How to be Human by New Scientist -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Introduction 1 Human Nature

What sort of creatures are we? Why do we laugh, blush and kiss? What has language ever done for you? What are you like? What is this thing called personality? Where does morality come from? Angels or demons? Why are humans so generous? Why do we fight? The strange nature of belief Why religion is as natural to us as talking

2 The Self

Are you an illusion? Building the self from scratch Eternal consciousness Do you have free will? Why there’s more to you than nature and nurture Give me space Why you’re good at everything …

3 The Body

The human dimension Why is your physique unique? What’s in a face? What does your body language say about you? Love your extremities How old are your eyes, ears and blood …? Why are humans so hairy? Does your voice reveal secrets about you? Why you may not be alone in your body We can rebuild him Smart thinking needs a body Can we escape the metabolism prison? How can fat make you thin?

4 Get Inside Your Head

The nature of thought What’s going through your mind right now? Where do I begin and end? The awesome power of imagination Why does your mind always wander? Why your memory is not only for remembering Whose mind will you read today? So you think you’re in charge of you? Why are we so prone to bad habits? Don’t believe everything you think How smart people can be stupid Why we’re all biased

5 Your Deep Past

How evolution shaped us to dominate the world The viruses that are now part of you Silhouettes of the dead Your inner Neanderthal What has civilisation done to your body? Your royal blood How animals made us human

6 Possessions

Could you cope without your own stuff? Going to extremes How survival kits have changed in 5,000 years What does your stuff say about you? Plastic fantastic The future of possessing

7 Friends and Relations

How does friendship work? Friends with benefits for mind and body Seeing double The unseen impacts of brothers and sisters How touch affects your self-image and social success It’s a small world Why you should sniff a potential partner

8 Emotions

Welcome to a world of emotions Do our faces reveal our feelings? Crying and laughing Primordial fear in a modern world When getting angry is good Yeuuuuugghhhh! The noxious side of nostalgia Can money buy happiness? Why do we cry? Why boredom is positively stimulating A blow to the heart The three pillars of emotional wisdom

9 Life Stages

Waaaaaahhhhhhhh! Why we all suffer childhood amnesia What’s the point of childhood? Can we blame teenage torment on the brain? Flying rite of passage Does having kids make you happier? What’s the point of middle-aged people? Teaching old dogs new tricks The upside of old age Protecting your brain from the ravages of time

10 Sex and Gender

How do men and women really differ? Kingdom of women Blue brain, pink brain Going dating? Don’t forget the peacock’s tail A world of gender identity Why do we differ so much about sex?

11 Wellbeing

Food advice to be taken with a pinch of salt Caveat emptor The astonishing benefits of exercise Faster body, faster mind The disturbing truth about sitting down Does my belly look big in this? How to think yourself healthy How to shake off that feeling of fatigue How much sleep do we need?

12 Death

How does it feel to die? You only live twice, perhaps What happens to your body when you die? What is death? The final journey of your conscious self

How well do you know yourself? Further reading About the Authors Guest authors Acknowledgements