bvargo's review against another edition
2.0
Too old to make this worthwhile. She believed Neanderthal was a separate species i.e., with which we could not interbreed. Obviously that has been proven false since 2002. Find something newer.
morgan_blackledge's review against another edition
5.0
OMG. I have a HUGE crush on anthropology.
I am absolutely smitten.
My first love is psychology. But frankly speaking, after a long, troubled relationship, the thrill is starting to fade, and my eyes are beginning to wander to another library.
I am a psychotherapist, and an educator in the field of psychology, and a fucking nerd from hell about anything that sheds light on human development, attachment, emotions, thought processes, communication, motivation and behavior.
Anthropology fits that description really well.
Better than psychology in many ways.
I have a (very) unorthodox educational history. I didn't study psychology as an undergraduate. So when I was teaching psychology as a graduate student, I was learning much of what I was teaching on the fly as it were.
When I taught undergraduate courses in developmental psychology, social psychology, and affective psychology, I grounded all of it in evolutionary biology. I went WAY off script in so doing, but it was the only way I could organize and make sense of all of the disparate findings of these sub-fields of psychology.
Theodosius Dobzhansky said "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." I would add that nothing in psychology makes sense except in the light of evolution either.
And furthermore, just as chemistry is a subset of physics. I would (and often do) assert that psychology is a subset of biology (which is itself a subset of chemistry).
Anyway. I didn't realize it at the time but, by introducing an evolutionary orientation to these subjects, I was basically teaching anthropology, and actually doing a pretty poor job of it to boot.
They say, if you scratch a psychologist, a bad biologist bleeds. Well there's some real truth to that.
Part of me wishes I had simply studied anthropology in the first place. It would have been a REALLY good background for later study in psychology, and for clinical work as well.
Yeah, that's right, evolutionary psychology (i.e. psychology flavored anthropology in disguise) has a clinical application.
Some would disagree. In fact, lots of (uncreative) people claim evolutionary psychology doesn't have a clinical application. They are DEAD wrong.
I find an evolutionary/biological orientation to be REALLY useful in therapy. Particularly when it comes to working with addiction.
Giving addicted individuals just a little education about brains, neuro-chemistry and evolution can normalize this extremely stigmatized condition, and provide profound relief from the excruciating shame they nearly invariably feel.
I have found that framing addiction in this way is the most effective antidepressant and anxiolytic available, with the only (not actually negative) side effect being increased atheistic tendencies in some (very special) cases.
Most of my therapist colleagues have precisely ZERO training, and even less interest in evolutionary biology, but they would absolutely benefit from it.
It's just so profoundly powerfully explanatory. And providing clients with a really satisfying explanation for their otherwise puzzling behavior is so frickin' useful and soothing and healing for them.
So biological anthropology is just perfect. It's perfect for me, and my interests, and my work. I just wish I had happened on to it sooner.
Oh. And as for the thing I'm supposed to be reviewing.
This Great Course is a wonderful introduction to this fascinating field. Barbra J. King is an amazing lecturer. And now I want to be a primatologist when I grow up.
I am absolutely smitten.
My first love is psychology. But frankly speaking, after a long, troubled relationship, the thrill is starting to fade, and my eyes are beginning to wander to another library.
I am a psychotherapist, and an educator in the field of psychology, and a fucking nerd from hell about anything that sheds light on human development, attachment, emotions, thought processes, communication, motivation and behavior.
Anthropology fits that description really well.
Better than psychology in many ways.
I have a (very) unorthodox educational history. I didn't study psychology as an undergraduate. So when I was teaching psychology as a graduate student, I was learning much of what I was teaching on the fly as it were.
When I taught undergraduate courses in developmental psychology, social psychology, and affective psychology, I grounded all of it in evolutionary biology. I went WAY off script in so doing, but it was the only way I could organize and make sense of all of the disparate findings of these sub-fields of psychology.
Theodosius Dobzhansky said "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." I would add that nothing in psychology makes sense except in the light of evolution either.
And furthermore, just as chemistry is a subset of physics. I would (and often do) assert that psychology is a subset of biology (which is itself a subset of chemistry).
Anyway. I didn't realize it at the time but, by introducing an evolutionary orientation to these subjects, I was basically teaching anthropology, and actually doing a pretty poor job of it to boot.
They say, if you scratch a psychologist, a bad biologist bleeds. Well there's some real truth to that.
Part of me wishes I had simply studied anthropology in the first place. It would have been a REALLY good background for later study in psychology, and for clinical work as well.
Yeah, that's right, evolutionary psychology (i.e. psychology flavored anthropology in disguise) has a clinical application.
Some would disagree. In fact, lots of (uncreative) people claim evolutionary psychology doesn't have a clinical application. They are DEAD wrong.
I find an evolutionary/biological orientation to be REALLY useful in therapy. Particularly when it comes to working with addiction.
Giving addicted individuals just a little education about brains, neuro-chemistry and evolution can normalize this extremely stigmatized condition, and provide profound relief from the excruciating shame they nearly invariably feel.
I have found that framing addiction in this way is the most effective antidepressant and anxiolytic available, with the only (not actually negative) side effect being increased atheistic tendencies in some (very special) cases.
Most of my therapist colleagues have precisely ZERO training, and even less interest in evolutionary biology, but they would absolutely benefit from it.
It's just so profoundly powerfully explanatory. And providing clients with a really satisfying explanation for their otherwise puzzling behavior is so frickin' useful and soothing and healing for them.
So biological anthropology is just perfect. It's perfect for me, and my interests, and my work. I just wish I had happened on to it sooner.
Oh. And as for the thing I'm supposed to be reviewing.
This Great Course is a wonderful introduction to this fascinating field. Barbra J. King is an amazing lecturer. And now I want to be a primatologist when I grow up.
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