Explaining Humans

What Science Can Teach Us About Life, Love and Relationships

By: Dr Camilla Pang

Narrated by: Dr Camilla Pang

Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY INSIGHT INVESTMENT SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2020

Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of eight, Dr Camilla Pang struggled to understand the world around her. Desperate for a solution, Camilla asked her mother if there was an instruction manual for humans that she could consult. But, without the blueprint to life she was hoping for, Camilla began to create her own. Now armed with a PhD in biochemistry, Camilla dismantles our obscure social customs and identifies what it really means to be human using her unique expertise and a language she knows best: science.

Through a set of scientific principles, this book examines life's everyday interactions including: Decisions and the route we take to make them; Conflict and how we can avoid it; Relationships and how we establish them; Etiquette and how we conform to it.

Explaining Humans is an original and incisive exploration of human nature and the strangeness of social norms, written from the outside looking in. Camilla's unique perspective of the world, in turn, tells us so much about ourselves - about who we are and why we do it - and is a fascinating guide on how to lead a more connected, happier life.

©2020 Camilla Pang (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Useful for people with ASD and others

As someone who shares 99% of quirks of author I found this very interesting to read and give to my wife so she could try to understand how my brain works. I only wish this book came out 20 years ago so I might have read it sooner.

An entertaining, enlightening look at human beings

Camilla Pang, at age eight, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and not long after, she asked her mother if there was an instruction manual for humans. Sadly, there wasn't, so she decided to make her own, and started taking notes.

She now has a Ph.D. in biochemistry, and takes a delightfully analytical approach to deconstructing and explaining human behavior. It's startling, but illuminating, to look at human social behavior from the viewpoint of how proteins in our cells behave--individuality, teamwork, and adaptability, and the ways acting more like those proteins can help us live happier, more productive lives.

She's got a lot to say, and it's lively, interesting, understandable, and a total geeky delight.

I've always found human beings strange and difficult to understand, but until very recently, no one thought I should be evaluated for autism. No, I should just stop being difficult, and pay attention to what people are saying and otherwise indicating. Listening to Camilla Pang talk about the challenges of figuring out how to navigate the neurotypical world, even with a diagnosis and a supportive family, is illuminating and helpful. I will say we do have very different personalities, I'm sure partly innate and partly due to the difference in our ages, resulting diagnosis being more available and likely than when I was eight years old.

This book is not addressed only to the neurodivergent, but also the neurotypical, and I think will be an enjoyable and useful listen for anyone interested in human nature. Recommended.

I bought this audiobook.

Outstanding Analysis of the Difficulty of Dealing With People

Really a great scientific analysis of trying to understand why people act the way they do. You can also learn some physics along the way. A delightful journey of trying to make sense navigating and dealing with people. Helps explain a lot about life.

A wonderful book for people that see things a little differently.

I enjoyed everything about this book. I loved it. The narration was wonderful. Everything about it was wonderful.

Self indulgent and uninsightful

I am not the type of person who likes to be rude. However, if you release a book, I believe you open yourself up to criticism by suggesting that what you wrote down is wise and helpful. This book is a long litany of self-indulgence and self pity over a life that sounds frankly much better than mine and I bet most people's. There are very few insights in this book and those weak insights that are there seem to just be celebrations that the author kind of understands machine learning or some topic like that.

I'm fine with the author being proud of their life and perspective, however, when it is marketed as something insightful that will help people on the autism spectrum understand others, I feel like my time is wasted when I have to listen to her talk about her boyfriends, her good but not perfect high-school, or her many parties.

Struggling people look to books like these to hear someone in their shoes, not to hear someone who has had a fortunate life, full of support and coddling, lament their mild struggles and talk about how wise they are while offering nothing.

Again, I'm sorry to be rude, but it is an act of narcissism to release a book that contains us virtually no handbook type advice for people on the autism spectrum, (what I was told this book would have and something I was excited for) all while telling a very self indulgent story about how interesting you and your life is.

I don't know who this book is supposed to be for, it is certainly not for people with autism who are struggling, or anybody struggling. Maybe it's just a vanity project for the author herself. Regardless, I found it frustrating and unhelpful and I regret supporting this author's self-indulgence with my money.