Agustín Fuentes

A compelling takedown of prevailing myths about human behavior, updated and expanded to meet the current moment. There are three major myths of human nature: humans are divided into biological races; humans are naturally aggressive; and men and women are wholly different in behavior, desires, and wiring. Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You counters these pervasive and pernicious myths about human behavior. Agustín Fuentes tackles misconceptions about what race, aggression, and sex really mean for humans, and incorporates an accessible understanding of culture, genetics, and evolution that requires us to dispose of notions of "nature or nurture." Presenting scientific evidence from diverse fields, including anthropology, biology, and psychology, Fuentes devises a myth-busting toolkit to dismantle persistent fallacies about the validity of biological races, the innateness of aggression and violence, and the nature of monogamy, sex, and gender. This revised and expanded edition provides up-to-date references, data, and analyses, and addresses new topics, including the popularity of home DNA testing kits and the lies behind '"incel" culture; the resurgence of racist, nativist thinking and the internet's influence in promoting bad science; and a broader understanding of the diversity of sex and gender.

Busting Myths about Human Nature

Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You, Second Edition

tianna

Instead of telling me I am 99 percent similar to all other human beings, that many of my genetic ancestors between 2,000 and 10,000 years ago were distributed around the Middle East, Northeastern Africa, and Central Asia, and that most of my recent ancestors were probably from parts of Southern and Eastern Europe (which is what my DNA results reveal), 23andme present my results informing me that I am 99 percent European, split between Ashkenazi (an ethnoreligious grouping) and Iberian (a geographic location), with a smattering of Northeast African and/or the Levant/Arabia (again geography) and nonallocated (not easily categorized given their limited reference samples). 23andme's description is not entirely a lie, as it reflects aspects of my ancestry based on the reference samples they use and their specific mode of reporting, but it is grossly misleading and incomplete and increases ignorance about no what human genetic variation is and means.

In order to move forward we all have to be active in the discussion about the reality of racism in the United States. We need to confront racist friends, family, and society. 

“America talks about race like scared parents talk with their kids about sex.”

Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You, Second Edition quotes

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