ENGLISH

The Human Zoo: A Zoologist's Study of the Urban Animal (Kodansha Globe)

By Desmond Morris

Book information

Publisher
Kodansha Globe
Year
1996
ISBN
1568361041, 9781568361048
LCC
BF701 .M6 1996
Open Library ID
OL825178M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
12 MB (12424299 bytes)
Pages
270\270
Topic
Education
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

How does city life change the way we act? What accounts for the increasing prevalence of violence and anxiety in our world? In this new edition of his controversial 1969 bestseller, The Human Zoo, renowned zoologist Desmond Morris argues that many of the social instabilities we face are largely a product of the artificial, impersonal confines of our urban surroundings. Indeed, our behavior often startlingly resembles that of captive animals, and our developed and urbane environment seems not so much a concrete jungle as it does a human zoo. Animals do not normally exhibit stress, random violence, and erratic behavioruntil they are confined. Similarly, the human propensity toward antisocial and sociopathic behavior is intensified in todays cities. Morris argues that we are biologically still tribal and ill-equipped to thrive in the impersonal urban sprawl. As important and meaningful today as it was a quarter-century ago, The Human Zoo sounds an urgent warning and provides startling insight into our increasingly complex lives.

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