Eduardo Santiago reviewed The moral animal by Robert Wright
Review of 'The moral animal' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I can see how this was groundbreaking for its time. But reading it in 2013, after [b:Sperm Wars|852616|Sperm Wars The Science Of Sex|Robin Baker|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1178910909s/852616.jpg|190619] and [b:Sex at Dawn|7640261|Sex at Dawn The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality|Christopher Ryan|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1291105594s/7640261.jpg|10168576] and [b:Mothers and Others|6251387|Mothers and Others The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding |Sarah Blaffer Hrdy|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347821755s/6251387.jpg|6434265] and epigenetics and everything by [a:Sapolsky|6672587|Robert Sapolsky|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg], it's hard not to feel frustrated by everything that’s missing or incomplete or even wrong — but such is Science. We’ve learned much in the last 20 years, and Wright is directly responsible for much of that... so I offer a sincere and humble thank-you. With reservations.
If you’ve been paying attention you already know most of what's in here, and more. So read it as you would [b:The Origin of Species|22463|The Origin of Species|Charles Darwin|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1298417570s/22463.jpg|481941]: for historical perspective, for the pleasure of flashing back to a time when this knowledge …
I can see how this was groundbreaking for its time. But reading it in 2013, after [b:Sperm Wars|852616|Sperm Wars The Science Of Sex|Robin Baker|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1178910909s/852616.jpg|190619] and [b:Sex at Dawn|7640261|Sex at Dawn The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality|Christopher Ryan|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1291105594s/7640261.jpg|10168576] and [b:Mothers and Others|6251387|Mothers and Others The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding |Sarah Blaffer Hrdy|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347821755s/6251387.jpg|6434265] and epigenetics and everything by [a:Sapolsky|6672587|Robert Sapolsky|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg], it's hard not to feel frustrated by everything that’s missing or incomplete or even wrong — but such is Science. We’ve learned much in the last 20 years, and Wright is directly responsible for much of that... so I offer a sincere and humble thank-you. With reservations.
If you’ve been paying attention you already know most of what's in here, and more. So read it as you would [b:The Origin of Species|22463|The Origin of Species|Charles Darwin|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1298417570s/22463.jpg|481941]: for historical perspective, for the pleasure of flashing back to a time when this knowledge was new.
If you’re new to this material, proceed with caution. Wright fails to draw a clear distinction between pre- and post-agricultural societies, forgetting that the latter is a recent but drastic aberration from our evolutionary roots. This taints some of his assumptions and arguments about family life and morality. Understandably so, but still, there is much newer knowledge out there: you might want to start with newer material such as the ones in the first paragraph.