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nancy@nancykeane.com
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Sagan,
Carl and Ann Driyan
SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS
: A SEARCH FOR WHO WE ARE
New York : Random, 1992.
IL YA
ISBN 0345384725
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| Sagan
likens the human condition as that of an orphan. The evidences of our past
are not obvious until we start looking for it. Sagan begins setting the
time line and the arbitrary twists that have gotten us where we are today.
He uses scientific counts of DNA similarities between us and the chimps
and ammorphizines our behaviors and languages to link us to the beasts
studied by philosophers -- scientists for centuries. We are humbled by
the hard-wired ethics of the bonobo who refuse to shock their own kind
even with rewards. He contrasts female peacekeeping roles in chimps and
rats. He uses observed behaviors of chimps to discount philosopher's arbitrary
distinctions that were said to separate us from the other animals. |
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SUBJECTS:
Life -- Origin.
Evolution (Biology) |
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unchanged from its present form and appropriate credit is given.
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