The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic Life

The author is haunted by the spectre of murderous apes. But why is there so little killing, among apes and among humans. The answer is morality, which is not in the index of the book. Human life would be impossible without morality, which is the set of rules for living in society. We were social before we were human. First we had ape social life and trust, then human family life, then all the rest of human life. Social scientists not only need to know other social social sciences besides economics, they also need to know biology. We can think of social science as one form of biology.

«La paura degli estranei, recentemente risvegliatasi, disgrega l'intera tela di relazioni che legano insieme le persone in una sana società moderna e mina tutte le istituzioni da cui tale società dipende». Questo breve pensiero, inserito nella parte finale del libro, chiarisce la linea di ricerca che ha spinto Seabright a indagare le origini delle società moderne. La fiducia nei confronti degli sconosciuti è ciò che storicamente ci ha permesso da emanciparci dalle logiche dei clan e dei nuclei familiari, per costruire società ricche e complesse, sia dal punto di vista culturale che economico. Comprendere le basi di questa dinamica è fondamentale.

Very interesting book about trust, how unnatural it is for human beings, and how modern society is made possible through trust.

AN INSIGHTFUL EXAMINATION OF HOW HUMAN COOPERATION HAS EVOLVED FROM SMALL COMMUNITIES TO COMPLEX GLOBAL ECONOMIES, GROUNDED IN BIOLOGY AND HISTORY.

There is some truth here, but he is leaning heavily on evo-psych, a controversial field.