Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique

My dog, Shadow, does not have an intact disgust module. Neither did the succession of best friends who preceded him: Isabella, Charlotte, Karma, or "99." Dogs will eat or roll in practically anything, and show no sensitivity to an emotion that seems to be uniquely human. Human infants don't have it until they're five to seven years old. Disgust is one of the five emotional modules that distinguish humans from other species. Other emotional modules are common across species, says Michael Gazzaniga, an eminent cognitive neuroscientist (and co-inventor of the field). Neither we, nor human infants, nor wallabies, for example, have to be explicitly taught to avoid certain dangers. Encountering a fast approaching, large something with sharp teeth - even if one has never encountered it before - causes an automatic fear and avoidance reaction. Evolution has hard-wired a general fear template into our brains, rather than a fear of specific things - you never know what you might encounter, and you don't want to sit there ruminating about it while you become lunch. Speaking of ruminating, part of what makes human brains special is that we are the only animals who even bother to ask the question of why we're special, or who worry about what others think. Human makes a lively and fun tour through the latest research on brain evolution. (Full disclosure: three of my papers are mentioned in his book, out of the hundreds of studies discussed). The human brain turns out to be less different from other animal brains than you might think. Language and social cognition fall along a continuum across species. Deceiving others, for instance, long thought to be unique to humans, is present in monkeys and crows, who can even hide their attempts to deceive. Counterintuitively, much of what makes us human is not an ability to do more things, but an ability to inhibit automatic responses in favor of reasoned ones; consequently we may be the only species that engages in delayed gratification and impulse control (thank you pre-frontal cortex). Gazzaniga doesn't shy away hard problems such as why there is art. The attraction to fictional experiences - stories, plays, paintings, and music - is puzzling from an evolutionary perspective. "Why does the brain contain reward systems that make fictional experiences enjoyable?" Involvement with the imaginative arts, he observes, "is self-rewarding without an obvious functional payoff." The answer is that fictional thinking engages innate "play" modules that enhance fitness by allowing us to consider possible alternatives - hypothetical scenarios - so that we can form plans in advance of dangers, hazards, or even unpleasant social scenarios. "It would be fitness enhancing to learn to hide or run from a predator, or stalk and search for food, before one actually needs to do it for survival." Amount of play, we learn, is correlated with species' brain size, and play is seen as practice for real life. "Fr

This is a comprehensive and readable account of what we know thus far--about ourselves. Human is a compendium of thought-provoking research concerning what makes us unique as a species, as well as what connects us to all other living things. Gazzaniga does not shy from celebrating human life, giving credit to nature where credit is due. We are complex beyond measure. It is amazing how much information the author can relay while still remaining accessible and downright fun. The Brain's the thing!

To understand human social behavior it is necessary to be familiar with most (if not all) of the material Michael Gazzaniga covers in this seminal summary of how humans are alike and different from other animals. Since Dr. Gazzaniga is not only a pioneering neuroscientist, but also an accomplished writer noted for his ability to render scientific material understandable and entertaining, there is likely no better way to become familiar with leading edge thinking on human behavior than by reading "Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique." Dr. Gazzaniga's stance (as proclaimed in the Prologue) is that although most human activity can be related to antecedents in other animals, somewhere in the evolution of our brain the equivalent of a "phase shift" occurred and we became unique: His rallying cry is "... let us start the journey of understanding why humans are special, and let's have some fun doing it." "Human" succeeds in doing that throughout its nine chapters. All of the recent discoveries and salient theories from the fields of neuroscience, molecular biology, genetics, evolutionary and cognitive psychology, and artificial intelligence (among others) are presented in a cogent and evenhanded way; whenever Dr. Gazzaniga favors one theory over another, he carefully explains why, and the result is that readers can weigh the data and various viewpoints themselves to improve their comprehension of human behavior. The final chapter looks into the near future and considers likely advances in the emerging neuroprosthetic fields, where brain signals are tapped to control prosthetic devices; in robotics and artificial intelligence, where manmade devices take over Man's "dull, dangerous, or dirty" chores; and in gene therapy and "genetic engineering," where the Pandora's Box of manipulating our very nature may be creaking open. Dr. Gazzaniga's extensive work with the Council on Bioethics (which led to a previous book, "The Ethical Brain") makes him almost uniquely qualified to address the promises and dangers of gene manipulation. And, yes, a summary can indeed be "seminal" if it brings together findings from many disciplines, lays them out in parallel, and shows how they have a common thread and converge toward a common conclusion. Adam Leonard (Author of "Man by Nature: The Hidden Programming Controlling Human Behavior.")

Dr. Gazzaniga elegantly explores what makes humans unique by drawing from a large body of research and presenting it with seemingly effortless wit. Whether he is talking about the anatomy of specific parts of the brain or deciding whether a human would have a good time on a date with a chimp, he keeps the reader engaged and entertained. All in all, this book was a wonderful way to learn about some of the fascinating research that has been done on the brain.

Michael Gazzaniga, a preeminent brain scientist who has made the study of the human mind scientifically viable, has hit a grand slam with his new book. In it he tackles a fundamental question of our existence, one that has been largely avoided by modern science: what makes humans beings unique? In a breezy and easy to understand style, he weaves a story that combines cutting-edge information from diverse disciplines, ranging from molecular biology to social psychology. The result is a book that is as entertaining as it is informative. HUMAN is a must read for every thinking person.