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Mean Genes
- Narrated by: Pat Woodruff
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
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Publisher's summary
Short, sassy, and bold Mean Genes reveals that our struggles for self-improvement are, in fact, battles against our own genes - genes that helped our distant ancestors flourish, but are selfish and out of place in the modern world.
Using this evolutionary lens, Mean Genes brilliantly examines the issues that most affect our lives: body image, money, addiction, violence, and the endless search for friendship, love, and fidelity. But Burnham and Phelan don't simply describe the connections between genes and behavior. They use this knowledge to offer steps for improving the quality of our lives.
Why do we love fast food? Why is the road to romance so rocky? Must happiness always be elusive? What drives us into debt? An intrepid investigation into the biological nature of temptation and the struggle for control, Mean Genes answers these and other fundamental questions about human behavior, while giving us an edge to lead satisfying lives.
Beer.com says "It's not some corny self-help book either. It doesn't preach. In fact, it doesn't care if you continue to abuse yourself beyond recognition. It just attempts to explain why you bought that car you can't afford, ate that box of donuts you don't need and why, lordy lord, you continue to drink that cheap, generic beer when your bladder and liver are begging for an elevated variety."
(P)2000 Random House, Inc.
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Critic reviews
"The Mean Genes message is optimistic...a self-help book for the merely average human being." (The Washington Post Book World)
"An unusual cross between a social Darwinist monograph and a self-help manual." (The New Yorker)
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We have long attributed man's violent, aggressive, competitive nature to his animal ancestry. But what if we are just as given to cooperation, empathy, and morality by virtue of our genes? What if our behavior actually makes us apes? What kind of apes are we?
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I loved this book
- By Ruth on 06-22-07
By: Frans de Waal
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Men Chase, Women Choose
- The Neuroscience of Meeting, Dating, Losing Your Mind, and Finding True Love
- By: Dawn Maslar
- Narrated by: Suzanne Elise Freeman
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Men Chase, Women Choose is the first book to offer cutting-edge research that explains how the brain works when two people first meet, start to date, fall in love, and then move into real long-term love. Maslar's unique approach brings together the latest and most relevant neurological, physiological, and biochemical research on the science of love while incorporating stories and examples of composite characters based on participants of her popular classes and seminars.
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Disappointed
- By Kittenheels on 11-18-18
By: Dawn Maslar
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The Mind of the Market
- Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics
- By: Michael Shermer
- Narrated by: Michael Shermer
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Abridged
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The Mind of the Market will change the way we think about the economics of everyday life. Drawing on research from neuroeconomics, Michael Shermer explores what brain scans reveal about bargaining, snap purchases, and how trust is established in business. Utilizing experiments in behavioral economics, Shermer shows why people hang on to losing stocks and failing companies, why business negotiations often disintegrate into emotional tit-for-tat disputes, and why money does not make us happy.
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Good ideas overshadowed by obnoxious polemics
- By Philo on 09-15-13
By: Michael Shermer
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You Are Now Less Dumb
- How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself
- By: David McRaney
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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You Are Now Less Dumb is grounded in the idea that we all believe ourselves to be objective observers of reality - except we’re not. But that's okay, because our delusions keep us sane. Expanding on this premise, McRaney provides eye-opening analyses of 15 more ways we fool ourselves every day. This smart and highly entertaining audiobook will be wowing listeners for years to come.
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Not a lot of guidance
- By A. Yoshida on 02-08-14
By: David McRaney
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The Upside of Irrationality
- The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home
- By: Dan Ariely
- Narrated by: Simon Jones
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In his groundbreaking book Predictably Irrational, social scientist Dan Ariely revealed the multiple biases that lead us into making unwise decisions. Now, in The Upside of Irrationality, he exposes the surprising negative and positive effects irrationality can have on our lives. Focusing on our behaviors at work and in relationships, he offers new insights and eye-opening truths about what really motivates us on the job.
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Not as good as the first
- By Stephen on 06-20-10
By: Dan Ariely
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The Worm at the Core
- On the Role of Death in Life
- By: Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, Tom Pyszczynski
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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More than 100 years ago, the American philosopher William James wrote that the knowledge that we must die is "the worm at the core" of the human condition - a universally shared fear that informs all our thoughts and actions, from the great art we create to the devastating wars we wage.
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Skeptical at first, but they won me over.
- By Tory Giddens on 06-07-20
By: Jeff Greenberg, and others
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The Psychopath Inside
- A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain
- By: James Fallon
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The memoir of a neuroscientist whose research led him to a bizarre personal discovery, James Fallon had spent an entire career studying how our brains affect our behavior when his research suddenly turned personal. While studying brain scans of several family members, he discovered that one perfectly matched a pattern he’d found in the brains of serial killers. This meant one of two things: Either his family’s scans had been mixed up with those of felons or someone in his family was a psychopath.
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Entertaining story with some quick neuroscience
- By smarmer on 09-21-14
By: James Fallon
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Before You Know It
- The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do
- By: John Bargh PhD
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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For more than three decades, Dr. John Bargh has been responsible for the revolutionary research into the unconscious mind, research that informed best sellers like Blink and Thinking Fast and Slow. Now, in what Dr. John Gottman said "will be the most important and exciting book in psychology that has been written in the past 20 years", Dr. Bargh takes us on an entertaining and enlightening tour of the forces that affect everyday behavior while transforming our understanding of ourselves in profound ways.
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Political jab
- By Brad on 10-20-17
By: John Bargh PhD
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The Mind Club
- Who Thinks, What Feels, and Why It Matters
- By: Daniel M. Wegner, Kurt Gray
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Nothing seems more real than the minds of other people. When you consider what your boss is thinking or whether your spouse is happy, you are admitting them into the "mind club". It's easy to assume other humans can think and feel, but what about a cow, a computer, a corporation? What kinds of minds do they have? Daniel M. Wegner and Kurt Gray are award-winning psychologists who have discovered that minds - while incredibly important - are a matter of perception.
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Who is the self in me? Am I part of something bigger?
- By Philomath on 03-24-16
By: Daniel M. Wegner, and others
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Evolving Ourselves
- How Unnatural Selection and Nonrandom Mutation are Changing Life on Earth
- By: Juan Enriquez, Steve Gullans
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Why are conditions like autism, asthma, obesity, and allergies exploding at unprecedented rates? Why are we living longer, getting smarter, having far fewer kids? If Darwin were alive today, how would he explain this new world?
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fascinating ideas and science
- By Joel on 07-04-15
By: Juan Enriquez, and others
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Brain Rules for Aging Well
- 10 Principles for Staying Vital, Happy, and Sharp
- By: John Medina
- Narrated by: John Medina
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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How come I can never find my keys? Why don't I sleep as well as I used to? Why do my friends keep repeating the same stories? What can I do to keep my brain sharp? Scientists know. Brain Rules for Aging Well, by developmental molecular biologist Dr. John Medina, gives you the facts - and the prescription to age well - in his signature engaging style. With so many discoveries over the years, science is literally changing our minds about the optimal care and feeding of the brain. All of it is captivating. A great deal of it is unexpected.
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Scientific and practical
- By symya08 on 04-29-18
By: John Medina
What listeners say about Mean Genes
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Angel
- 10-09-24
Studies
I enjoyed the concepts and the studies that supported the ideas. Gives great insight and opens the mind up to new ideas
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- James
- 11-30-03
The most interesting ever
Mean Genes was a fascinating listen. I learned lots, and enjoyed every second.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Timur Ziganshin
- 09-01-18
Not worth it ;(
Absolutely shallow book. Pure junk entertainment without any insights to act on. Interesting topics conveyed in a super primitive way. Avoid it
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- Paul
- 01-28-03
Entertaining and Informative
"Mean Genes" is one of the best Audible books I've heard. It's read with a light tone and full of fascinating information about how our biological coding affects us. It is not full of jargon or high level scientific terms. It's aimed at the educated and curious individual. Very good "reading"!
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12 people found this helpful
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- Leland Meyer
- 03-06-19
Great Book
Definitely worth it. I will be looking a bit deeper into this subject when I get a chance.
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- chris chen
- 02-22-19
great job well done awesome book.
once in the blue month you will read a book that you know you will go back to read it again and again and again and..
. this is one of them, money and time well spent.
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- Kai
- 01-26-15
Amazing!
This book is fantastic! Love books that give understanding to the world and reality we are faced with everyday! Explaining the things we take for granted with science and probabilities!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Seamus
- 02-24-15
Maybe the original but...
Many more recent narrative psychology books have rehashed these ideas (Dan ariely, Gladwell, etc.). But if you are new to evolutionary psychology, this is a great introduction.
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1 person found this helpful
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- anthony esposito
- 10-11-20
book needs updating
this book needs some serious updating 20 years old and some of the information is obsolete
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- Barry J. Marshall
- 01-30-08
If you like scioence - avoid this
I was disappointed with this book. I had hoped Iwould learn something but the science is very anecdotal. More like a psychoanalysis text with a veneer of evolution and genetics. Dr Phil entusiasts might like it. Very motivational if you are trying to lose weight. I stopped half way through - the second half of the book might be better. Maybe I will update this if ever I am in jail and this is the only book I can find.
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2 people found this helpful