Thumbs, Toes, and Tears: And Other Traits That Make Us Human explores six seemingly unconnected but unique human traitsβthe big toe, our thumbs, our pharynx, tears, kissing, and laughter. Each trait marks a fork in the evolutionary road where we went one way and the rest of the animal kingdom went the other. Thumbs, Toes, and Tears draws on complexity theory, the latest brain scanning techniques, new insights from fields as diverse as anthropology, psychology, neurobiology, even artificial intelligence, sports medicine and robotics to reveal a creature that was shaped as much by its social relationships and internal self-image as it was by its ability to walk upright, make tools and use language. As the story of each trait unfolds, the book explores why we fall in love, why we look the way we do, why we care about what others think, what motivates our attractions to one another, the origins of deception, curiosity, trust, humor, sorrow and affectionβpresenting a unique portrait of the human species.
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