Questioning Human Nature

Examining the conscious and unconscious emotional forces that drive us, Questioning Human Nature offers new insights into human interactions and the challenges we face in an increasingly turbulent world.

Our time is marked by looming global crises: war, climate change, pandemics, migration, poverty, and hunger. Thanks to the extraordinary development of the human forebrain, we possess remarkable cognitive abilities--skills, achievements, and seemingly unlimited capacities for problem-solving and creative thinking. And yet, these unprecedented scientific advances have not prevented wars, aggression, or social inequality. Humanity appears unable to learn from the lessons of its own history. Why do abuses and conflicts keep recurring? In this book, the authors explore this fundamental question through an interdisciplinary lens. While the rational brain has made extraordinary progress, the emotional brain has evolved far less and continues to shape human behavior--particularly in relation to aggression, violence, and destructiveness.