A natural history of cheating from selfish genes to lying politicians Nature is rife with cheating. Possums play possum, feigning death to cheat predators. Crows cry wolf to scare off rivals. Amphibians and reptiles are inveterate impostors. Even genes and cells cheat. The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars explores the evolution of cheating in the natural world, revealing how dishonesty has given rise to wondrous diversity. Blending cutting-edge science with a wealth of illuminating examples—from microscopic organisms to highly intelligent birds and mammals—Lixing Sun shows how cheating in nature relies on two basic rules. One is lying, by which cheaters exploit honest messages in communication signals and use them to serve their own interests. The other is deceiving, by which cheaters exploit the biases and loopholes in the sensory systems of other creatures. Sun demonstrates that cheating serves as a potent catalyst in the evolutionary arms race between the cheating and the cheated, resulting in a biological world teeming with complexity and beauty. Brimming with insight and humor, The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars also looks at the prevalence of cheating in human society, identifying the kinds of cheating that spur innovation and cultural vitality and laying down a blueprint for combatting malicious cheating such as fake news and disinformation.
Combining research from the social sciences, hard sciences, and the humanities, this accessible cross-disciplinary book offers fascinating insights into a key component of human nature and society. What do the Arab Spring, the Robin Hood legend, Occupy Wall Street, and the American taxpayer reaction to the $182 billion bailout of AIG have in common? All are rooted in a deeply ingrained sense of fairness. But where does this universal instinct come from? This is the driving question at the heart of L. Sun's The Fairness Instinct. Thinkers from Aristotle to Kant, from Augustine to John Rawls, and religions from Christianity to Confucianism, have offered great insight into the nature and origins of this basic human desire for fairness. Based on the most recent scientific discoveries in behavioral genetics, neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, economics, and evolution, Sun argues that the origins of the fairness instinct cannot be found exclusively in the philosophical, social, and political perspectives to which we so often turn; rather, they can be traced to something much deeper in our biological makeup. Taking as his starting point Frans De Waal's seminal study showing that Capuchin monkeys revolt when they are shortchanged by receiving a less valuable reward than their peers receive for the same task, Sun synthesizes a wide range of research to explore the biological roots of the fairness instinct. He shows that fairness is much more than a moral value or ideological construct; fairness is in our DNA. Combining scientific rigor with accessible and reader-friendly language to relate fascinating stories of animal and human behavior, The Fairness Instinct lays out an evolutionary roadmap for how fairness emerges and thrives under natural selection and how two powerful engines--social living and social hierarchy--have fueled the evolution of this intricate and potent instinct in all of us. Probing into the motives that underlie such phenomena as envy, consumerism, anti-intellectualism, revenge, revolution, terrorism, marriage, democracy, and religion, Sun showcases the power of the fairness instinct to make our history, shape our society, and rule our social lives.
This open access book summarizes the multi-disciplinary results of one of China's main primatological research projects on the endemic Tibetan macaque (Macaca thibetana), which had continued for over 30 years, but which had never been reported on systematically. Dedicated to this exceptional Old World monkey, this book makes the work of Chinese primatologists on the social behavior, cooperation, culture, cognition, group dynamics, and emerging technologies in primate research accessible to the international scientific community. One of the most impressive Asian monkeys, and the largest member of its genus, the Tibetan macaque deserves to be better known. This volume goes a long way towards bringing this species into the spotlight with many excellent behavioral analyses from the field. - Frans de Waal, Professor of Psychology, Emory University, USA. Macaques matter. To understand primate patterns and trends, and to gain important insight into humanity, we need to augment and expand our engagement with the most successful and widespread primate genus aside from Homo. This volume focuses on the Tibetan macaque, a fascinating species with much to tell us about social behavior, physiology, complexity and the macaque knack for interfacing with humans. This book is doubly important for primatology in that beyond containing core information on this macaque species, it also reflects an effective integrated collaboration between Chinese scholars and a range of international colleagues-exactly the type of collaborative engagement primatology needs. This volume is a critical contribution to a global primatology. - Agustín Fuentes, Professor of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, USA. I have many fond memories of my association with Mt. Huangshan research beginning in 1983, when together with Professor Qishan Wang we established this site. It is such a beautiful place and I miss it. It is gratifying to see how far research has progressed since we began work there, becoming more internationalized and very much a collaborative endeavor under the long-term direction of Professor Jin-Hua Li and colleagues. This book highlights the increased interest in this species, representing a variety of disciplines ranging from macro aspects of behavior, cognition and sociality, to micro aspects of microbes, parasites and disease, authored by a group of renowned Chinese and international primatologists. I applaud their efforts and expect more interesting work to come from this site in the years ahead. - Kazuo Wada, Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University, Japan. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.
A natural history of cheating from selfish genes to lying politicians Nature is rife with cheating. Possums play possum, feigning death to cheat predators. Crows cry wolf to scare off rivals. Amphibians and reptiles are inveterate impostors. Even genes and cells cheat. The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars explores the evolution of cheating in the natural world, revealing how dishonesty has given rise to wondrous diversity. Blending cutting-edge science with a wealth of illuminating examples—from microscopic organisms to highly intelligent birds and mammals—Lixing Sun shows how cheating in nature relies on two basic rules. One is lying, by which cheaters exploit honest messages in communication signals and use them to serve their own interests. The other is deceiving, by which cheaters exploit the biases and loopholes in the sensory systems of other creatures. Sun demonstrates that cheating serves as a potent catalyst in the evolutionary arms race between the cheating and the cheated, resulting in a biological world teeming with complexity and beauty. Brimming with insight and humor, The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars also looks at the prevalence of cheating in human society, identifying the kinds of cheating that spur innovation and cultural vitality and laying down a blueprint for combatting malicious cheating such as fake news and disinformation.
Beavers can and do dramatically change the landscape. The beaver is a keystone species their skills as foresters and engineers create and maintain ponds and wetlands that increase biodiversity, purify water, and prevent large-scale flooding. Biologists have long studied their daily and seasonal routines, family structures, and dispersal patterns. As human development encroaches into formerly wild areas, property owners and government authorities need new, nonlethal strategies for dealing with so-called nuisance beavers. At the same time, the complex behavior of beavers intrigues visitors at parks and other wildlife viewing sites because it is relatively easy to observe.In an up-to-date, exhaustively illustrated, and comprehensive book on beaver biology and management, Dietland Muller-Schwarze and Lixing Sun gather a wealth of scientific knowledge about both the North American and Eurasian beaver species. The Beaver is designed to satisfy the curiosity and answer the questions of anyone with an interest in these animals, from students who enjoy watching beaver ponds at nature centers to homeowners who hope to protect their landscaping. Photographs taken by the authors document every aspect of beaver behavior and biology, the variety of their constructions, and the habitats that depend on their presence. Beaver facts: Just as individual beavers shape their immediate surroundings, so did the distribution of beavers across North America influence the paths of English and French explorers and traders. As a result of the fur trade, beavers were wiped out across large areas of the United States. Reintroduction efforts led to the widespread establishment of these resilient animals, and now they are found throughout North America, Europe, and parts of the southern hemisphere. Beaver meadows provided early settlers with level, fertile pastures and hayfields. Based on the fossil record, the smallest extinct beaver species were the size of a muskrat, and the largest may have reached the size of a black bear (five to six times as large as today's North American beavers). Beaver-gnawed wood has been found alongside the skeleton of a mastodon. Some beavers remain in the home lodge for an extra year to assist their parents in raising younger siblings. They feed, groom, and guard the newborn kits. In 1600, beaver ponds covered eleven percent of the upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers' watershed above Thebes, Illinois. Restoring only 3 percent of the original wetlands might suffice to prevent catastrophic floods such as those in the early 1990s.
In ancient China, as the lowermost class in the social hierarchy, merchants were viewed as greedy and immoral, commanding little respect. But since the sixteenth century, when China entered modern times with the sprout of capitalism, merchants have become a strong force to transform the ancient society. By absorbing methods of anthropology, psychology, geography, and economics, as well as cultural and genealogical studies, this book explores the development and rise of the merchant in modern China. To start with, it examines the golden times of the merchant and the dilemmas facing them in the two-millennia-long traditional society where the "pro-agriculture and anti-commerce" policy was implemented. With the economic development, merchant groups gradually came into being and formed a vibrant social class in the modern era. Major merchant groups, their psychological integration, and the interaction between merchants and capitalism in China are specifically studied. Also, merchants’ role in the communal life is analyzed, including their contribution to the making and expansion of modern communities, which led to China’s social transformation. With a multi-faceted description of Chinese merchants whose development interweaves with the transformation of the ancient country, this book will appeal to scholars and students in economics, history, sociology, and cultural studies. Readers interested in Chinese culture and social history will also be attracted by it.
This scholarly and comprehensive textbook comprises three parts: Channels and Points; Acupuncture and Moxibustion Techniques; Treatment of Diseases. Based on the ancient classics of traditional Chinese medicine, modern clinical practice, and recent research, Acupuncture and Moxibustion is a wonderful textbook both for international students and an essential reference for practitioners. Its editorial board, composed of well-known Chinese and Western acupuncture practitioners, has ensured that the English edition conforms to high academic standards.
In attaining economic globalization, China needs world economy, world economy also needs China. This book outlines the foundation of an analytically oriented public finance that intends to promote sound development of China, and discusses various contemporary topics, including the impacts of the tradition, the mechanisms of economic policies and operations, the modernization perspective and international trade conflict, as well as current rural issues and the legal environment in China. The book focuses on explaining China's special phenomena, and trying to provide answers to questions on 'why'. The intent of this book is to share the knowledge and experience that author has gained from working in China and the United States of America and to serve as an intellectual bridge for global investors, economists and market watchers in general to understand China better. "This Book is the story of an economic revival unlike anything seen before. It is the story of a "Mixed Economic System" that to date has achieved remarkable economic gains. It is a story of how directed investment with a purpose which combines Government to kick start free enterprise can work. It is also a story of trial and error and practical applications of capital flows based on measured results. It is a story that accentuates the value of pragmatism and flexibility to change course instead of slavish adherence to ideology. It is also a story of how much more needs to be done to spread the economic resurgence across all segments of the population and all regions of the Country. The Book is a "must study" for graduate students in economics and finance." A. Robert Abboud, former Chairmen of the First National Bank of Chicago, Chairman of First City Bank of Texas and President of Occidental Petroleum.
The law of balance is not just a motivating power but also serves the purpose of development. How did human society develop in a balanced manner in history? How is China's Modernization impacted by the law of equilibrium? How does the law of balance affect China's economic and trade relations with other countries?This book attempts to answer these questions and more. It applies the balance law methodology to systematically analyze major factors influencing the sustainable development of the Chinese economy and society, and to discuss the balanced way of thinking, market credit, innovation energy and international collaboration that boost sustainable development. While the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics needs a balanced development perspective, solving the problem of imbalance requires a balanced approach as well as a balanced interaction between man, nature and society, which is the key factor for economic development in the 21st century.
Theory and Modeling of Dispersed Multiphase Turbulent Reacting Flows gives a systematic account of the fundamentals of multiphase flows, turbulent flows and combustion theory. It presents the latest advances of models and theories in the field of dispersed multiphase turbulent reacting flow, covering basic equations of multiphase turbulent reacting flows, modeling of turbulent flows, modeling of multiphase turbulent flows, modeling of turbulent combusting flows, and numerical methods for simulation of multiphase turbulent reacting flows, etc. The book is ideal for graduated students, researchers and engineers in many disciplines in power and mechanical engineering. Provides a combination of multiphase fluid dynamics, turbulence theory and combustion theory Covers physical phenomena, numerical modeling theory and methods, and their applications Presents applications in a wide range of engineering facilities, such as utility and industrial furnaces, gas-turbine and rocket engines, internal combustion engines, chemical reactors, and cyclone separators, etc.
Monte Carlo approximation to the null distribution of the test provides a convenient means of testing model fit. This book proposes a Monte Carlo-based methodology to construct this type of approximation when the model is semistructured. It addresses both applied and theoretical aspects of nonparametric Monte Carlo tests.
As a government institution specializing in development-oriented finance, the China Development Bank (CDB) has combined advanced international financial theories with China's practical conditions and has done remarkably well in removing financing bottlenecks, establishing market credit systems, and ensuring faster and better economic and social development. Its practice and theory in development-oriented finance represent a major distinctive feature of China's socialist market economy.Written in the setting of great history, great changes and great challenges, this book contains a systematic study of the theory and practice of development-oriented finance that has evolved along with China's reform and opening up. It provides an in-depth analysis of the ideological basis, theoretical contents, operating principles and innovative development of China's financial system.China's Rise: Development-Oriented Finance and Sustainable Development will promote further discussions and researches on China's modern economic and financial systems and in turn the sustainable development of the Chinese economy and the world economy at large.
This unique volume takes a very different approach to the county-level governance and the land system reform in China. Based on thorough-going interviews with — township and village cadres, the book analyzes the current major conflicts in rural areas: between urbanization and rural development, between small-scale production and big market, and between the land operation right and land ownership etc. The book also describes the turbulent phase of transition characterized by the reform of the county-level administrative system, economic system and land system; and depicts how to capture the dynamic micro functions of grassroots government as well as macro evolutions of overarching political institutions in China.The goal of this book is to explore a new approach to speed up the construction of the market and society at the base level and enhance the overall, integrated and intrinsic dynamics of the county-level economy.The down-to-earth presentation of this book engages readers to deeply feel the genuine situation and dilemmas of cadres at the rural grassroots levels in China. Its comprehensive documentation and in-depth discussion provide the best depiction of rural governance in contemporary China, and will serve as a good reference for economic source professionals, political researchers, college students and faculties.
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