The Bridge to Humanity: How Affect Hunger Trumps the Selfish Gene [Paperback]

The Bridge to Humanity: How Affect Hunger Trumps the Selfish Geneexplores the relationship of biology and culture in the evolution of human behavior. Building upon several of the theoretical issues he first addressed inMan's Way, renowned anthropologist Walter Goldschmidt presents a unique look at how human culture functions through biological mechanisms that have evolved from our distant past.
Affect hunger --the need for affective expressions from others--underlies nurturance and mutuality. Goldschmidt contends that affect hunger--in combination with other factors unique to the human species--in effect trumps the selfish gene and is therefore theessential missing keyto understanding human behavior. Employing discussions of primate behavior, ethnographies, cognitive studies, psychological research, and hormonal and neurological studies, he demonstrates how affect hunger not only provides a reward system for learning language and other cultural information, but also remains a motive for social behavior throughout life. Transforming the debate on natureversusculture to one on natureandculture,The Bridge to Humanityprovides a fresh perspective on the ways that biology and culture fit together. Indeed, in this book Goldschmidt reinterprets anthropological knowledge, profoundly affecting all students concerned with human behavior and reaching far beyond the discipline's borders.

Preface
Chapter 1. Nature and Nurture
The Confrontation and Its Background
Public Interest in the Issue
Toward a Resolution of the Conflict
Chapter 2. Heritage from the Distant Past
The Issue of the Selfish Gene
Fundamental Elements for Humanity
Learning
Our Ancient Heritage
Chapter 3. Tools for the Transition
The Evolutionary Gamble
The Relevance of Human Speech to Tool-Making
On the Origin of Language
Language and the Brain