What Makes Us Human
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Description
Book Introduction
“What kind of person are you becoming now?” The first award collection of Jerome Kagan, who is called the Montaigne of the 21st century! It encompasses psychology, philosophy, sociology, and science, and transcends the times. The greatest intellectual insight into humanity! * The 30 most influential psychologists in the world * Received the 'Outstanding Scientist Award' from the American Psychological Association * [Publisher's Weekly] Highly recommended! What has enabled humans to develop so well? How should we continue to develop ourselves? Jerome Kagan, one of the most influential living psychologists, following in the footsteps of Carl Jung and Pavlov, answers these questions, pointing out the inconsistencies in social scientific research methods, and analyzing the twelve elements that complete a human being, based on his 60 years of research on human development. 'Language', which symbolizes thoughts, and 'knowledge', which remains true only until new facts are discovered, are tasks that humans must continually ponder and overcome. The 'background' that humans, who cannot live alone, inevitably have and the 'social status' that is naturally divided within it can be a source of motivation for human life, but can also bring about frustration. Through the following topics of 'genes' and 'brain,' the significance of biological research on humans and the inevitable limitations of social science research are pointed out, and the direction in which social science should advance is explored. The social institution called 'family' has survived until now for some reason, and why it is disintegrating in modern society, why different results come out of the same 'experience', the necessity and limits of 'education', the special power of 'prediction' that only humans can have, where 'emotions' come from, and whether a 'moral' person behaves morally in any situation, etc. It mentions the psychological, philosophical, sociological, and scientific elements that make up humans in order, and presents various research cases related to each topic to explain what makes a human complete in an easy-to-understand way for anyone. After reading this book, I will reflect on what kind of language, culture, and society I was born into, what kind of parents and family I have, what kind of thoughts I have, and what kind of person I am living as. |
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Preview
index
prolog
Chapter 1 Language: Can We Express Everything with Words?
Chapter 2 Knowledge: What Does It Mean to Know?
Chapter 3 Background: How Does Background Affect Humans?
Chapter 4 Social Status: Why Do People Compare Themselves to Others?
Chapter 5 Genes: Is Personality Innate?
Chapter 6: The Brain: Can the Mind Be Explained by the Brain?
Chapter 7 Family: Is Family Really Necessary?
Chapter 8: Experience: Do Traits Formed in Childhood Last a Lifetime?
Chapter 9 Education: Is Education Necessary?
Chapter 10: Predictions: Do Predictions Have Power?
Chapter 11 Emotions: Are Feelings and Emotions Different?
Chapter 12 Morality: Do Moral People Act Morally?
Epilogue
References
Chapter 1 Language: Can We Express Everything with Words?
Chapter 2 Knowledge: What Does It Mean to Know?
Chapter 3 Background: How Does Background Affect Humans?
Chapter 4 Social Status: Why Do People Compare Themselves to Others?
Chapter 5 Genes: Is Personality Innate?
Chapter 6: The Brain: Can the Mind Be Explained by the Brain?
Chapter 7 Family: Is Family Really Necessary?
Chapter 8: Experience: Do Traits Formed in Childhood Last a Lifetime?
Chapter 9 Education: Is Education Necessary?
Chapter 10: Predictions: Do Predictions Have Power?
Chapter 11 Emotions: Are Feelings and Emotions Different?
Chapter 12 Morality: Do Moral People Act Morally?
Epilogue
References
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Into the book
“Words can enlighten us, reassure us, and inform us, but they can also misinform us and create uncertainties that do not exist in the empirical reality we encounter for the first time.
Our task is to distinguish between words and sentences that describe events that have occurred or have a significant chance of occurring and semantic inventions that do not cross the line between natural products and imaginary ones.
This is not to discount the power of imagination to generate beneficial outcomes and powerful theoretical concepts.
“It’s just a matter of recognizing the profound difference between the world of smooth words and the world of rough events.”
--- p.77~78
“Children choose their closest sibling or a peer of the same gender and age to compare themselves with.
Adults compare themselves with people of similar age, social class, and occupation.
Hotel security guards compare their salaries with those of other hotel employees.
“The preference for comparison with those close to us is a protective mechanism against the greater likelihood of failure when comparing ourselves to those higher up.”
--- p.167~168
“When we experience poverty, job insecurity, chronic physical illness, and social exclusion, proteins called cytokines are secreted.
This protein helps heal wounds, fight infections, and activates brain regions that produce the fatigue and malaise that often accompany torn muscles, broken bones, or the flu.
The mood is determined by how the person interprets this feeling.
Most adults interpret feeling tired or unwell as meaning they are sick.
Some people interpret this feeling to mean they are worried about something.
For example, they may have no money, be isolated from their community, or have a jeopardized social status.
“This interpretation is often the culprit that causes depression.”
--- p.208
“The temptation to blame your spouse for your frustrations at work is the third factor contributing to the fragility of modern marriages.
For most adults in developed countries, family and work are the main sources of satisfaction.
However, because it is not easy to distinguish whether the frustration you feel is coming from home or from work, it is easy to blame work-related frustration on your marriage.
Frustration at work is difficult to change.
But the frustrations that come with marriage can be changed.
“Because there are ways to do this, such as separation or divorce.”
--- p.292~293
“Because every fact can be proven wrong at any time, people must have premises that help them decide which facts to ignore and which to incorporate into their existing structures, while at the same time being prepared to replace existing beliefs with new ones when the evidence demands it.”
--- p.354
“Some people who have achieved great success interpret the unpleasant feeling they get when they are not doing something useful as tension or depression.
These are people who have achieved their current wealth, fame, and social status through the continuous practice of work ethic, which usually began in the first grade of elementary school.
Whenever they received good grades, praise, money, promotions, or leadership roles, they attributed all of that joy to their well-trained work habits.
As a result, they interpret the feeling that comes from taking on a challenging task as joy.
“These workaholics feel tense or depressed when they are not doing something they consider important.”
--- p.398
“The reason people help others in difficult situations, even though they know that their kindness will be difficult to repay later and that no one will recognize it, can be explained by the desire to think of themselves as good people.”
Our task is to distinguish between words and sentences that describe events that have occurred or have a significant chance of occurring and semantic inventions that do not cross the line between natural products and imaginary ones.
This is not to discount the power of imagination to generate beneficial outcomes and powerful theoretical concepts.
“It’s just a matter of recognizing the profound difference between the world of smooth words and the world of rough events.”
--- p.77~78
“Children choose their closest sibling or a peer of the same gender and age to compare themselves with.
Adults compare themselves with people of similar age, social class, and occupation.
Hotel security guards compare their salaries with those of other hotel employees.
“The preference for comparison with those close to us is a protective mechanism against the greater likelihood of failure when comparing ourselves to those higher up.”
--- p.167~168
“When we experience poverty, job insecurity, chronic physical illness, and social exclusion, proteins called cytokines are secreted.
This protein helps heal wounds, fight infections, and activates brain regions that produce the fatigue and malaise that often accompany torn muscles, broken bones, or the flu.
The mood is determined by how the person interprets this feeling.
Most adults interpret feeling tired or unwell as meaning they are sick.
Some people interpret this feeling to mean they are worried about something.
For example, they may have no money, be isolated from their community, or have a jeopardized social status.
“This interpretation is often the culprit that causes depression.”
--- p.208
“The temptation to blame your spouse for your frustrations at work is the third factor contributing to the fragility of modern marriages.
For most adults in developed countries, family and work are the main sources of satisfaction.
However, because it is not easy to distinguish whether the frustration you feel is coming from home or from work, it is easy to blame work-related frustration on your marriage.
Frustration at work is difficult to change.
But the frustrations that come with marriage can be changed.
“Because there are ways to do this, such as separation or divorce.”
--- p.292~293
“Because every fact can be proven wrong at any time, people must have premises that help them decide which facts to ignore and which to incorporate into their existing structures, while at the same time being prepared to replace existing beliefs with new ones when the evidence demands it.”
--- p.354
“Some people who have achieved great success interpret the unpleasant feeling they get when they are not doing something useful as tension or depression.
These are people who have achieved their current wealth, fame, and social status through the continuous practice of work ethic, which usually began in the first grade of elementary school.
Whenever they received good grades, praise, money, promotions, or leadership roles, they attributed all of that joy to their well-trained work habits.
As a result, they interpret the feeling that comes from taking on a challenging task as joy.
“These workaholics feel tense or depressed when they are not doing something they consider important.”
--- p.398
“The reason people help others in difficult situations, even though they know that their kindness will be difficult to repay later and that no one will recognize it, can be explained by the desire to think of themselves as good people.”
--- p.449
Publisher's Review
“What you gain from studying is becoming a wiser and better person.”
Jerome Kagan, the most influential living psychologist
A treasure trove of 12 discoveries made over 60 years of human research.
All humans are different.
We live with different personalities, thoughts, and emotions, just as we have different appearances.
These different people create their own families, form societies, and use different languages within their own distinctive cultural spheres.
And this kind of society also has different influences on people and perfects them.
Here, 'completion' does not mean that something is made perfectly, but rather that a certain result is produced.
What kind of person am I, created like that?
How am I being completed?
There is no right answer to this question.
This book is a minimal commentary on that question.
Numerous variables surrounding humans, such as language, background, status, and genes
The human result that cannot be explained by a single factor
In English, “freedom” is enough with one word, but in Russian, “freedom” requires different words depending on the situation.
Language is fundamentally created to meet human needs, and unnecessary words are eliminated.
The constant creation and disappearance of 'language' is due to changes in social values.
Just like language, ‘knowledge’ also goes through repeated cycles of birth and death.
Many scholars are constantly conducting research in their respective fields, and new research results sometimes render past research obsolete in the modern era.
This changeable society becomes the 'background' of human life.
Even for women with the same abilities, there are likely to be different evaluations and scopes of activity for those living in modern times, where women's rights have expanded to a certain extent, and those who lived in the past when they could not even vote.
This background and the resulting 'social status' serve as a stepping stone for some to take a step further, while for others, it becomes a barrier that leaves them frustrated and despairing and prevents them from taking on any further challenges.
Many people try to explain these individual differences with 'genes' or 'brain', but there are some parts that cannot be explained with those alone.
This is because we often see cases where identical twins, born with the same genes, live different lives.
A common mistake social scientists make is trying to prove that a particular outcome stems from a single cause.
In reality, there are countless variables in human life.
Most of these variables are uncontrollable, but even if they were, questions would arise as to whether the results would be realistic.
'What kind of daily life you live' is also important,
'What you think' is more important
The 'family' system has long been maintained as the most appropriate form for raising children, an essential element for the preservation of the species.
However, in modern times, various variations of the traditional family form began to appear.
For this reason, or for other reasons, some people grow up in violent or coercive two-parent homes, some in gentle single-parent homes, and some in neglectful homes.
Not only the shape of the family, but everyone has various 'experiences' as they grow up, and these are more important than any 'education'.
Education is important because it is linked to social status and can create new experiences, but it may be natural that the environment we encounter on a daily basis has a greater impact on our lives than education that takes place in a set place at a set time.
Therefore, the role and responsibility lies not only with parents and schools, but also with neighbors, society, and the nation.
So, does that mean all children who grow up in violent, poor, and abusive homes will grow up to be socially maladjusted? No.
More important than experience is each person's way of thinking in accepting the situation.
Humans are not greatly shaken by things that are 'predictable'.
Even in the same situation, how you perceive the situation can change the outcome.
However, this does not mean that responsibility can be placed on individuals.
Humans have 'emotions', and when they act 'morally', it is often because they want to be a good person themselves rather than to show off to others.
This is the power of will that only humans possess.
In 1896, the U.S. court ruled that segregated schools were constitutional, but in 1954, it was the public will that made it possible for segregated schools to be ruled unconstitutional.
While some facts may demonstrate the invalidity of a moral belief, they alone cannot serve as a greenhouse for fostering moral attitudes.
This is because each person's emotions play an important role in these changes.
These 12 factors alone will not be the factor that contributes to the outcome of human existence.
But if through this, we can briefly look back on ourselves and the society we live in and think about what each of us should do, then Jerome Kagan's research, which he has tirelessly explored for 60 years while enduring criticism from those around him for conducting research that cannot even draw conclusions, will not have been in vain.
Jerome Kagan, the most influential living psychologist
A treasure trove of 12 discoveries made over 60 years of human research.
All humans are different.
We live with different personalities, thoughts, and emotions, just as we have different appearances.
These different people create their own families, form societies, and use different languages within their own distinctive cultural spheres.
And this kind of society also has different influences on people and perfects them.
Here, 'completion' does not mean that something is made perfectly, but rather that a certain result is produced.
What kind of person am I, created like that?
How am I being completed?
There is no right answer to this question.
This book is a minimal commentary on that question.
Numerous variables surrounding humans, such as language, background, status, and genes
The human result that cannot be explained by a single factor
In English, “freedom” is enough with one word, but in Russian, “freedom” requires different words depending on the situation.
Language is fundamentally created to meet human needs, and unnecessary words are eliminated.
The constant creation and disappearance of 'language' is due to changes in social values.
Just like language, ‘knowledge’ also goes through repeated cycles of birth and death.
Many scholars are constantly conducting research in their respective fields, and new research results sometimes render past research obsolete in the modern era.
This changeable society becomes the 'background' of human life.
Even for women with the same abilities, there are likely to be different evaluations and scopes of activity for those living in modern times, where women's rights have expanded to a certain extent, and those who lived in the past when they could not even vote.
This background and the resulting 'social status' serve as a stepping stone for some to take a step further, while for others, it becomes a barrier that leaves them frustrated and despairing and prevents them from taking on any further challenges.
Many people try to explain these individual differences with 'genes' or 'brain', but there are some parts that cannot be explained with those alone.
This is because we often see cases where identical twins, born with the same genes, live different lives.
A common mistake social scientists make is trying to prove that a particular outcome stems from a single cause.
In reality, there are countless variables in human life.
Most of these variables are uncontrollable, but even if they were, questions would arise as to whether the results would be realistic.
'What kind of daily life you live' is also important,
'What you think' is more important
The 'family' system has long been maintained as the most appropriate form for raising children, an essential element for the preservation of the species.
However, in modern times, various variations of the traditional family form began to appear.
For this reason, or for other reasons, some people grow up in violent or coercive two-parent homes, some in gentle single-parent homes, and some in neglectful homes.
Not only the shape of the family, but everyone has various 'experiences' as they grow up, and these are more important than any 'education'.
Education is important because it is linked to social status and can create new experiences, but it may be natural that the environment we encounter on a daily basis has a greater impact on our lives than education that takes place in a set place at a set time.
Therefore, the role and responsibility lies not only with parents and schools, but also with neighbors, society, and the nation.
So, does that mean all children who grow up in violent, poor, and abusive homes will grow up to be socially maladjusted? No.
More important than experience is each person's way of thinking in accepting the situation.
Humans are not greatly shaken by things that are 'predictable'.
Even in the same situation, how you perceive the situation can change the outcome.
However, this does not mean that responsibility can be placed on individuals.
Humans have 'emotions', and when they act 'morally', it is often because they want to be a good person themselves rather than to show off to others.
This is the power of will that only humans possess.
In 1896, the U.S. court ruled that segregated schools were constitutional, but in 1954, it was the public will that made it possible for segregated schools to be ruled unconstitutional.
While some facts may demonstrate the invalidity of a moral belief, they alone cannot serve as a greenhouse for fostering moral attitudes.
This is because each person's emotions play an important role in these changes.
These 12 factors alone will not be the factor that contributes to the outcome of human existence.
But if through this, we can briefly look back on ourselves and the society we live in and think about what each of us should do, then Jerome Kagan's research, which he has tirelessly explored for 60 years while enduring criticism from those around him for conducting research that cannot even draw conclusions, will not have been in vain.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: March 11, 2020
- Page count, weight, size: 488 pages | 728g | 148*225*30mm
- ISBN13: 9791159314698
- ISBN10: 1159314691
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