- Overview
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Exploring people’s anxiety through neuroanthropology.
- Book Intro
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Why do human minds struggle so much? Why are they so weak?
Psychiatrist/Neuroanthropologist Park Hanson’s story about the evolution of human minds
Neuroanthropology is not a term with which ordinary people are familiar. As the name suggests, it’s a branch of anthropology covering multiple fields of academics including neurobiology, evolutionary biology, psychology, psychiatry, population genetics, behavioral ecology, cognitive science and ethnography. Neuroanthropology is the study of mental phenomena of humans. It aims to find out what sort of biological evolution and acculturation our minds have gone through to become what they are today. In other words, it explores why our minds are so full of weaknesses; why we love, hate, and become jealous; why we experience a variety of emotions with families; and why we cooperate, deceive and come into conflict in a group.
The book delves into the reason behind our weak minds from a neuroanthropological perspective. What story will it tell us? Neuroanthropology examines the secret to our minds—taking into account the long process of human evolution and numerous social/biological conditions—to reveal not only “how” our minds work but also “why” they work that way. For instance, to explain why some people are obsessed with social media, it uses an evolutionary hypothesis that individuals who receive more social attention enjoy an advantage in reproduction. The author suggests that people today still seek attention from others as social attention leads to a “public opinion” and determines important decisions. Furthermore, he attempts to approach human minds from different angles to find the truth, presenting quantitative and qualitative strategies to gain attention, as well as group differentiation that follows accordingly.
- About the Author
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Park Hanson
Author Park Hanson is a psychiatrist and neuroanthropologist studying the evolution of human minds as a researcher at the Institute of Cross-Cultural Studies of the Seoul National University. He earned his B.A and M.A in Medicine from Kyung Hee University, a second M.A from ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences, and a Ph.D in Neuroanthropology from Seoul National University. His books include Seven Steps from the Mind.