New scientific research shows how the ADHD gene has been critical to humanity’s development for 40,000 years

•Shows how artists, inventors, and innovators carry the gene necessary for the future survival of humanity

•Explains why children with the Edison gene are so often mislabeled in our public schools as having ADHD

•By the creator of the “hunter/farmer hypothesis”of ADHD

Thomas Edison was thrown out of school for behavior that today would label him as having ADHD, but his mother understood how to salvage his self-esteem and prepare him for a lifetime of success. The quick-thinking and impulsive characteristics of what we term ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) are not signs of a disorder at all, but rather are parts of a highly adaptive and useful skill set that served our hunting and gathering ancestors very well. In The Edison GeneThom Hartmann shows that these characteristics have also been critical to the survival and development of our modern civilization and will be vital and necessary as humanity faces new challenges in the future. Hartmann, creator of the “hunter/farmer hypothesis”of ADHD, examines the latest discoveries confirming the existence of an ADHD gene and the earth-wide catastrophe 40,000 years ago that may well have triggered its development. Citing examples of significant innovators of our modern era, he argues that the brains of the children who possess the Edison gene are wired to give them brilliant success as innovators, inventors, explorers, and entrepreneurs, but that those same qualities often cause them problems in the context of our public schools. Hartmann offers concrete strategies for helping Edison-gene children to reach their full potential and shows that rather than being “problems,”they are an important and vital gift to our society and world.

LANGUAGE: engeng

Thom Hartmann is truly a visionary pathfinder in our sometimes confusing, labyrinthine world. (Stephen Larsen, Ph.D., coauthor of Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind)

"Not only challenges majority opinion and does so effectively, but backs up each observation with real, authentic evidence."

"Shows that, rather than being problems, such children are an important and vital gift to our society and the world."

"The Edison Geneis an impressively well-written and well-researched book."

"Hartmann shows the positive sides of ADHD and how as a society we have turned these same traits into negatives."

"Hartmann gives us a deeper explanation of ADHD, explaining its origins and characteristics and offering strategies to help"

"For those who believe that ADHD can be treated without medication, this book could be akin to another New Testament..."

HEALTH / PARENTING?Thom Hartmann demonstrates that ADHD can be associated with creativity, high achievement, and a most successful adaptive style.?Edward Hallowell, M.D., author of Driven to Distraction?Once again, with tireless scholarship and a bit of poetry, Thom Hartmann helps take us to the edge of knowing ourselves, our brains, and our world.? John J. Ratey, M.D., author of A User's Guide to the BrainThomas Edison was expelled from school for behavior that today would label him as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but his mother understood how to salvage his self-esteem and prepare him for a lifetime of success. In The Edison Gene Thom Hartmann shows that the creativity, impulsiveness, and distractibility that are characteristic of ADHD are not signs of a disorder at all, but instead are components of a highly adaptive skill set utilized by our hunting and gathering ancestors. These characteristics have been critical to the survival and development of our modern civilization and will be vital as humanity faces new challenges in the future.Hartmann, creator of the ?hunter versus farmer? theory of ADHD, examines the latest discoveries confirming the existence of an ADHD gene and the global catastrophe 40,000 years ago that triggered its development. Citing examples of significant innovators in our modern era, he argues that the children who possess the ?Edison gene? have neurology that is wired to give them brilliant success as innovators, inventors, explorers, and entrepreneurs. He offers concrete strategies for helping Edison-gene children reach their full potential and shows that rather than being ?problems, ? such children are a vital gift to our societyand the world.THOM HARTMANN is the award-winning, bestselling author of over a dozen books, including Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception and The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. A former psychotherapist and founder of the Hunter School, a residential and day school for children with ADHD, he lives in central Vermont.

Thom Hartmann, creator of the "hunter/farmer hypothesis" of ADHD, argues that children who possess the Edison gene are adapted to give them brilliant success as innovators, inventors, explorers, and entrepreneurs, while these same qualities often cause them problems in the context of our public schools. Hartmann offers concrete strategies for helping Edison-gene children to reach their full potential.

Hartmann, creator of the "hunter/farmer hypothesis" of ADHD, examines the latest discoveries confirming the existence of an ADHD gene and the earth-wide catastrophe 40,000 years ago that may well have triggered its development.

Thom Hartmann is the award-winning, bestselling author of over a dozen books, including Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perceptionand The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. A former psychotherapist and founder of the Hunter School, a residential and day school for children with ADHD, he lives in central Vermont.

Foreword by Lucy Jo Palladino, Ph.D.

Acknowledgments

Introduction: A New View for Our Children
Genetics and Differences
1993: The Hunter Gene
Distractibility
Impulsivity
Risk-Taking
Where Have All the Hunters Gone?
Indigenous Hunters Today
The Agricultural Revolution
Our Society's Hunters
The Edison Gene
The Crisis-Survival Gene
Hunters Before the Holocene
Adapted to Adversity and Change

Part 1: The Past

1--The World of the Edison-Gene Child
The Ancient World
The Salt Pump
The Great Ice Age
Heated by the Great Conveyor Belt

2--The Dawn of Civilization
What Made Us Human?
The Bacteria That Took Over the World
The Human Bottleneck
Before the Bottleneck

3--Three Ways Humans Were Killed Off by Weather
Warming by the Sun
Vulcan's Hammer
Survivors: AIDS Chimps and the Black Plague
Creativity Saves the Day
ADHD and Creativity
The Beads: Clue to the First Edisons

Part 2: The Present

4--Anatomy of a Diagnosis
How Edison-Gene Children Are Different
Are They Disordered?
Anthropology Meets Psychology
From Hunters to Inventors

5--The Mystery of Novelty-Seeking Behavior
The "Novelty Gene"
The Novelty Gene and ADHD

6--Genes Move Around and Turn On and Off
The Genetics of Behavior
Turning on Genes
Codominant Genes
Turning on Edison Characteristics

7--Other Genes and Influences
Neurotransmitters and Personality Characteristics
The Reasons for Genetic Variations
Culture and Genes

8--Scientists Find the "Adaptive" Edison Gene
But Some Say It's a Disease
Is It a Disorder?
Novelty Seeking

9--The ADHD Gene and the Dawn of Human Civilization
The Time Machine
The News Hits the Streets
The Edison Gene and Democracy

10--Brain Development and the Edison-Gene Child
Sense of Self
A Process that Mirrors Evolution
The Reptilian Brain
The Limbic Brain
The "New" Brain
The Unique Prefrontal Brain
The Brain Develops After Birth, Too
The First Pruning of the Brain
The Impact of Stress
The Brain in the Birth Period
The Brain in the Toddler Period
The Brain in the Early Childhood Period
The Brain in the Teenage Period
The Brain in the Early Adult Years
Adult Memory of the Stages of Brain Development
Intuition versus Information
The Loss of Intuition
The Tragedy of Lost Potential
Invasion of the Lizard People?
Are We Stuck in a Loop?
Triggering Events
Raising Fully Human Children
Schools May Be the Key
School as Torture
Condemnation
School as Work
Comorbidities
Applying Comorbidities to Edison-Gene Children
Breaking the Loop
Offering a New Story

11--The Edison Gene, Drugs, Exercise, and Nutrition
Nutritional Deficiencies Are Rampant
Environmental Toxins
Nutriceuticals
Yerba Maté: Nature's Ritalin
Drugs for Edison-Gene Children
Medications Bite Back
Burning Out Brain Cells?
Do Drugs Help Over the Long Term?
The Loss of Play
EEG Neurofeedback
Exercise: The Optimal "Treatment"?

12--Providing Discipline and Structure for the Edison-Gene Child
Nurturing the Hunters
Reward/Punishment versus Inclusion/Interdependence
Separating Person from Behavior
Break the Pattern with a Positive Message
Watch for Islands of Success
The Importance of Mastery
Turn Off the Television

13--Alfred Adler's Principles for Raising Children
Promote Mutual Respect
Encourage
Foster Security
Avoid Reward and Punishment
Use Natural and Logical Consequences
Act Instead of Talk in Conflict Situations
Use Withdrawal as a Counteraction
Withdraw from the Provocation, Not from the Child
Don't Interfere in Children's Fights
Fighting Requires Cooperation
Take Time to Teach Essential Skills and Habits
Never Do for a Child What He Can Do for Himself
Don't Overprotect
Avoid Being Overly Responsible
Distinguish Between Positive and Negative Attention
Understand the Child's Goal
A Habit Is Maintained If It Achieves Its Purpose
Minimize Mistakes
Try a Family Council and Have Fun Together
The Edison-Gene Family

14--Educating the Edison-Gene Child
Learned Helplessness
Reframing Identity = Success in Learning
Government Studies Pronounce on Medication
They Ignored the Environment
The Study Proved Ritalin Doesn't Improve Learning
But It Makes the Teachers Happy
Lighting a Fire for Learning
Education and Testing Corporations
How Modern Education Came About
German Schools Come to America
American Education and the Catholic Problem
Backlash Against the Authoritarian Model of Public Education
Maria Montessori
Rudolf Steiner
Free and Alternative Schools
Homeschooling and Internet Schooling
But What About Socialization?
Why Homeschooling Works for Edison-Gene Children
The Edison Gene through the College Years
Find a Mentor or a Coach

15--Edison-Gene Girls and Women
Be a Good Girl
Cinderella in a Hostile World
Cultural Barriers
Cultural Programming and Expectations
Healing the Wounds

16--Spirituality and the Edison-Gene Child
Edison-Gene Mystics
The Hunter's Reality
The World of the Hunter's Dreams
Dreaming with the Natives
Learning to Know
Understanding the RealWorld
Wild People and Tame People
The Loss of True Wisdom
When Access to Personal Spirituality is Lost

Part 3: The Future

17--How Edison-Gene Children May Change the World
Glimmers of How Culture Works
What Causes Culture?
The Biology of Culture
Primal Human Cultures
Cultural and Genetic Selection

18--Is Human Evolution Finally Over?
As Good As It Gets
We're Going Downhill
It's the Fault of Those People with ADHD!
Are We Standing Still?
Distant Bottleneck Events

19--One Generation to Save the World
Climate Flip-Flops to the Next Ice Age
A Global-Warming Bottleneck

Afterword: Yesterday's Childby Janie Bowman

Notes

Index