The Social Brain

How Diversity Made The Modern Mind

By: Richard Crisp

Narrated by: John Sackville

Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

A popular psychology audiobook from a respected social psychologist that argues how diversity has been important throughout the development of civilisation and why it is vital for our future.

Is conflict caused by an inherently hostile human nature? Are efforts to promote peaceful coexistence fated to fail? Is the story of human history destined to play out a clash of civilisations, as tensions erupt and escalate around differences in race, religion, culture and ethnicity? These are the questions framing contemporary debate over diversity, immigration and multiculturalism.

The origins, progress and future of human evolution have been a focal point for scientists and scholars seeking solutions to the world's most pervasive problems. Biologists, anthropologists and sociologists have developed theories to help us to understand and address the inherent hostility of human nature. But there has been one noticeable absence in these scientific endeavours: a psychological analysis.

This audiobook is inspired by the basic building blocks of human cognition and one that promises wide-ranging impacts for science and society. It's an audiobook about the scientific studies that reveal a hitherto unappreciated, unexplored but absolutely critical component of the creativity puzzle - our social relationships. All of this evidence suggests that to maximise individual and creative potential we must embrace diversity both in our social and cultural relations and in our personal and professional lives.

The Social Brain will show how, when our social environments and social relations take us beyond our comfort zone, when they challenge norms, expectations, ideologies and beliefs, they can awaken our creative potential. It will take a great leap to tie the origins of the modern mind to the evolution of human society - one that provides an entirely new insight into the ingenuity and invention that resides within us all.

©2015 Richard Crisp (P)2015 Audible, Ltd