Minds make societies : how cognition explains the world humans create / Pascal Boyer.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 295-343) and index.

Preface -- Introduction: Human societies through the lens of Nature -- Six problems in search of a new science -- 1. What is the root of group conflict? Why "tribalism" is not an urge but a computation -- 2. What is information for? Sound minds, odd beliefs, and the madness of crowds -- 3. Why are there religions? ... And why are they such a recent thing? -- 4. What is the natural family? From sex to kinship to dominance -- 5. How can societies be just? How cooperative minds create fairness and trade, and the apparent conflict between them -- 6. Can human minds understand societies? Coordination, folk sociology and natural politics -- Conclusion: Cognition and communication create traditions.

A watershed book that masterfully integrates insights from evolutionary biology, genetics, psychology, economics, and more to explore the development and workings of human societies "There is no good reason why human societies should not be described and explained with the same precision and success as the rest of nature." Thus argues evolutionary psychologist Pascal Boyer in this uniquely innovative book. Integrating recent insights from evolutionary biology, genetics, psychology, economics, and other fields, he offers precise models of why humans engage in social behaviors such as forming families, tribes, and nations, or creating gender roles. In fascinating, thought-provoking passages, he explores questions such as, Why is there conflict between groups? Why do people believe low-value information like rumors? Why are there religions? What is social justice? What explains morality? Boyer provides a new picture of cultural transmission that draws on the pragmatics of human communication, the constructive nature of memory in human brains, and human motivation for group formation and cooperation.