NHS Logo

Meaning of Life, Human Nature, and Delusions (Record no. 100915)

MARC details
000 -LEADER
fixed length control field 06357nam a22005175i 4500
001 - CONTROL NUMBER
control field 978-3-319-70401-2
003 - CONTROL NUMBER IDENTIFIER
control field DE-He213
005 - DATE AND TIME OF LATEST TRANSACTION
control field 20240729133918.0
007 - PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION FIXED FIELD--GENERAL INFORMATION
fixed length control field cr nn 008mamaa
008 - FIXED-LENGTH DATA ELEMENTS--GENERAL INFORMATION
fixed length control field 211214s2022 sz | s |||| 0|eng d
020 ## - INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BOOK NUMBER
ISBN 9783319704012
-- 978-3-319-70401-2
072 #7 - SUBJECT CATEGORY CODE
Subject category code PSA
Source bicssc
072 #7 - SUBJECT CATEGORY CODE
Subject category code SCI008000
Source bisacsh
072 #7 - SUBJECT CATEGORY CODE
Subject category code PSA
Source thema
100 1# - MAIN ENTRY--PERSONAL NAME
Personal author Diogo, Rui.
Relator term author.
Relator code aut
-- http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut
245 10 - TITLE STATEMENT
Title Meaning of Life, Human Nature, and Delusions
Subtitle : How Tales about Love, Sex, Races, Gods and Progress Affect Our Lives and Earth's Splendor /
250 ## - EDITION
Edition statement 1st ed. 2022.
264 #1 - PRODUCTION, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, MANUFACTURE, AND COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Place of production, publication, distribution, manufacture Cham :
Name of producer, publisher, distributor, manufacturer Springer International Publishing :
-- Imprint: Springer,
Date of production, publication, distribution, manufacture, or copyright notice 2022.
300 ## - PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Physical description XXI, 863 p. 120 illus., 79 illus. in color.
Other physical details online resource.
336 ## - CONTENT TYPE
Content type term text
Content type code txt
Source rdacontent
337 ## - MEDIA TYPE
Media type term computer
Media type code c
Source rdamedia
338 ## - CARRIER TYPE
Carrier type term online resource
Carrier type code cr
Source rdacarrier
505 0# - CONTENTS
Contents Preface -- 1. A brief history of the quest for purpose in life, from the Greeks to modern times, including Darwin -- 2. How did our tendency to ask why-questions and to search for final purposes and goals evolve? -- 3. How teleology impacts our daily lives, from quests on purpose in life to religion, conspiracy theories, romantic love and "meant to be" -- 4. How teleological stories are linked to racism, Freud's just-so-stories, eugenics, and the second world war -- 5. How teleological narratives and the notion of 'chain of being' are related to colonialism -- 6. How teleological plots and the notion of 'chain of being' are associated to animal abuse -- 7. It is much more than religion: idealism as a case study of a widespread teleological narrative -- 8. Don't ask why, ask how - towards an unbiased, more rational non-teleological science and a fulfilling life without purpose -- References -- Index.
520 ## - ABSTRACT
Abstract Whatever are your beliefs, background, education, political views or interests, one thing is sure: this book will engage you, teach you something new, and more importantly make you to re-think deeply about critical aspects of your daily-life, including sex, love, food, physical activities, diseases, work and stress, and how you see and deal with other people, other animals, and the planet in general. Indeed, it focuses on topics that have fascinated people from all places and historical periods since times immemorial: Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Are we progressing, and will we thrive? It does this by integrating in a unique fashion information from ancient Greek, Sumerian, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim texts to high-tech brain research, facts about near-death experiences, Covid-19, QAnon conspiracies, virtual reality and dating aps; from Adam and Eve to the rise of misogyny and racism to Black Lives Matter, Me-Too, Hollywood romantic movies and Disney fairy-tales. Contrary to notions about 'human progress' and 'Homo Deus' defended by authors such as Harari, Pinker and Dawkins, it shows that human history instead involves the repetition of similar imaginary tales created by a combination of traits found in other animals and the uniquely human obsession about 'cosmic purpose' stories related to our awareness of death's inevitability. Organized religions appeared later, chiefly during the rise of agriculture and 'civilizations'. Diogo navigates mesmerizing untold stories revealing a paradox: these events and the industrial 'revolution' increased inequality, oppression, slavery, subjugation of women, famines, plagues, 'work', stress, and suicides. Data from psychology, biology, neurobiology, and cross-cultural studies of hunter-gatherers and so-called 'developed' societies reveal an even more profound paradox: within all forms of life, the 'sapient being' is the one immersed in Neverland's world of unreality - truly a Homo irrationalis, fictus and socialis believing in fictional tales about cosmic 'duties', 'romantic meant to be', demons, inferior 'races' and 'genders', conspiracies, and 'justified' slavery, warfare, genocides, and animal abuses. Importantly, such tales play, on the other hand, crucial functions such as help copying with death and a plethora of societal troubles, decreasing stress, or preventing drug and alcohol abuse. An optimist and passionate wondered and wanderer, Diogo provides enthralling details about the history of religion, discrimination, romantic love, warfare, diseases and Earth's biodiversity illustrating how 'virtue is in the middle' and that we - with our intriguing combination of beliefs, bodily needs and desires, artistic abilities, and mismatches between our senses' illusions and the cosmos' reality - are not 'better' or 'worse' than the other millions of captivating living species. This powerful and urgently needed message has critical repercussions for how we understand, care about, and mindfully enjoy living in this splendid planet, in the reality of here and now. Pre-publication comments: "I applaud the enormous work that Diogo has invested in this follow-up to his widely acclaimed Evolution driven by organismal behavior book, and the challenge of getting people to think beyond and outside of our usual set of definitions and expectations. The case-studies provided in the book are fascinating and insightful" (Drew Noden, Award-winning Emeritus Professor, Cornell University) "Rui Diogo is becoming the Slavoj Zizek of evolutionary biology" (Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra, Director of the Paleontological Institute and Museum of the University of Zurich) .
650 #0 - SUBJECT HEADINGS
Subject term Life sciences.
650 #0 - SUBJECT HEADINGS
Subject term Evolution (Biology).
650 #0 - SUBJECT HEADINGS
Subject term Biology
General subdivision Philosophy.
650 #0 - SUBJECT HEADINGS
Subject term Anatomy.
650 #0 - SUBJECT HEADINGS
Subject term Physical anthropology.
650 #0 - SUBJECT HEADINGS
Subject term Philosophy.
9 (RLIN) 7411
650 14 - SUBJECT HEADINGS
Subject term Life Sciences.
650 24 - SUBJECT HEADINGS
Subject term Evolutionary Biology.
650 24 - SUBJECT HEADINGS
Subject term Philosophy of Biology.
650 24 - SUBJECT HEADINGS
Subject term Anatomy.
650 24 - SUBJECT HEADINGS
Subject term Physical-Biological Anthropology.
650 24 - SUBJECT HEADINGS
Subject term Philosophy.
9 (RLIN) 7411
710 2# - ADDED CORPORATE NAME
Added corporate author SpringerLink (Online service)
856 ## - ONLINE RESOURCE
Uniform Resource Identifier <a href="#gotoholdings">#gotoholdings</a>
Link text Access resource
245 ## - TITLE STATEMENT
Medium [E-Book]
347 ## - DIGITAL FILE CHARACTERISTICS
File type text file
Encoding format PDF
Source rda
912 ## -
-- ZDB-2-SBL
912 ## -
-- ZDB-2-SXB
Holdings
Withdrawn status Lost status Damaged status Not for loan Home library Current library Shelving location Date acquired Source of acquisition Total Checkouts Date last seen Uniform Resource Identifier Price effective from Koha item type
        Hillingdon Hospitals Library Services (Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation) Hillingdon Hospitals Library Services (Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation) Online 02/05/2024 Springer BiomedLifeSc   02/05/2024 https://go.openathens.net/redirector/nhs?url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70401-2 02/05/2024 Electronic book
London Health Libraries Consortium Privacy notice and Membership terms and conditions