Denial
Self-Deception, False Beliefs, and the Origins of the Human Mind
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Narrated by:
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Bob Walter
About this listen
The history of science abounds with momentous theories that disrupted conventional wisdom and yet were eventually proven true. Ajit Varki and Danny Brower's "Mind over Reality" theory is poised to be one such idea - a concept that runs counter to commonly held notions about human evolution but that may hold the key to understanding why humans evolved as we did, leaving all other related species far behind.
At a chance meeting in 2005, Brower, a geneticist, posed an unusual idea to Varki that he believed could explain the origins of human uniqueness among the world's species: Why is there no humanlike elephant or humanlike dolphin, despite millions of years of evolutionary opportunity? Why is it that humans alone can understand the minds of others?
Haunted by their encounter, Varki tried years later to contact Brower only to discover that he had died unexpectedly. Inspired by an incomplete manuscript Brower left behind, Denial presents a radical new theory on the origins of our species. It was not, the authors argue, a biological leap that set humanity apart from other species, but a psychological one: namely, the uniquely human ability to deny reality in the face of inarguable evidence - including the willful ignorance of our own inevitable deaths.
The awareness of our own mortality could have caused anxieties that resulted in our avoiding the risks of competing to procreate - an evolutionary dead-end. Humans therefore needed to evolve a mechanism for overcoming this hurdle: the denial of reality.
As a consequence of this evolutionary quirk we now deny any aspects of reality that are not to our liking - we smoke cigarettes, eat unhealthy foods, and avoid exercise, knowing these habits are a prescription for an early death. And so what has worked to establish our species could be our undoing if we continue to deny the consequences of unrealistic approaches to everything from personal health to financial risk-taking to climate change. On the other hand, reality-denial affords us many valuable attributes, such as optimism, confidence, and courage in the face of long odds.
Presented in homage to Brower's original thinking, Denial offers a powerful warning about the dangers inherent in our remarkable ability to ignore reality - a gift that will either lead to our downfall, or continue to be our greatest asset.
©2013 Ajit Varki & Danny Brower (P)2013 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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The Ravenous Brain
- How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning
- By: Daniel Bor
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Consciousness is our gateway to experience: it enables us to recognize Van Gogh’s starry skies, be enraptured by Beethoven’s Fifth, and stand in awe of a snowcapped mountain. Yet consciousness is subjective, personal, and famously difficult to examine: philosophers have for centuries declared this mental entity so mysterious as to be impenetrable to science. In The Ravenous Brain, neuroscientist Daniel Bor departs sharply from this historical view, and proposes a new model for how consciousness works.
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Effectively demystifies consciousness
- By Gary on 11-18-12
By: Daniel Bor
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The Bond
- Connecting Through the Space Between Us
- By: Lynne McTaggart
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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From the best-selling author of The Intention Experiment and The Field comes a groundbreaking new work---a book that uses the interconnectedness of mind and matter to demonstrate that the key to life is in the relationship between things. We are always connected with others, hardwired at our most elemental level---from the quantum level to the cellular, from personal relationships to business and societal structures.
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Horrible narrator
- By Cotran on 09-19-11
By: Lynne McTaggart
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How Language Began
- The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention
- By: Daniel L. Everett
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Mankind has a distinct advantage over other terrestrial species: we talk to one another. But how did we acquire the most advanced form of communication on Earth? Daniel L. Everett, a "bombshell" linguist and "instant folk hero" (Tom Wolfe, Harper's), provides in this sweeping history a comprehensive examination of the evolutionary story of language, from the earliest speaking attempts by hominids to the more than 7,000 languages that exist today.
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Hard to endure
- By Michael D. Busch on 09-09-18
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Deep Truth
- Igniting the Memory of Our Origin, History, Destiny, and Fate
- By: Gregg Braden
- Narrated by: Gregg Braden
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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A new world is emerging before our eyes, while the unsustainable world of the past struggles to continue. Both worlds reflect the beliefs of our past. Both exist - but only for now. Which world do you choose? Best-selling author and visionary scientist Gregg Braden suggests that the hottest issues that divide us as families, nations, and civilizations-seemingly separate concerns such as war, terror, abortion, suicide, genocide, the death penalty, poverty, economic collapse, and nuclear war - are actually related.
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Good Information
- By David on 08-13-12
By: Gregg Braden
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Primates and Philosophers
- How Morality Evolved
- By: Frans de Waal
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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"It's the animal in us," we often hear when we've been bad. But why not when we're good? Primates and Philosophers tackles this question by exploring the biological foundations of one of humanity's most valued traits: morality.In this provocative book, primatologist Frans de Waal argues that modern-day evolutionary biology takes far too dim a view of the natural world, emphasizing our "selfish" genes.
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Having Just Read...
- By Douglas on 12-14-13
By: Frans de Waal
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The Science of Good and Evil
- Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule
- By: Michael Shermer
- Length: 2 hrs and 21 mins
- Abridged
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In The Science of Good and Evil, psychologist and science historian Michael Shermer explores how humans evolved from social primates into moral primates, how and why morality motivates the human animal, and how the foundation of moral principles can be built upon empirical evidence. Along the way he explains the implications of scientific findings for fate and free will, the existence of pure good and pure evil, and the development of early moral sentiments among the first humans.
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Read by author
- By Gregory A. Townsend on 04-16-23
By: Michael Shermer
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Wild Justice
- The Moral Lives of Animals
- By: Marc Bekoff, Jessica Pierce
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Scientists have long counseled against interpreting animal behavior in terms of human emotions, warning that such anthropomorphizing limits our ability to understand animals as they really are. Yet what are we to make of a female gorilla in a German zoo who spent days mourning the death of her baby? Or a wild female elephant who cared for a younger one after she was injured by a rambunctious teenage male?
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What Some Of Us Have Always Known...
- By Douglas on 12-12-13
By: Marc Bekoff, and others
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About Behaviorism
- By: B.F. Skinner
- Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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About Behaviorism is about the controversial philosophy known as behaviorism, written by its leading exponent.
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Refreshing and concise
- By Autumn and Sam on 07-30-22
By: B.F. Skinner
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The Deeper Genome
- Why There Is More to the Human Genome than Meets the Eye
- By: John Parrington
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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Over a decade ago, as the Human Genome Project completed its mapping of the entire human genome, hopes ran high that we would rapidly be able to use our knowledge of human genes to tackle many inherited diseases, and understand what makes us unique among animals. But things didn't turn out that way.
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Great Scientific Writing/ Wrong Narrator
- By Richard on 11-24-15
By: John Parrington
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Riveted
- The Science of Why Jokes Make Us Laugh, Movies Make Us Cry, and Religion Makes Us Feel One with the Universe
- By: Jim Davies
- Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Professor Jim Davies's fascinating and highly accessible book, Riveted, reveals the evolutionary underpinnings of why we find things compelling. Drawing on work from philosophy, anthropology, religious studies, psychology, economics, computer science, and biology, Davies offers a comprehensive explanation to show that in spite of the differences between the many things that we find compelling, they have similar effects on our minds and brains.
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Fun and excellent listen!
- By Alejandro Franco on 04-13-18
By: Jim Davies
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Big Gods
- How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict
- By: Ara Norenzayan
- Narrated by: Paul Nixon
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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How did human societies scale up from small, tight-knit groups of hunter-gatherers to the large, anonymous, cooperative societies of today - even though anonymity is the enemy of cooperation? How did organized religions with "Big Gods" - the great monotheistic and polytheistic faiths - spread to colonize most minds in the world? In Big Gods, Ara Norenzayan makes the surprising and provocative argument that these fundamental puzzles about the origins of civilization are one and the same, and answer each other.
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Great read
- By paro on 02-27-24
By: Ara Norenzayan
What listeners say about Denial
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- mminto
- 02-19-16
An interesting but nascent concept.
This book starts off with an extremely scientific perspective but then, in my opinion, makes claims which are not supported by anything other than the author's perspective and hypothetical examples. The idea contained inside this book is definitely a worthy subject of discussion but the length of this book is not required to introduce that idea. It spends most of its time justifying its obscure thesis with nothing more than repetition of the theme.
The worst part is the reader, I listened to it at 3x speed. The reader was plain, humdrum, and lifeless. Honestly one of the worst I've heard, when played at 1x speed.
Skippable. The idea can be grasped by reading the online reviews. The author is a genius, but this book is unjustifiably long.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Cassandra
- 04-04-15
Somewhat interesting
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
As someone who spends a fair amount of time studying the nature of reality, I was drawn to this book because of the title. Even though it turned out to be not at all what I expected, it had some interesting info and because of that I would give it a lukewarm recommendation.
What could Ajit Varki and Danny Brower have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
I would have liked a deeper understanding and conversation about reality.
What does Bob Walter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Narrator did an excellent job.
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
It would probably make a good documentary.
Any additional comments?
What really turned me off about the book was the author's facile treatment of Buddhism. He states that the objective of the practice of Buddhism and meditation (specifically zazen) is the denial of reality, when in fact it is the total opposite. Zen is ALL about the integration of the relative and absolute, and the mundane suffering world is where that happens. Zazen is even done with eyes open in order to facilitate that.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Johan
- 06-12-13
Vocal straight jacket
This very interesting book is almost unbearable to listen to because of the strange performance of the reader. The male voice is warm, but absolutely monotonous. He uses a few short and strained melodic phrases that keeps recurring and nagging at the listener in a way that makes it difficult to focus on the content. Which is a great pity with this book. It deserves much better. This perfomer has to improve. May Audible coach him!
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-10-23
Very good hypothesis
Very interesting theory about the theory of mortality and the theory of our what we humans have and other species do not have
When I picked this book up I thought the authors may attribute our ‘intelligence’ to a gene
I would say this is a very interesting theory to suggest that recognition of our mortality occurred to a few sapiens and we mated with other sapiens of similar beliefs and we have now created this thing we call the human (intelligent) race
Time will tell
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- John413
- 04-28-16
This would've been a great book in 1982
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
If the author weren't stuck in a three-dimensional mind set
What do you think your next listen will be?
A book by someone who has gone beyond thinking that he is his mind.
What didn’t you like about Bob Walter’s performance?
It felt as though he was someone caught in academia without the benefits of experiencing his soul.
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
Yes, it shows me how far I have come since I began practicing as is a psychologist in the early 80s.
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