{"product_id":"being-a-human-adventures-in-forty-thousand-years-of-consciousness-9781250855404","title":"Being a Human: Adventures in Forty Thousand Years of Consciousness","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY \u003ci\u003eTHE ATLANTIC\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eKIRKUS REVIEWS, \u003c\/i\u003e AND \u003ci\u003eNEW STATESMAN\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA radically immersive exploration of three pivotal moments in the evolution of human consciousness, asking what kinds of creatures humans were, are, and might yet be \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHow did humans come to be who we are? In his marvelous, eccentric, and widely lauded book \u003ci\u003eBeing a Beast\u003c\/i\u003e, legal scholar, veterinary surgeon, and naturalist extraordinaire Charles Foster set out to understand the consciousness of animal species by living as a badger, otter, fox, deer, and swift. Now, he inhabits three crucial periods of human development to understand the consciousness of perhaps the strangest animal of all--the human being. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTo experience the Upper Paleolithic era--a turning point when humans became behaviorally modern, painting caves and telling stories, Foster learns what it \u003ci\u003efeels \u003c\/i\u003elike to be a Cro-Magnon hunter-gatherer by living in makeshift shelters without amenities in the rural woods of England. He tests his five impoverished senses to forage for berries and roadkill and he undertakes shamanic journeys to explore the connection of wakeful dreaming to religion. For the Neolithic period, when humans stayed in one place and domesticated plants and animals, forever altering our connection to the natural world, he moves to a reconstructed Neolithic settlement. Finally, to explore the Enlightenment--the age of reason and the end of the soul--Foster inspects Oxford colleges, dissecting rooms, cafes, and art galleries. He finds his world and himself bizarre and disembodied, and he rues the atrophy of our senses, the cause for much of what ails us. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing on psychology, neuroscience, natural history, agriculture, medical law and ethics, \u003ci\u003eBeing a Human\u003c\/i\u003e is one man's audacious attempt to feel a connection with 45,000 years of human history. This glorious, fiercely imaginative journey from our origins to a possible future ultimately shows how we might best live on earth--and thrive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFoster, Charles:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eCharles Foster\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eBeing a Beast\u003c\/i\u003e, which won the 2016 Ig Nobel Award for biology and was a finalist for the Baillie Gifford Prize. He teaches medical law and ethics at the University of Oxford and his writing has been published in \u003ci\u003eNational Geographic\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNautilus\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eJournal of Medical Ethics\u003c\/i\u003e and many other venues. He lives in Oxford, England.","brand":"Metropolitan Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51384414306578,"sku":"9781250855404","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3ac90f87-99e9-40c5-8975-69fd4387d07d.jpg?v=1750173158","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/being-a-human-adventures-in-forty-thousand-years-of-consciousness-9781250855404","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}