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Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection
W. W. Norton
September 2008
On Sale: August 25, 2008
288 pages
ISBN: 0393061701
EAN: 9780393061703
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
A pioneering neuroscientist reveals the reasons for
loneliness and what to do about it. John T. Cacioppo's groundbreaking research topples one of
the pillars of modern medicine and psychology: the focus on
the individual as the unit of inquiry. By employing brain
scans, monitoring blood pressure, and analyzing immune
function, he demonstrates the overpowering influence of
social context--a factor so strong that it can alter DNA
replication. He defines an unrecognized syndrome--chronic
loneliness--brings it out of the shadow of its cousin
depression, and shows how this subjective sense of social
isolation uniquely disrupts our perceptions, behavior, and
physiology, becoming a trap that not only reinforces
isolation but can also lead to early death. He gives the lie
to the Hobbesian view of human nature as a "war of all
against all," and he shows how social cooperation is, in
fact, humanity's defining characteristic. Most important, he
shows how we can break the trap of isolation for our benefit
both as individuals and as a society.
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