Synopses & Reviews
Was love invented by European poets in the middle ages, as C. S. Lewis claimed, or is it part of human nature? Will winning the lottery really make you happy? Is it possible to build robots that have feelings? These are just some of the intriguing questions explored in this new guide to the latest thinking about the emotions.
Drawing on a wide range of scientific research, from anthropology and psychology to neuroscience and artificial intelligence, Emotion: The Science of Sentiment takes the reader on a fascinating journey into the human heart. Illustrating his points with entertaining examples from fiction, film, and popular culture, Dylan Evans ranges from the evolution of the emotions to the nature of love and happiness to the language of feelings, offering readers the most recent thinking on real life topics that touch us all. But Emotion is also a book filled with surprises. Readers will discover, for instance, that the basic emotions are felt the world over--whether we live in the shadow of Times Square or in the depths of the rain forest, we all feel the emotions of disgust, joy, surprise, anger, fear, and distress. We find out that, according to research, winning the lottery does not cause a lasting increase in happiness--a short-lived euphoria is followed in almost every case with a return to our usual emotional state, if not worse. And we meet Kismet, an MIT robot that can express a wide range of emotions, from fear to happiness.
Fun to read and based on the latest scientific thinking, here is a stimulating look at our emotions.
Review
"A pop science classic."--Independent on Sunday
"A fun book.... Highly accessible, this little gem deserves to sell well."--Nature
"A charming primer on the up-and-coming science of emotions."--New Scientist
"Evans, one of the best of the new wave of science writers, has written a masterly survey--lean, confident, and packed with up-to-the-minute information. It will enlighten and surprise."--Nicholas Humphrey, author of Leaps of Faith
"At last, an accessible and fascinating account of a neglected aspect of our mental lives."--Lewis Wolpert, author of Malignant Sadness
Synopsis
From Darwin to "Star Trek", Evans offers a lively look at the science of emotions and finds that whether we live in the shadow of Times Square or in the depths of the rain forest, all humans feel disgust, joy, surprise, anger, fear, and distress. 20 halftones.
Synopsis
Was love invented by European poets in the middle ages, as C. S. Lewis claimed, or is it part of human nature? Will winning the lottery really make you happy? Is it possible to build robots that have feelings? These are just some of the intriguing questions explored in this new guide to the latest thinking about emotions.
Drawing on a wide range of scientific research, from anthropology and psychology to neuroscience and artificial intelligence, Emotion: The Science of Sentiment takes the reader on a fascinating journey into the human heart. Illustrating his points with entertaining examples from fiction, film, and popular culture, Dylan Evans ranges from the evolution of emotions to the nature of love and happiness to the language of feelings, offering readers the most recent thinking on real life topics that touch us all.
About the Author
Dylan Evans is a Research Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at King's College London, where he directs a research project in the evolution of the emotions. In his previous lives, he worked as a film-maker and psychotherapist.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
1. The universal language
2. Why Spock could never have evolved
3. Shortcuts to happiness
4. The head and the heart
5. The computer that cried
References
Further reading
Index