash memory puts that of humans to shame? Fascinating, entertaining, and deeply informed, de Waal’s landmark work will convince you to rethink everything you thought you knew about animal—and human—intelligence. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Neuronal Correlates of Empathy Ksenia Z. Meyza, Ewelina Knapska, 2018-03-21 Neuronal Correlates of Empathy: From Rodent to Human explores the neurobiology behind emotional contagion, compassionate behaviors and the similarities in rodents and human and non-human primates. The book provides clear and accessible information that avoids anthropomorphisms, reviews the latest research from the literature, and is essential reading for neuroscientists and others studying behavior, emotion and empathy impairments, both in basic research and preclinical studies. Though empathy is still considered by many to be a uniquely human trait, growing evidence suggests that it is present in other species, and that rodents, non-human primates, and humans share similarities. - Examines the continuum of behavioral and neurobiological responses between rodents—including laboratory rodents and monogamic species—and humans - Contains coverage of humans, non-human primates, and the emerging area of rodent studies - Explores the possibility of an integrated neurocircuitry for empathy |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness Oren Harman, 2011-06-20 Describes the intellectual journey of eccentric American genius George Price, who tried to answer the evolutionary riddle of why people are nice, and eventually gave away all his belongings and took his own life in a squatter's flat. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Chimpanzee Politics Frans B. M. Waal, 1982 Precise but eminently readable and indeed exciting... This excellent book achieves the dual goal which eludes so many writers about animal behavior -- it will both fascinate the non-specialist and be seen as an important contribution to science. -- Times Literary Supplement |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Our Symphony with Animals Aysha Akhtar, 2019-05-07 A leader in the fields of animal ethics and neurology, Dr. Aysha Akhtar examines the rich human-animal connection and how interspecies empathy enriches our well-being. Deftly combining medicine, social history and personal experience, Our Symphony with Animals is the first book by a physician to show that humans and animals have a shared destiny—our well-being is deeply entwined. Dr. Akhtar reveals how empathy for animals is the next step in our species’ moral evolution and a vital component of human health. When we include animals in our circle of empathy, we not only liberate animals, we also liberate ourselves. Drawing on the accounts of a varied cast of characters—a former mobster, a pediatrician, an industrial chicken farmer, a serial killer, and a deer hunter—to reveal what happens when we both break and forge bonds with animals. Interwoven is Dr. Akhtar’s own story, an immigrant who was bullied in school and abused by her uncle. Feeling abandoned by humanity, it was only when she met Sylvester, a dog who had also been abused, that she find the strength to sound the alarm for them both. Humans are neurologically designed to empathize with animals. Violence against animals goes against our nature. In equal measure, the love we give to animals biologically reverberates back to us. Our Symphony with Animals is the definitive account for why our relationships with animals matter. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Primates and Philosophers Frans de Waal, 2016-03-22 Can virtuous behavior be explained by nature, and not by human rational choice? It's the animal in us, we often hear when we've been bad. But why not when we're good? Primates and Philosophers tackles this question by exploring the biological foundations of one of humanity's most valued traits: morality. In this provocative book, renowned primatologist Frans de Waal argues that modern-day evolutionary biology takes far too dim a view of the natural world, emphasizing our selfish genes and reinforcing our habit of labeling ethical behavior as humane and the less civilized as animalistic. Seeking the origin of human morality not in evolution but in human culture, science insists that we are moral by choice, not by nature. Citing remarkable evidence based on his extensive research of primate behavior, de Waal attacks Veneer Theory, which posits morality as a thin overlay on an otherwise nasty nature. He explains how we evolved from a long line of animals that care for the weak and build cooperation with reciprocal transactions. Drawing on Darwin, recent scientific advances, and his extensive research of primate behavior, de Waal demonstrates a strong continuity between human and animal behavior. He probes issues such as anthropomorphism and human responsibilities toward animals. His compelling account of how human morality evolved out of mammalian society will fascinate anyone who has ever wondered about the origins and reach of human goodness. Based on the Tanner Lectures de Waal delivered at Princeton University's Center for Human Values in 2004, Primates and Philosophers includes responses by the philosophers Peter Singer, Christine M. Korsgaard, and Philip Kitcher and the science writer Robert Wright. They press de Waal to clarify the differences between humans and other animals, yielding a lively debate that will fascinate all those who wonder about the origins and reach of human goodness. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Wired to Care Dev Patnaik, 2009-01-09 In this essential and illuminating book, top business strategist Dev Patnaik tells the story of how organizations of all kinds prosper when they tap into a power each of us already has: empathy, the ability to reach outside of ourselves and connect with other people. When people inside a company develop a shared sense of what’s going on in the world, they see new opportunities faster than their competitors. They have the courage to take a risk on something new. And they have the gut-level certitude to stick with an idea that doesn’t take off right away. People are Wired to Care, and many of the world’s best organizations are, too. In pursuit of this idea, Patnaik takes readers inside big companies like IBM, Target, and Intel to see widespread empathy in action. But he also goes to farmers' markets and a conference on world religions. He dives deep into the catacombs of the human brain to find the biological sources of empathy. And he spends time on both sides of the political aisle, with James Carville, the Ragin’ Cajun, and John McCain, a national hero, to show how empathy can give you the acuity to cut through a morass of contradictory information. Wired to Care is a compelling tale of the power that people have to see the world through each other’s eyes, told with passion for the possibilities that lie ahead if leaders learn to stop worrying about their own problems and start caring about the world around them. As Patnaik notes, in addition to its considerable economic benefits, increasing empathy for the people you serve can have a personal impact, as well: It just might help you to have a better day at work. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Age of Empathy Frans B. M. Waal, Frans de Waal, 2011-09-01 Drawing on a lifetime's experience of studying animals Frans de Waal has come to realise that animals survive by sharing, evolution has pre-programmed us to care for, and help, others. It seems that the harsh view of mankind offered by Social Darwninism is not a view supported by contemporary science. Social behaviour in animals, the herding instinct, bonding rituals, expressions of consolation, even conflict resolution, demonstrates that animals are designed to feel for each other (humanity's natural condition is also to be group animals). From chimpanzees caring for mates that have been wounded by leopards, elephants reassuring youngsters in distress to dolphins preventing sick companions from drowning the animal kingdom has many examples of altruism. Can studying the role of empathy in evolution among animals help to build a just society based on the more generous elements of human nature? |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Empathy: Emotional, Ethical and Epistemological Narratives Ricardo Gutiérrez Aguilar, 2019-06-07 Empathy is sometimes –for unfathomable reasons– a surprisingly evasive emotion. It is indeed a problem open to discussion. It can be particularly problematic since, for one thing, it is in appearance the emotion responsible for stitching together a shared experience with our common fellow. It is the emotion essential to bridging the gap between subjects – to making a community. Some answers in this volume have their place of reference in the welcoming chambers of Mansfield College, at the University of Oxford (UK). The Empathy Project held its third Global Meeting within the premises of ye olde constituent college at Mansfield Road from Thursday 14th to Saturday 16th of July 2016. This volume looks for the common ground between both the results of the conducted research and our experiences: Digital Media ideas on the subject worked just fine elbow to elbow with those proposed by fields like Nursing or Health and Social Care; and Psychiatry, Psychology and Philosophy got along quite well with the lines of inquiry of Education, Literature and Dramatic Performance. Contributors are Victoria Aizkalna, Rosa Elena Belvedresi, Giovanna Costantini, Ricardo Gutiérrez Aguilar, Irina Ionita, Nina Lex, Gerardo López Sastre, Barış Mete, Paulus Pimomo, Johannes Rohbeck, Judy Rollins, Josefa Ros Velasco and Christopher J. Staley. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Mirroring People Marco Iacoboni, 2009-06-23 What accounts for the remarkable ability to get inside another person's head—to know what they're thinking and feeling? Mind reading is the very heart of what it means to be human, creating a bridge between self and others that is fundamental to the development of culture and society. But until recently, scientists didn't understand what in the brain makes it possible. This has all changed in the last decade. Marco Iacoboni, a leading neuroscientist whose work has been covered in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal, explains the groundbreaking research into mirror neurons, the smart cells in our brain that allow us to understand others. From imitation to morality, from learning to addiction, from political affiliations to consumer choices, mirror neurons seem to have properties that are relevant to all these aspects of social cognition. As The New York Times reports: The discovery is shaking up numerous scientific disciplines, shifting the understanding of culture, empathy, philosophy, language, imitation, autism and psychotherapy. Mirroring People is the first book for the general reader on this revolutionary new science. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Shadow of the Empire Qiu Xiaolong, 2022-01-01 'Brilliant' –Publishers Weekly Starred Review The legendary Judge Dee Renjie investigates a high-profile murder case in this intriguing companion novel to Inspector Chen and the Private Kitchen Murder set in seventh-century China. Judge Dee Renjie, Empress Wu's newly appointed Imperial Circuit Supervisor for the Tang Empire, is visiting provinces surrounding the grand capital of Chang'an. One night a knife is thrown through his window with a cryptic note attached: 'A high-flying dragon will have something to regret!' Minutes after the ominous warning appears, Judge Dee is approached by an emissary of Internal Minister Wu, Empress Wu's nephew. Minister Wu wants Judge Dee to investigate a high-profile murder supposedly committed by the well-known poetess and courtesan, Xuanji, who locals believe is possessed by the spirit of a black fox. Why is Minister Wu interested in Xuanji? Despite Xuanji confessing to the murder, is there more to the case than first appears? With the mysterious warning and a fierce power struggle playing out at the imperial court, Judge Dee knows he must tread carefully . . . |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Gap Thomas Suddendorf, 2013-11-12 There exists an undeniable chasm between the capacities of humans and those of animals. Our minds have spawned civilizations and technologies that have changed the face of the Earth, whereas even our closest animal relatives sit unobtrusively in their dwindling habitats. Yet despite longstanding debates, the nature of this apparent gap has remained unclear. What exactly is the difference between our minds and theirs? In The Gap, psychologist Thomas Suddendorf provides a definitive account of the mental qualities that separate humans from other animals, as well as how these differences arose. Drawing on two decades of research on apes, children, and human evolution, he surveys the abilities most often cited as uniquely human -- language, intelligence, morality, culture, theory of mind, and mental time travel -- and finds that two traits account for most of the ways in which our minds appear so distinct: Namely, our open-ended ability to imagine and reflect on scenarios, and our insatiable drive to link our minds together. These two traits explain how our species was able to amplify qualities that we inherited in parallel with our animal counterparts; transforming animal communication into language, memory into mental time travel, sociality into mind reading, problem solving into abstract reasoning, traditions into culture, and empathy into morality. Suddendorf concludes with the provocative suggestion that our unrivalled status may be our own creation -- and that the gap is growing wider not so much because we are becoming smarter but because we are killing off our closest intelligent animal relatives. Weaving together the latest findings in animal behavior, child development, anthropology, psychology, and neuroscience, this book will change the way we think about our place in nature. A major argument for reconsidering what makes us human, The Gap is essential reading for anyone interested in our evolutionary origins and our relationship with the rest of the animal kingdom. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: On Being Moved Stein Bråten, 2007-01-01 In this collective volume the origins, neurosocial support, and therapeutic implications of (pre)verbal intersubjectivity are examined with a focus on implications of the discovery of mirror neurons. Entailing a paradigmatic revolution in the intersection of developmental, social and neural sciences, two radical turnabouts are entailed. First, no longer can be upheld as valid Cartesian and Leibnizian assumptions about monadic subjects with disembodied minds without windows to each other except as mediated by culture. Supported by a mirror system, specified in this volume by some of the discoverers, modes of participant perception have now been identified which entail embodied simulation and co-movements with others in felt immediacy. Second, no longer can be retained the Piagetian attribution of infant egocentricity. Pioneers who have broken new research grounds in the study of newborns, protoconversation, and early speech perception document in the present volume infant capacity for interpersonal communion, empathic identification, and learning by altercentric participation. Pertinent new findings and results are presented on these topics: (i) Origins and multiple layers of intersubjectivity and empathy (ii) Neurosocial support of (pre)verbal intersubjectivity, participant perception, and simulation of mind (iii) From preverbal sharing and early speech perception to meaning acquisition and verbal intersubjectivity (iv) New windows on other-centred movements and moments of meeting in therapy and intervention. (Series B) |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Realizing Empathy Seung Chan Lim, 2013 Realizing Empathy: An Inquiry Into the Meaning of Making, is a book that analyzes and reflects on the author's embodied exploration into the disciplines of craft as well as the visual and performing arts, to tell the story of how realizing empathy is the heart of the creative process we call 'making.' Through this exploration, the author also blends together his experiences in computer science and human-centered design to investigate both the ethics of our relationship to computer technology as well as the necessary and sufficient conditions required for facilitating empathic conversations in our human-to-human as well as human-to-machine interactions. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Empathy Jean Decety, 2014-01-10 Recent work on empathy theory, research, and applications, by scholars from disciplines ranging from neuroscience to psychoanalysis. There are many reasons for scholars to investigate empathy. Empathy plays a crucial role in human social interaction at all stages of life; it is thought to help motivate positive social behavior, inhibit aggression, and provide the affective and motivational bases for moral development; it is a necessary component of psychotherapy and patient-physician interactions. This volume covers a wide range of topics in empathy theory, research, and applications, helping to integrate perspectives as varied as anthropology and neuroscience. The contributors discuss the evolution of empathy within the mammalian brain and the development of empathy in infants and children; the relationships among empathy, social behavior, compassion, and altruism; the neural underpinnings of empathy; cognitive versus emotional empathy in clinical practice; and the cost of empathy. Taken together, the contributions significantly broaden the interdisciplinary scope of empathy studies, reporting on current knowledge of the evolutionary, social, developmental, cognitive, and neurobiological aspects of empathy and linking this capacity to human communication, including in clinical practice and medical education. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Language of Animals Stephen Hart, 2014-09-16 Kanzi the chimp, Koko the ape, singing whales, trumpeting elephants, and dolphins trained for naval service--all of them make the news each year. Members of these species learn to communicate both with their voices and with body language, and without the signals they develop, each would be an island, unable to survive on Earth. How much do we know about how animals communicate with each other or with humans? Scientific American Focus: The Language of Animals examines the sometimes subtle differences between the nature of communication and what we call language or intelligence. We explore how scientists study animal communication, and we learn about various species and their ways of talking and passing on their own cultural patterns. From dancing bees and chirping crickets to schooling fish and flocking birds; from birdsong to whale song to the language of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom--the chimpanzees--these overviews of thoroughly detailed case studies are a window to understanding the constant chatter and movement of the animal kingdom. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Just Babies Paul Bloom, 2014-11-11 A leading cognitive scientist argues that a deep sense of good and evil is bred in the bone. From John Locke to Sigmund Freud, philosophers and psychologists have long believed that we begin life as blank moral slates. Many of us take for granted that babies are born selfish and that it is the role of society—and especially parents—to transform them from little sociopaths into civilized beings. In Just Babies, Paul Bloom argues that humans are in fact hardwired with a sense of morality. Drawing on groundbreaking research at Yale, Bloom demonstrates that, even before they can speak or walk, babies judge the goodness and badness of others’ actions; feel empathy and compassion; act to soothe those in distress; and have a rudimentary sense of justice. Still, this innate morality is limited, sometimes tragically. We are naturally hostile to strangers, prone to parochialism and bigotry. Bringing together insights from psychology, behavioral economics, evolutionary biology, and philosophy, Bloom explores how we have come to surpass these limitations. Along the way, he examines the morality of chimpanzees, violent psychopaths, religious extremists, and Ivy League professors, and explores our often puzzling moral feelings about sex, politics, religion, and race. In his analysis of the morality of children and adults, Bloom rejects the fashionable view that our moral decisions are driven mainly by gut feelings and unconscious biases. Just as reason has driven our great scientific discoveries, he argues, it is reason and deliberation that makes possible our moral discoveries, such as the wrongness of slavery. Ultimately, it is through our imagination, our compassion, and our uniquely human capacity for rational thought that we can transcend the primitive sense of morality we were born with, becoming more than just babies. Paul Bloom has a gift for bringing abstract ideas to life, moving seamlessly from Darwin, Herodotus, and Adam Smith to The Princess Bride, Hannibal Lecter, and Louis C.K. Vivid, witty, and intellectually probing, Just Babies offers a radical new perspective on our moral lives. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: My Family Album Frans B. M. Waal, 2003 The author of Chimpanzee Politics and Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape captures the social interactions of apes, focusing on the subtle gestures of chimps, bonobos, capuchin, baboons, and macaques as they interact within their groups. 10,000 first printing. (Biology & Natural History) |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Bonobo Frans B. M. de Waal, Frans Lanting, 2023-11-10 This remarkable primate with the curious name is challenging established views on human evolution. The bonobo, least known of the great apes, is a female-centered, egalitarian species that has been dubbed the make-love-not-war primate by specialists. In bonobo society, females form alliances to intimidate males, sexual behavior (in virtually every partner combination) replaces aggression and serves many social functions, and unrelated groups mingle instead of fighting. The species's most striking achievement is not tool use or warfare but sensitivity to others. In the first book to combine and compare data from captivity and the field, Frans de Waal, a world-renowned primatologist, and Frans Lanting, an internationally acclaimed wildlife photographer, present the most up-to-date perspective available on the bonobo. Focusing on social organization, de Waal compares the bonobo with its better-known relative, the chimpanzee. The bonobo's relatively nonviolent behavior and the tendency for females to dominate males confront the evolutionary models derived from observing the chimpanzee's male power politics, cooperative hunting, and intergroup warfare. Further, the bonobo's frequent, imaginative sexual contacts, along with its low reproduction rate, belie any notion that the sole natural purpose of sex is procreation. Humans share over 98 percent of their genetic material with the bonobo and the chimpanzee. Is it possible that the peaceable bonobo has retained traits of our common ancestor that we find hard to recognize in ourselves? Eight superb full-color photo essays offer a rare view of the bonobo in its native habitat in the rain forests of Zaire as well as in zoos and research facilities. Additional photographs and highlighted interviews with leading bonobo experts complement the text. This book points the way to viable alternatives to male-based models of human evolution and will add considerably to debates on the origin of our species. Anyone interested in primates, gender issues, evolutionary psychology, and exceptional wildlife photography will find a fascinating companion in Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Empathy Imperiled gary olson, 2012-12-12 The most critical factor explaining the disjuncture between empathy’s revolutionary potential and today’s empathically-impaired society is the interaction between the brain and our dominant political culture. The evolutionary process has given rise to a hard-wired neural system in the primal brain and particularly in the human brain. This book argues that the crucial missing piece in this conversation is the failure to identify and explain the dynamic relationship between an empathy gap and the hegemonic influence of neoliberal capitalism, through the analysis of the college classroom, the neoliberal state, media, film and photo images, marketing of products, militarization, mass culture and government policy. This book will contribute to an empirically grounded dissent from capitalism’s narrative about human nature. Empathy is putting oneself in another’s emotional and cognitive shoes and then acting in a deliberate, appropriate manner. Perhaps counter-intuitively, it requires self-empathy because we’re all products of an empathy-anesthetizing culture. The approach in this book affirms a scientific basis for acting with empathy, and it addresses how this can help inform us to our current political culture and process, and make its of interest to students and scholars in political science, psychology, and other social sciences. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Neuroscience of Empathy, Compassion, and Self-Compassion Larry Charles Stevens, C. Chad Woodruff, 2018-06-19 The Neuroscience of Empathy, Compassion, and Self-Compassion provides contemporary perspectives on the three related domains of empathy, compassion and self-compassion (ECS). It informs current research, stimulates further research endeavors, and encourages continued and creative philosophical and scientific inquiry into the critical societal constructs of ECS. Examining the growing number of electrocortical (EEG Power Spectral, Coherence, Evoked Potential, etc.) studies and the sizeable body of exciting neuroendocrine research (e.g., oxytocin, dopamine, etc.) that have accumulated over decades, this reference is a unique and comprehensive approach to empathy, compassion and self-compassion. - Provides perspectives on empathy, compassion and self-compassion (ECS), including discussions of cruelty, torture, killings, homicides, suicides, terrorism and other examples of empathy/compassion erosion - Addresses autonomic nervous system (vagal) reflections of ECS - Discusses recent findings and understanding of ECS from mirror neuron research - Covers neuroendocrine manifestations of ECS and self-compassion and the neuroendocrine enhancement - Examines the neuroscience research on the enhancement of ECS - Includes directed-meditations (mindfulness, mantra, Metta, etc.) and their effects on ECS and the brain |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Evolved Morality Patricia Smith Churchland, Telmo Pievani, Stefano Parmigiani, 2014-01 Morality is often defined in opposition to the natural instincts, or as a tool to keep those instincts in check. New findings in neuroscience, social psychology, animal behavior, and anthropology have brought us back to the original Darwinian position that moral behavior is continuous with the social behavior of animals, and most likely evolved to enhance the cooperativeness of society. In this view, morality is part of human nature rather than its opposite. This interdisciplinary volume debates the origin and working of human morality within the context of science as well as religion and philosophy. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Ape and the Sushi Master Frans B. M. Waal, 2001 Primatologist Frans de Waal explores human and primate culture in order to arrive at a better understanding of the roots of human behaviour. He examines whether animals learn from one another and have what he defines as culture. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Tree of Origin Frans B. M. de Waal, 2009-07-01 How did we become the linguistic, cultured, and hugely successful apes that we are? Our closest relatives--the other mentally complex and socially skilled primates--offer tantalizing clues. In Tree of Origin nine of the world's top primate experts read these clues and compose the most extensive picture to date of what the behavior of monkeys and apes can tell us about our own evolution as a species. It has been nearly fifteen years since a single volume addressed the issue of human evolution from a primate perspective, and in that time we have witnessed explosive growth in research on the subject. Tree of Origin gives us the latest news about bonobos, the make love not war apes who behave so dramatically unlike chimpanzees. We learn about the tool traditions and social customs that set each ape community apart. We see how DNA analysis is revolutionizing our understanding of paternity, intergroup migration, and reproductive success. And we confront intriguing discoveries about primate hunting behavior, politics, cognition, diet, and the evolution of language and intelligence that challenge claims of human uniqueness in new and subtle ways. Tree of Origin provides the clearest glimpse yet of the apelike ancestor who left the forest and began the long journey toward modern humanity. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Chemistry Between Us Larry Young PhD, Brian Alexander, 2012-09-13 How much control do we have over love? Much less than we like to think. All that mystery, all that poetry, all those complex behaviors surrounding human bonding leading to the most life-changing decisions we’ll ever make, are unconsciously driven by a few molecules in our brains. How does love begin? How can two strangers come to the conclusion that it would not only be pleasant to share their lives, but that they must share them? How can a man say he loves his wife, yet still cheat on her? Why do others stay in relationships even after the romance fades? How is it possible to fall in love with the “wrong” person? How do people come to have a “type”? Physical attraction, jealousy, infidelity, mother-infant bonding—all the behaviors that so often leave us befuddled—are now being teased out of the fog of mystery thanks to today’s social neuroscience. Larry Young, one of the world’s leading experts in the field, and journalist Brian Alexander explain how those findings apply to you. Drawing on real human stories and research from labs around the world, The Chemistry Between Us is a bold attempt to create a “grand unified theory” of love. Some of the mind-blowing insights include: Love can get such a grip on us because it is, literally, an addiction. To a woman falling in love, a man is like her baby. Why it’s false to say society makes gender, and how it’s possible to have the body of one gender and the brain of another. Why some people are more likely to cheat than others. Why we sometimes truly can’t resist temptation. Young and Alexander place their revelations into historical, political, and social contexts. In the process, they touch on everything from gay marriage to why single-mother households might not be good for society. The Chemistry Between Us offers powerful insights into love, sex, gender, sexual orientation, and family life that will prove to be enlightening, controversial, and thought provoking. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Every Creature Has a Story Janaki Lenin, 2020-07-27 We are surrounded by an astounding variety of lifeforms. Over millennia, they have evolved to exploit unique niches, in the process developing features and skills that set them apart.Have you ever wondered what price the giraffe pays for its long neck? The neck increases its blood pressure to pump blood up to its brain, which endangers its life every time it bends down to drink. Or have you thought about how female nightingales decide which male will share the burdens of parenthood with them? They listen to prospective candidates' songs to gauge if they'd make good fathers. And did you know that glassfrogs pee on their eggs and the gender of bearded dragons is fixed by sex chromosomes or temperature?In Every Creature Has a Story, Janaki Lenin draws us towards the wonders of the natural world in evocative and witty words. She uncovers the surprising, sometimes bizarre but always amazing ways in which creatures breed and survive, from spiders salivating during sex and snails entombing their parasites into their shells to elephants developing immunity to cancer. After reading this book, you'll never look at nature in the same way again. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Perils of Perception Bobby Duffy, 2019-09 A ground-breaking exploration of our ignorance - informed by several exclusive studies across over 40 countries. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: The Book of Barely Imagined Beings Caspar Henderson, 2013-04-10 From medieval bestiaries to Borges’s Book of Imaginary Beings, we’ve long been enchanted by extraordinary animals, be they terrifying three-headed dogs or asps impervious to a snake charmer’s song. But bestiaries are more than just zany zoology—they are artful attempts to convey broader beliefs about human beings and the natural order. Today, we no longer fear sea monsters or banshees. But from the infamous honey badger to the giant squid, animals continue to captivate us with the things they can do and the things they cannot, what we know about them and what we don’t. With The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, Caspar Henderson offers readers a fascinating, beautifully produced modern-day menagerie. But whereas medieval bestiaries were often based on folklore and myth, the creatures that abound in Henderson’s book—from the axolotl to the zebrafish—are, with one exception, very much with us, albeit sometimes in depleted numbers. The Book of Barely Imagined Beings transports readers to a world of real creatures that seem as if they should be made up—that are somehow more astonishing than anything we might have imagined. The yeti crab, for example, uses its furry claws to farm the bacteria on which it feeds. The waterbear, meanwhile, is among nature’s “extreme survivors,” able to withstand a week unprotected in outer space. These and other strange and surprising species invite readers to reflect on what we value—or fail to value—and what we might change. A powerful combination of wit, cutting-edge natural history, and philosophical meditation, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings is an infectious and inspiring celebration of the sheer ingenuity and variety of life in a time of crisis and change. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Tickets for the Ark Rebecca Nesbit, 2022-02-17 A NEW SCIENTIST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 'A fascinating read for anyone interested in the future of the planet' Adam Hart, author and BBC science presenter Our planet hasn't seen the current rate of extinction since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, and global conservation efforts are failing to halt this. As a society, we face choices which will determine the fate of Earth's estimated 8.7 million species, including humans. As wildlife declines, conservation needs to make trade-offs. But what should we conserve and why? Are we wrong to love bees and hate wasps? Are native species more valuable than newcomers (aka invasives)? Should some animals be culled to protect others, and what do we want the 'natural world' to look like? There are many surprising answers in Rebecca Nesbit's lively, stimulating book, which sows the seeds of a debate we urgently need to have. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: How Humans Evolved Robert Boyd, Joan B. Silk, 2017-12 The most complete introduction to the science of human evolution.With a signature blend of evolutionary theory, population genetics, and behavioral ecology, How Humans Evolved teaches the science and history behind human evolution. Thoroughly updated with coverage of recent research and new discoveries, the Eighth Edition offers the most visual, dynamic, and effective learning tools in its field. The Eighth Edition also includes an expanded suite of animations that help students better visualize and understand tricky concepts, as well as real-world videos and InQuizitive adaptive learning. |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Hybrid Humans Harry Parker, 2022-02-17 *SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 BARBELLION PRIZE* As heard on BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week As seen on Sky Arts Book Club with Elizabeth Day and Andi Oliver An eye-opening account of disability, identity, and how robotics and AI are altering our understanding of what it means to be human - from the bestselling author of Anatomy of a Soldier Harry Parker's life changed overnight, when he lost his legs to an IED in Afghanistan. That took him into an often surprising landscape of a very human kind of hacking, and he wondered, are all humans becoming hybrids? Parker introduces us to the exhilarating breadth of human invention - and intervention. Grappling with his own new identity and disability, he discovers the latest robotics, tech and implants that might lead us to powerful, liberating possibilities for what a body can be. 'I loved Hybrid Humans. A way of looking at the future without nostalgia for the past' - Jeanette Winterson |
| frans de waal the age of empathy: Wild Justice Marc Bekoff, Jessica Pierce, 2009-08-01 Scientists have long counseled against interpreting animal behavior in terms of human emotions, warning that such anthropomorphizing limits our ability to understand animals as they really are. Yet what are we to make of a female gorilla in a German zoo who spent days mourning the death of her baby? Or a wild female elephant who cared for a younger one after she was injured by a rambunctious teenage male? Or a rat who refused to push a lever for food when he saw that doing so caused another rat to be shocked? Aren’t these clear signs that animals have recognizable emotions and moral intelligence? With Wild Justice Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce unequivocally answer yes. Marrying years of behavioral and cognitive research with compelling and moving anecdotes, Bekoff and Pierce reveal that animals exhibit a broad repertoire of moral behaviors, including fairness, empathy, trust, and reciprocity. Underlying these behaviors is a complex and nuanced range of emotions, backed by a high degree of intelligence and surprising behavioral flexibility. Animals, in short, are incredibly adept social beings, relying on rules of conduct to navigate intricate social networks that are essential to their survival. Ultimately, Bekoff and Pierce draw the astonishing conclusion that there is no moral gap between humans and other species: morality is an evolved trait that we unquestionably share with other social mammals. Sure to be controversial, Wild Justice offers not just cutting-edge science, but a provocative call to rethink our relationship with—and our responsibilities toward—our fellow animals. |
The Age Of Empathy Frans De Waal - Piedmont University
Age of Empathy. Through a better understanding of empathy's survival value in evolution, de Waal suggests, we can work together toward a more just society based on a more generous and accurate view of human nature. Written in layman's prose
The Age of Empathy - Profile Books
Human empathy has the backing of a long evolutionary history—which is the second meaning of “age” in this book’s title. What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human …
Frans de Waal: The Age of Empathy: Nature’s Lessons for a
In this book, de Waal provides an extensive and well researched explanation that supports the effectiveness and power of dance/movement therapy from an ethological frame of reference. …
Empathy: Its ultimate and proximate bases - Emory University
also explain different levels of empathy across species and age groups. This view can advance our evolutionary understanding of empa-thy beyond inclusive fitness and reciprocal altruism …
Morality before Religion: Empathy, Fairness, and the
Modern psychology and neuroscience support the idea that morality evolved before humans developed religions. This lecture will review how empathy comes naturally to a great variety of …
The empathic ape - emory.edu
One of the greatest challenges of our time is to extend to strangers the empathy we feel for family and friends – to draw people in other countries or on other continents into our circle of …
III Evolutionary Roots of Empathy - Emory University
Decety—Empathy 6 Empathy in Primates and Other Mammals Frans B. M. de Waal Definitions of empathy commonly emphasize two aspects, which are the sharing of emotions and the …
Frans De Waal The Age Of Empathy [PDF]
The Age of Empathy Frans de Waal,2010-09-07 In this thought provoking book the acclaimed author of Our Inner Ape examines how empathy comes naturally to a great variety of animals …
ALSO BY FRANS DE WAAL - Archive.org
ALSOBYFRANSDEWAAL PrimatesandPhilosophers(2006) OurlnnerApe(2005) MyFamilyAlbum(2003) TheApeandtheSushiMaster(2001) Bonobo(1997) GoodNatured(1996 ...
Empathy: Its ultimate and proximate bases Stephanie D. Preston
between the development of empathy in young humans and the phylogenetic emergence of empathy (Hoffman 1990; de Waal 1996, respectively). These facts suggest that empathy is a …
Putting the Altruism Back into Altruism: The Evolution of Empathy
Preston & de Waal (2002a). After this, we explore the relation between empathy and altruism. A major question is whether evolution is likely to have selected empathy as prox-imate …
Frans De Waal The Age Of Empathy (2024) - fmsc.agenciaw3.digital
Within the pages of "Frans De Waal The Age Of Empathy," a mesmerizing literary creation penned by a celebrated wordsmith, readers set about an enlightening odyssey, unraveling the …
Frans De Waal The Age Of Empathy Full PDF
Table of Contents Frans De Waal The Age Of Empathy 1. Understanding the eBook Frans De Waal The Age Of Empathy The Rise of Digital Reading Frans De Waal The Age Of Empathy …
Frans De Waal The Age Of Empathy - tempsite.gov.ie
edition—featuring a new gallery of color photographs along with a new introduction and epilogue—de Waal expands and updates his story of the Arnhem colony and its continuing …
Compassion and Ethics - Emory University
In his recent book The Age of Empathy, primatologist Frans de Waal surveys a growing body of empirical evidence to argue that our common perception of evolution as a Machiavellian or …
Summary of “The Age of Empathy” - cdn.bookey.app
Frans de Waal is a renowned Dutch psychologist, zoologist, and ecologist. He is the Charles Howard Candler professor of Primate Behavior at Emory University. In 1993, he became a …
The age of empathy natures lessons for a kinder society frans de …
Identifying the age of empathy natures lessons for a kinder society frans de waal Exploring Different Genres Considering Fiction vs. Non-Fiction Determining Your Reading Goals 7.
Empathy’s purity, sympathy’s complexities; De Waal
Frans de Waal’s view that empathy is at the basis of morality directly seems to build on Darwin, who considered sympathy as the crucial instinct. Yet when we look closer, their...
The Antiquity of Empathy Frans B. M. de Waal Science 336, 874 …
Animal empathy is best regarded as a multilayered phenomenon, built around motor mirroring and shared neural representations at basal levels, that develops into more advanced cognitive …
THE FOUR LEVELS OF EMPATHY - University of Michigan
To whet the appetite for the existence of empathy in apes, consider the following anecdotal example from de Waal’s (1997b) Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape: “Kidogo, a twenty-one year old …
The Age Of Empathy Frans De Waal - Piedmont University
Age of Empathy. Through a better understanding of empathy's survival …
The Age of Empathy - Profile Books
Human empathy has the backing of a long evolutionary history—which is …
Frans de Waal: The Age of Empathy: Nature’s Lessons f…
In this book, de Waal provides an extensive and well researched …
Empathy: Its ultimate and proximate bases - Emory Uni…
also explain different levels of empathy across species and age groups. This …
Morality before Religion: Empathy, Fairness, and the
Modern psychology and neuroscience support the idea that morality …
