Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You

July 23, 2012
In this compelling bit of pop science, Fuentes, professor of anthropology at Notre Dame, asks readers to throw out their preconceptions about what it means to be a human. His goal is to systematically undo three destructive myths regarding human nature, viz. that race is biologically determined, humans are inherently aggressive, and men and women are behaviorally different. With a nod to his thesis advisor, who once declared, "I would not have seen it if I hadn't believed it," Fuentes explains that it is precisely this tendency to let our beliefs color "the way we see the world" that makes these particular myths so pernicious. In his discussion of human aggressionâparticularly on the part of malesâ, Fuentes doesn't shy away from potentially damning statistics showing that men commit most violent crimes. He insists that while the numbers don't lie, they also don't reflect some necessary condition of maleness. Rather, society is to be blamed for the enculturation of violence into the male psyche. More broadly, he asserts that humans are "naturenurtural," the products of individual biologies and cultural assumptions. Indeed, it is a weighing of experience with a healthy dose of speculation and doubt that Fuentes claims is the key to uncovering anthropological truths, and thereby navigating the world as a more responsible and unbiased member of society.