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Wired for Culture: The Natural History of Human Cooperation Hardcover – 1 Mar 2012

by Mark Pagel (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars 75 customer reviews
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Allen Lane (1 Mar. 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1846140153
  • ISBN-13: 978-1846140150
  • Product Dimensions: 16.2 x 3.8 x 24 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 692,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

Selected by the Guardian as a literary highlight for 2012 (Guardian)

Gorgeously written, elegantly argued, Pagel demonstrates that genes are only a small part of the human success story; minds and culture are the larger part. A compelling read that allows us to appreciate everything around us with fresh eyes (David Eagleman, author of Tales of the Afterlives and Incognito)

An intriguing combination of information...with an optimistic prediction of a future global society in which inventiveness and cooperation prevail (Kirkus Reviews)

Pagel does an excellent job of using evolutionary biology to discuss the origins of religion, music, and art, and the readson why, cross-culturally, we generally share a sense of morality (Starred Review Publishers Weekly)

The clarity of Pagel's absorbing account is enhanced by the fact that he looks at everything through the one lens: evolution. [Wired for Culture is] Impressive for its detail, accuracy and vivacity (Guardian)

Human evolution may be the hottest area in popular science writing, ahead even of books about cosmology and the brain. Within this crowded field, Mark Pagel's Wired for Culture stands out for both its sweeping erudition and its accessibility to the non-specialist reader (Clive Cookson Financial Times)

A remarkable and beautifully written book (Matt Ridley The Wall Street Journal)

It's a clear and convincing read, and it wouldn't look out of place alongside Pinker and Dawkins (Tom Chivers Telegraph)

About the Author

Mark Pagel is head of the Evolution Laboratory in the Division of Zoology, School of Biological Sciences, at the University of Reading, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He is the editor-in-chief of the award winning Oxford Encyclopaedia of Evolution and co-author of The Comparative Method in Evolutionary Biology, which is regarded as a classic, as well as the author of a number of articles in Science, Nature, and other journals, and he has also been a contributor to numerous monographs. Statistical methods that Pagel has developed are used by researchers all over the world to study evolutionary trends across species.

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsFascinating book, could do with editing
By Mr. D. N. Sumption VINE VOICE on 9 Mar. 2012
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
In this book, Mark Pagel takes the reader on a journey in which he coherently (ish - see below) explains how evolution can account for all that is unique about human behaviour - from our incredible acts of altruism through to the destructive and petty acts of revenge we sometimes carry out. The key to this is that co-operation and learning (unique to human society) has allowed us to carry out far more complex tasks than we could ever do in small kinship groups; the resulting increased reproductive success means that genes which support co-operation will flourish. However, because we need to be reasonably certain that those we help will also help us in return, the same behaviour can be turned on its head if we encounter people whom we suspect do not share our co-operative values and the rituals we develop around them.

I am glad that I read this book from cover-to-cover, but that was very nearly not the case: it is (as others have stated) over-long, and Pagel often tries to prove his point by heaping anecdote upon anecdote and hoping that the resulting pile of words will be enough to convince the reader. This seems especially the case towards the beginning of the book, and it is a shame: if the author could make his points more gracefully and succinctly then this book would have far wider appeal. I was also nonplussed that Pagel frequently makes strong assertions without giving any indication of what evidence he is using to back these up (for a science book, there is a noticeable lack of science here); he also repeatedly speaks of small societies and tribal groups as "unrelated", without ever explaining what he means by this (surely as homo sapiens, all members of a group will be related, and one suspects that any small tribe living tens-of-thousands of years ago would show a fair amount of shared genes between its members).
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4.0 out of 5 starsWired for culture...heavy but worth it.
By Jago Wells VINE VOICE on 25 Feb. 2012
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
Mark Pagel's weighty tome is not something to dip into as a bit of light holiday reading. The author's account of just what it is which seperates the human mammal from his animal variants is an extensive and wide ranging study of the evolution of culture within our species.
The author posits that the development of 'culture' is based on cooperation and to a certain extent,mimicry. Within human society we have developed over 7000 languages which apparently is more than the number of species of mammal. The fast development of distinct and unique cultures within these language and ethnic bases are,the author suggests, based on the idea that to cooperate in a mutual way is ultimately beneficial to the individual. By surrendering one's individual goals to achieve a greater good for the majority will ultimately benefit the individual. Basically...united we stand...divided we fall. In this the author focuses on areas such as warfare and political alliances where cooperation is the name of the game.
Fascinating and thoroughly researched.
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4.0 out of 5 starsA great idea rendered as an enjoyable read.
By Apollo 11 VINE VOICE on 26 April 2012
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
A really great read. And if that sounds like a lame comment, just bear in mind the subject matter. All too often these mainstream, well marketed polemical tomes are great as ideas, but once bought, soon become like chewing through dangerously sticky toffee: a bit of a gooey challenge. Not Wired For Culture. This is a really enjoyable book, and a high-scorer for its accessibility. Yes, it's got some interesting, unique ideas to discuss, but it's all done via a thoroughly engaging voice. And, what's more, within the first few pages you'll be looking at the world around you differently. Which is no bad thing.

Wired For Culture is, as the title hints, about the increasingly complex and inter-reliant relationship of man and culture. It's an interesting idea: what came first, the new-born baby who will think culture into action; or the amorphous presence of a thing called culture, which will define that baby's personality, behaviour, opinions, and ultimately guide it through its life?

In the prologue, Pagel compares culture to a virus: an independent entity which latches onto us in order to survive; using people as carriers, allowing it to move on to 'infect' greater numbers of hosts. And if culture has become so crucial to our surviving/navigating/evolving society, were we always physiologically programmed to accept culture? Or, has culture, over time, changed us - refashioned us to accept it more simply?

Broken down into four specific parts, Pagel seeks to explore what culture is and how it came to be; what it demands of us; how those demands are met; and how (and indeed, whether) culture is a necessary part of our continued existence as a species.Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsHints at a more tantalising discussion?
By Duncurin VINE VOICE on 18 Mar. 2012
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
Good read, but, sadly, not a great one. This is a shame as I realise the author knows masses about his subject: but for a just a few times too many; the thread of discussion veered from brilliance to run of the mill with examples and narrative that seemed obvious and common sense. I thought that Chapter 4 was worthy of the author's undoubted prowess and the example of the monkeys reaching for the banana, spellbinding but badly let down by the one about the squaddies beating up their commanding officer! (I wondered if this was a tale they like to tell on a boring afternoon when talking to a receptive audience !) One other tiny point is that I am pretty sure that Malaria remains our number 1 killer not AIDS.

I wonder if my frustration with the book is hinted at by the short discussion on page 244 as I think that is where the thread needs to travel in order to make this book more tantalising and I would have liked to have seen more about our future 'genetic pathway'. So to this end:

Despite our evolutionary triumph and success of the human model - we are all no happier. As the author hinted - perhaps natural selection does not maximise wellbeing.
In addition to an epidemic of depression I wonder if we face one of obesity, diabetes and failing health. I tell my patients that we were built to run and catch our breakfast not pull it from a fridge and that our stomachs were designed to run just a little hungry.
Similarly with sitting for hours behind our steering wheels, our desks with objects just a few feet away - what will this do to our bodies and to our health and to our eyesight when we have long since forgotten what it was like to stare at those distant mountains.
I see hundreds of patients who spend their lives living on benefit, just as their parents did.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsInteresting

I found this a fascinating introduction to Anthropology, I'm not sure myself how much the underlying thesis is regarded etc. Read more

Published 16 days ago by JoMaynard
5.0 out of 5 starsPagel writes beautifully and every page is full of revelations

I breath taking perspective of the rise of culture in humans. Pagel writes beautifully and every page is full of revelations. Indeed every page could be the topic a book itself.

Published 10 months ago by Dr. K. Patel
5.0 out of 5 starsoutstanding social insights

HighLy original and thought provoking

Published 15 months ago by Ms C Whitfield
4.0 out of 5 starsInteresting though sometimes confusing

Interesting but also somewhat confusing

There is a lot of of information to read in this book. Read more

Published 19 months ago by elsie purdon
3.0 out of 5 starsInsightful but dense

This is a complex book that requires serious investment of time. Mark Pagel aims to cover multiple topics in Wired For Culture, not least our own evolutionary psychology, why we're... Read more

Published 19 months ago by R. A. Mansfield
2.0 out of 5 starsNot for me

Oops.
This book was really not for me.
I did not find it stimulating or interesting.
I don't think the book really backs up some of the content very well and I was... Read more

Published 20 months ago by chipfat
4.0 out of 5 starsAn interesting book

I suspect my standards for books of this type are slightly different than some others. I’m not particularly bothered about whether I agree with the thesis or not; I simply want... Read more

Published 20 months ago by John E. Davidson
2.0 out of 5 starsbut this is not what I want from a book like this.

The blurb on the front of this book claims that it is 'remarkable' and 'beautifully written'...I haven't read much specifically on this topic, but my previous readings in... Read more

Published 22 months ago by Raymond Hill
4.0 out of 5 starsInsightful and mind-bending

Pagel's exploration of culture and how it has engendered not just our survival but our flourishing is astonishing and thought-provoking. Read more

Published on 23 Oct. 2014 by Dinky
4.0 out of 5 starsReadable discussion of the key role of evolution, human development...

Brilliantly readable and wide ranging book which argues that cooperation amongst humans around a ‘culture’ is key to human development. Read more

Published on 20 Aug. 2014 by Dr. Paul Ell

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