Ape-Man Within

Why do people behave in such unreasonable, ineffective ways? Why can't we get along? Renowned science writer L. Sprague de Camp explains that some of our counterproductive and self-destructive tendencies are the result of humans spending over a million years foraging through the African savannah for food, grubbing for edible roots, and chasing other scavengers away from the kills of abler predators. In these activities we see our highly competitive nature and our tendency to view others as adversaries. De Camp examines our global "wrong-headedness" by considering the qualities that served as survival traits in our primitive past. This book is social anthropology at its best!

Renowned science writer L. Sprague de Camp studies our global "wrong-headedness" by examining our primitive past. Writing with insight and humor, de Camp explores what makes us tick as the products - and victims - of our prehuman past. He delves into the legacy of evolution and shows how it has affected our historical and social development. The survival traits of our ancestors, which include foraging in bands, scrounging for food, and chasing other scavengers away from the kill, are at the heart of our highly competitive and combative nature - the tendency to view others as adversaries. Are we "only monkeys shaved"? Can we overcome our prehuman character? The Ape-Man Within answers these and other fundamental questions facing our global society.