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The book This Explains Everything is an eclectic assortment of chapters which converge to highlight the nature of humanity by exploring topics in various fields such as psychology, astronomy, physics, sociology, etc. My favorite chapters typically abstained from empirical studies and offered up thought experiments and questions. A chapter that I enjoyed quite a bit was the one entitled Commitment by Richard H. Thaler. The chapter was short and sweet – a theme among my favorites – and explored the conundrum of choice and indirectly invoked the concept of agency. Thaler claims that with a strict commitment to a future course, that course can be taken instead of a pondering paralysis. He cites the prisoner’s dilemma, which I find to be a gross oversimplification in its employment as Thaler later goes on to claim that this decisiveness and adherence would solve society’s thorniest problems. This reductionistic critique is shallow when applied to conflicts of this magnitude and sho...

Testosterone Rex: Myths of Sex, Science and Society by Cordelia Fine is a book about men and women and how the divide between them is only based on nature. This book explores these differences, debunking common misconceptions about the genders that have been reenforced due to cultural aspects. As a Psychologist and professor of history and philosophy, Fine is able to provide factual information on many topics, from mating and reproduction, sexual characteristics and many more. My favorite topics from this book were the discussion of sexual selection, how men and women attempt to secure a mate and her ideas about sex differences between genders. Chapter 1 discusses the processes behind sexual selection. Darwin’s theory of sexual selection stated that some characteristics, such as size, are usually selected for more strongly in males. These characteristics increase a male’s reproductive advantage in the sense that they are able to better fight for their right females. Other male ch...

Book Report: This Explains Everything. This paper will not explain “everything” like Brockman’s book does, but I’ll do my best to explain my favorite parts of his work. An array of topics were discussed in this book: Psychology to software development, physics, to anthropology this book has something for everyone. The excerpts in the book are thought provoking and warrant looking at things in different perspectives. Mixing soft science and hard science was a happy medium which made for a straightforward yet complex read. The first chapter that caught my eye was The Importance of Individuals by Howard Gardner. This chapter details the importance of individuality. In a world with so many people only few go on to change the themes in their time. Without the contributions from some of these leading individuals our lives would be quite different. The ideas put forth and the actions taken by activists, scientists, musicians, artists color the world. Without individuality everything wou...

Olivia Van Houten Testosterone Rex Book Report History & Systems Introduction:             Testosterone Rex is a book written by Cordelia Fine who is a psychologist and professor of history and philosophy of science. This book discusses and debunks the many “myths of sex, science, and society.” Cordelia Fine dives deep into topics pertaining to sex categories (whether you are male or female) and how this topic divides us in the social world. The testosterone rex view is a myth that tells us that men and women evolved different natures. The viewpoint is that male and female are two different types of people and have two different types of brains, not just two different reproductive systems. Fine uses research and studies to address the myths and stereotypes throughout history and in todays society that pertain to sex and gender differences. Chapter 2: One Hundred Babies        ...

Testosterone Rex, written by Cordelia Fine, is all about the female and male brain. Cordelia is a psychologist who has spent a lot of time study the human brain. Her goal with this book is to prove that the only difference between men and women is biological. Society has created these characteristics that men must be, and characteristics of what women must be. She uses the research that she has found to debunk myths about sex, science and society that have become very popular and believed over the years. Chapter 1 was a very good starting chapter in this book. It debunked a few of the myths about men and women. One that it was focused on was mating. Society and culture has taught us that men are more superior when it comes to mating and reproducing. Angus Bateman came us up with this theory that males are more promiscuous then female and that makes them better at finding a partner. This is not true though. Through research, it is believed the women are just as good at finding a ...

Summary: In Chapter 12 details how humans develop and how ourselves as well as our environment can affect our choices. Developmental psychology not only deals with lifespan development in humans but a wide variety of topics. Biological tests can be performed to see how one fairs before and after the administered therapy. Childhood development is a huge area in developmental psychology. Also discussed was cognitive, social, and personality development. Elements of Thought: Implications- Theories of development. As you can see in this chapter there are many models and theories one can use for childhood/life development. Erikson, Piaget, Kholberg, and even Freud have their own interpretations on development. Also with new theories being presented in the field of developmental psychology, there may lie redundancies throughout theories. Maybe a more generalized consensus is needed? Point of View- From the viewpoint of evolutionary psychology, people exhibit traits due to evolution...

Summary: Circled around the mind, Chapter 16 is on the cognitivists. A hope for something other than the rigid psychological focus on methodology, and the new wave of conditioning cognitive psychology opened up the door to our minds and our mental processes. New ways of thinking and various reasons for why groups think the way they do. Elements of Thought: Information- Plainly stated in the chapter computers contributed quite a bit of help in the world of cognitive psychology. Reasoning and analytical and programming quickly became of use to psychologists. Using symbols that translate into other information. As well as information  processing, using dating to achieve a goal. Terms like storage and memory can be applied too. Data- Cognitive neuroscience. The function of our minds. This area delves into the brain and its processes, and what areas are responsible for what actions. Finding out the outcomes of damaging parts of the brain in animals to assessing the damage i...