Paleofantasy

By: Zuk Marlene Zuk

Narrated by: Laura Darrell

An exposé of pseudoscientific myths about our evolutionary past and how we should live today.

We evolved to eat berries rather than bagels, to live in mud huts rather than condos, to sprint barefoot rather than play football - or did we? Are our bodies and brains truly at odds with modern life? Although it may seem as though we have barely had time to shed our hunter-gatherer legacy, biologist Marlene Zuk reveals that the story is not so simple. Popular theories about how our ancestors lived - and why we should emulate them - are often based on speculation, not scientific evidence.

Armed with a razor-sharp wit and brilliant, eye-opening research, Zuk takes us to the cutting edge of biology to show that evolution can work much faster than was previously realized, meaning that we are not biologically the same as our caveman ancestors.

Contrary to what the glossy magazines would have us believe, we do not enjoy potato chips because they crunch just like the insects our forebears snacked on. And women don’t go into shoe-shopping frenzies because their prehistoric foremothers gathered resources for their clans.

As Zuk compellingly argues, such beliefs incorrectly assume that we’re stuck - finished evolving - and have been for tens of thousands of years. She draws on fascinating evidence that examines everything from adults’ ability to drink milk to the texture of our ear wax to show that we’ve actually never stopped evolving.

From debunking the caveman diet to unraveling gender stereotypes, Zuk delivers an engrossing analysis of widespread paleofantasies and the scientific evidence that undermines them, all the while broadening our understanding of our origins and what they can really tell us about our present and our future.

©2013 Marlene Zuk (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Love a good discussion of Evolution and not....

Excellent discussion of Evolution and a lot of current health trends. I have found that many people don't begin to understand evolution. In particular they seem to see evolution as a directing force towards some optimal form. However, that assumes a static system so there can be some optimal form. I think the author does a thorough job of debunking that particular fantasy. The other fantasy she goes after is that there was once some idealized state of man before the fall, which lately seems to be staked to the rise of agriculture. She references a lot of interesting evidence of what our species was and was doing which challenges most or perhaps, all of the notions of what she refers to as paleofantacists. It's interesting to see evidence based on dental plaque on our most ancient remains. If you are trying to eat like our ancestors, or exercise like our ancestors because you believe that it is inherently better, you'll likely be wrong. On the exercise front, it appears that a lot of the notions of what we were doesn't line up with the evidence either. I think this is an important read. I feel more prepared when some paleo zealot wants to drone on endlessly about the truth of our ancestry, and I can ask how he or she knows that, and be able to challenge them better. I may be a curmudgeon on the subject, but I get bored with folks treating pseudoscience reverentially. Look, if it's what you want to believe, and it doesn't interfere with me, you go right ahead. Just don't try and muddle science and call it gospel. Go do the research from people who study genetics, anthropology, paleontology, and stay away from the cranks, please.

mediocre

Any additional comments?

There is good information here. Unfortunately the book is filled with horrible prose and useless remarks. The audio book is not helped by the narrator who has bad intonation and cadence. I am surprised that the book's editor and the audio producer would have let this pass.

Clever narative device, covers many topics

The author uses the clever narrative device of using modern day caveman wannabes incorrect beliefs and tells a story that teaches the reader about prehistory, evolution, psychology, diet, genetics and etc.

She'll state an incorrect caveman wannabe belief. Show why it's absurd. State that "the truth is much more complex than that", and give all the relative current science on that matter and how it doesn't really make sense. All the while doing it in a highly listenable way because the topics are always interesting.

This is a good book. She's not a great writer and sometimes takes multiple paragraphs to say something that should have been said in a single paragraph. The narrator is not a great narrator either.

I'd much prefer an interesting topic presently poorly than a boring topic presented well. If you have an interest in how we fit into the universe (and who doesn't?), I'd recommend this book strongly.

It may not be what you want to hear, but it’s important to hear!

Marlene Zuk has done a solid job of pulling together research from multiple arenas of science to back up everything she is explaining. She uses great analogies and helps us to understand more clearly our own evolutionary past and future.

I would have rated this book higher, but at some points I struggled to make sense of what was being said. I think I’m going to get a hard copy of this book so that I can more fully digest her claims and information. While not a “beginners guide“ to evolution and natural selection and the science behind how we understand it, Zuk does a really good job of helping to make the complex understandable.

I teach high school biology so I probably have more background then the average listener, but this book is so important for everyone to at least think about. She lays out a very strong case for why it is false to think that humans are “done“ evolving and that natural selection does not still work on us.

Her treatment of the Paleo crowd is not harsh but is not particularly kind. She is more matter-of-fact and clearly explains why our fantasy with all things Paleo is just that, a fantasy.

A solid listen, but I think it would be a better physical read. If you don’t have the time for it though, listening is the next best thing.

An Entertaining & Informative Book

I enjoyed the author pithy writing style, and the narrator's perfectly pitched "snarky" delivery of Ms. Zuk's sharply reasoned, factually data based arguments that first punctured and then swept away the debris of so many Half Baked, and somewhat looney evolutionary based food and disease related theories and fads.
A good listen! ;-)
FCHOWLANDJR, Oxford-on-the-Choccolocco, AL

Excellent

This book was amazing. It really helps you think about calling back to human evolutionary history. It lost me a little bit near the end, but overall worth reading.

Interesting rebuttal of the ideas behind paleo

The author takes the ideas behind the paleo movement one by one and confronts them with the scientific research available. Humans are still evolving and we never fitted perfectly into the one hunter gatherer society, one reason is that there is no single such society.

Awful narrator

What did you like best about Paleofantasy? What did you like least?

It was interesting but was a bit long winded and sciency. It was definitely food for thought but could have been condensed which would have kept me listening more consistently.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Paleofantasy?

n/a

Would you be willing to try another one of Laura Darrell’s performances?

Maybe for fiction. Her voice was really annoying when listening to a scientific book. If I hear "neandra-tal" instead of "neandra-thal" one more time I'll kick a puppy.

Do you think Paleofantasy needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No.

A Brilliant Book With Awful Narration

The narrator appears to be struggling with reading throughout. It's awkwardly paced, phrased and she has a whining tone on top of that. This is a shame because the data within is fascinating and I learned an awful lot about evolutionary biology from this text. I, cautiously, recommend this but I am thinking reading it would be far less painful than listening to it. One of the worst things about this is that the author clearly has a good sense of humor and a keen wit and it's completely butchered by the reading of this work. I would love to read more by this author but I'd prefer to avoid the narrator completely in future.

Politics distracts from interesting science

There's a lot of interesting science, about genetics, evolution, sociology, and paleontology. I greatly enjoy works that explore topics using evidence from multiple disciplines.

However, the author's feminism and antipathy towards the paleo culture casts a shadow, leaving an impression that some of the evidence is selected from confirmation bias rather than letting the evidence lead.

it's still a good listen.