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Snakes, Sunrises, and Shakespeare (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R929
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Snakes, Sunrises, and Shakespeare (Hardcover)
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Our breath catches and we jump in fear at the sight of a snake. We
pause and marvel at the sublime beauty of a sunrise. These
reactions are no accident; in fact, many of our human responses to
nature are steeped in our deep evolutionary past - we fear snakes
because of the danger of venom or constriction, and we welcome the
assurances of the sunrise as the predatory dangers of the dark
night disappear. Many of our aesthetic preferences - from the kinds
of gardens we build to the foods we enjoy and the entertainment we
seek - are the lingering result of natural selection. In this
ambitious and unusual work, evolutionary biologist Gordon H. Orians
explores the role of evolution in human responses to the
environment, beginning with why we have emotions and ending with
evolutionary approaches to aesthetics. Orians reveals how our
emotional lives today are shaped by decisions our ancestors made
centuries ago on African savannas. During this time our likes and
dislikes became wired in our brains, as the appropriate responses
to the environment meant the difference between survival or death.
His rich analysis explains why we mimic the tropical savannas of
our ancestors in our parks and gardens, why we are simultaneously
attracted to danger and approach it cautiously, and how paying
close attention to nature's sounds has resulted in us being an
unusually musical species. We also learn why we have developed
discriminating palates for wine, why we have strong reactions to
some odors, and why we enjoy classifying almost everything. By
applying biological perspectives ranging from Darwin to current
neuroscience to analyses of our aesthetic preferences for
landscapes, sounds, smells, plants, and animals, Snakes, Sunrises,
and Shakespeare transforms how we view our experience of the
natural world and how we relate to each other.
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