authors:
- Christakis, Nicholas A
content: The author argues that we, the species Homo sapiens, has a "social suite"
  of features, including love, friendship, sociality, mild hierarchy, cooperation
  and social learning, based on our genetic legacy. The message is that all humans
  share these important properties, and that this universal heritage should be given
  more focus. The problem is that this positive view of humanity doesn't explain why
  we are also prone to forming oppressive societies and cultures, and why we wage
  war. Indeed, the author acknowledges, in the last few pages of the book, that his
  description has a "sociodicy" problem, analogous to the theodicy problem of religions
  that posit a benevolent god who somehow allows evil in the world. Christakis does
  not resolve the problem. But the book has many qualities, giving good summaries
  of much recent scientific work in a number of fields. It is a good read. I plan
  to write about the book elsewhere, so I will not to into more detail here.
date: '2019-08-01'
edition:
  published: '2019'
  publisher: Little, Brown Spark
goodreads: '40696923'
html: '<p>The author argues that we, the species Homo sapiens, has a &quot;social
  suite&quot; of features, including love, friendship, sociality, mild hierarchy,
  cooperation and social learning, based on our genetic legacy. The message is that
  all humans share these important properties, and that this universal heritage should
  be given more focus. The problem is that this positive view of humanity doesn''t
  explain why we are also prone to forming oppressive societies and cultures, and
  why we wage war. Indeed, the author acknowledges, in the last few pages of the book,
  that his description has a &quot;sociodicy&quot; problem, analogous to the theodicy
  problem of religions that posit a benevolent god who somehow allows evil in the
  world. Christakis does not resolve the problem. But the book has many qualities,
  giving good summaries of much recent scientific work in a number of fields. It is
  a good read. I plan to write about the book elsewhere, so I will not to into more
  detail here.</p>

  '
isbn: '9780316230032'
language: en
lastmod: '2019-08-01'
path: /library/christakis-2019.html
published: '2019'
rating: 4
reference: Christakis 2019
reviewed: '2019-08-01'
subjects:
- human-evolution
- liberalism
- morality
- political-philosophy
- science
title: 'Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society'
type: book
year: 2019