The Social Animal (David Brooks book)
Encyclopedia
The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement is a non-fiction
book by American journalist David Brooks, who is otherwise best known for his career with The New York Times
. The book discusses what drives individual behavior and decision making. Brooks goes through various academic topics such as sociology
, psychology
, and biology
and attempts to summarize various discoveries— such as brain development
in early life. The book continually refers to two fictional characters 'Harold' and 'Erica', used by Brooks as examples of how people's emotional
personality
changes over time.
The book has been a commercial success at least initially. It debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It reached the #3 spot on the Publishers Weekly
best-sellers list for non-fiction (as of April 3rd). The book has received a wide variety of reviews. Criticism came from Forbes.com, Salon.com
, and The New York Times Book Review
, while praise came from The Washington Times
, Newsweek
, and Kirkus Reviews
. The book is also a favorite of the British Prime Minister
and Conservative Party
leader, David Cameron
.
at the University of Southern California
(USC).
Brooks' distance from his friends and colleagues living in Washington, D.C.
, which he has called "the most emotionally avoidant city in America", provided a major inspiration for writing the book. He has also remarked, "Our explanation of why we live the way we do is all on the surface... Our policies have been shaped by shallow views of human nature."
Ultimately, Brooks depicts human beings as driven by the universal feelings of loneliness
and the need to belong-- what he labels "the urge to merge." He describes people going through "the loneliness loop" of internal isolation, engagement, and then isolation again. He states that people feel the continual need to be understood by others.
Brooks devises two fictional characters, Harold and Erica, that he follows from around conception to natural death. Harold goes through life with a somewhat passive, pedestrian attitude as an intelligent student, a historical-themed author, and later as a fellow at a Washington, D.C.
think tank
. Erica has a more focused, and driven attitude that leads her to overcome the failure of her start-up
consulting business
to become the CEO of a major cable corporation and eventually ascend to the position of (fictional) President
Richard Grace's Deputy Chief of Staff and then Commerce Secretary.
published a review written by philosophy and law professor Thomas Nagel
. Nagel criticized Brooks' use of fictional characters in pursuit of his central thesis, writing,
The Washington Times
published a positive review. Critic Claude R. Marx labeled it "a well-written and engaging tour d’horizon". He also commented that "the book’s effectiveness is at times diminished by the author’s glibness, selective use of evidence and insufficient attention to opposing viewpoints." He concluded that readers "will learn a great deal".
In Salon.com
, science writer PZ Myers
criticized the fictional literary narrative technique, calling the book an "arid wasteland," but he principally criticized what he called the scientific deficiencies,
Will Wilkinson
wrote for Forbes.com what he labeled from the beginning as "A Scornful Review". He praised Brooks' "laudably ambitious aim" but found the follow-up disappointing. Wilkinson called the book's characters "two boring people who lead muted, more or less satisfactory lives in the successful pursuit of achievement as it is narrowly defined by their culture... emotionally straitened, humorlessly striving".
Newsweek
ran a review by James Atlas praising the book as "authoritative, impressively learned, and vast in scope", and he also remarked:
Alan Wolfe
wrote a mixed review in The New Republic
. He stated that Brooks is a "skillful popularizer of academic research in a wide variety of fields" and that Brooks "has a knack... to find experiments that, in his view, are chock full of revelations about the ways we live now." Wolfe also accused Brooks of cherry-picking facts to suit a given narrative about human nature. Wolf described The Social Animal as "a book by a conservative in which science is being used to buttress a prior point of view."
Walter Isaacson
, author and CEO of the Aspen Institute
, praised the book as "an absolutely fascinating book about how we form our emotions and character." Kirkus Reviews
referred to it as "An uncommonly brilliant blend of sociology, intellect and allegory."
Tony Schwartz
praised The Social Animal in the Harvard Business Review
, finding in it
best-sellers list for non-fiction (as of April 3rd). It debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It also reached the Amazon.com
Bestsellers Rank of #35 in the general category 'Books' (as of April 12th). Brooks told Newsweek
that he felt surprised by the large audience interest in his book tour, such as a women screaming "Will you marry me?" in Aspen
as well as people at Random House
hugging him in their office corridors.
Brooks appeared on the Comedy Central
program The Colbert Report on March 9th to promote the book.
The book has made a deep impression upon the British Prime Minister
and Conservative Party
leader, David Cameron
. Cameron instructed all members of his Cabinet
to read the book. He also created a seminar at 10 Downing Street
so that Brooks, while promoting the book in the U.K., could speak directly to the Minister and his closest advisers. Cameron's media advisers in particular felt impressed by Brooks’s discussions with them.
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
book by American journalist David Brooks, who is otherwise best known for his career with The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. The book discusses what drives individual behavior and decision making. Brooks goes through various academic topics such as sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, and biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
and attempts to summarize various discoveries— such as brain development
Neural development
Neural development comprises the processes that generate, shape, and reshape the nervous system, from the earliest stages of embryogenesis to the final years of life. The study of neural development aims to describe the cellular basis of brain development and to address the underlying mechanisms...
in early life. The book continually refers to two fictional characters 'Harold' and 'Erica', used by Brooks as examples of how people's emotional
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
personality
Personality psychology
Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that studies personality and individual differences. Its areas of focus include:* Constructing a coherent picture of the individual and his or her major psychological processes...
changes over time.
The book has been a commercial success at least initially. It debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It reached the #3 spot on the Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
best-sellers list for non-fiction (as of April 3rd). The book has received a wide variety of reviews. Criticism came from Forbes.com, Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, and The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
, while praise came from The Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, and Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...
. The book is also a favorite of the British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
and Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
leader, David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
.
Background
Brooks spent about three years writing the book in between moments of his media career (TV appearances, lectures, etc). He has remarked, "I used to play golf... I gave up every second that I wasn’t hanging around with my wife and kids." In doing research, he visited the lab of neuro-scientist Antonio DamasioAntonio Damasio
Antonio Damasio is David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Southern California, where he heads USC's Brain and Creativity Institute and Adjunct Professor at the Salk Institute. Prior to taking up his posts at USC, in 2005, Damasio was M.W...
at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(USC).
Brooks' distance from his friends and colleagues living in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, which he has called "the most emotionally avoidant city in America", provided a major inspiration for writing the book. He has also remarked, "Our explanation of why we live the way we do is all on the surface... Our policies have been shaped by shallow views of human nature."
Contents
Brooks asserts that people's subconscious minds largely determine who they are and how they behave. He argues that deep internal emotions, the "mental sensations that happen to us", establish the outward mindset that makes decisions such as career choices. Brooks describes the human brain as dependent on what he calls "scouts" running through a deeply complex neuronal network.Ultimately, Brooks depicts human beings as driven by the universal feelings of loneliness
Loneliness
Loneliness is an unpleasant feeling in which a person feels a strong sense of emptiness and solitude resulting from inadequate levels of social relationships. However, it is a subjective experience...
and the need to belong-- what he labels "the urge to merge." He describes people going through "the loneliness loop" of internal isolation, engagement, and then isolation again. He states that people feel the continual need to be understood by others.
Brooks devises two fictional characters, Harold and Erica, that he follows from around conception to natural death. Harold goes through life with a somewhat passive, pedestrian attitude as an intelligent student, a historical-themed author, and later as a fellow at a Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
. Erica has a more focused, and driven attitude that leads her to overcome the failure of her start-up
Startup company
A startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets...
consulting business
Management consulting
Management consulting indicates both the industry and practice of helping organizations improve their performance primarily through the analysis of existing organizational problems and development of plans for improvement....
to become the CEO of a major cable corporation and eventually ascend to the position of (fictional) President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Richard Grace's Deputy Chief of Staff and then Commerce Secretary.
Reviews
On the weekend of the books' publication, The New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
published a review written by philosophy and law professor Thomas Nagel
Thomas Nagel
Thomas Nagel is an American philosopher, currently University Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University, where he has taught since 1980. His main areas of philosophical interest are philosophy of mind, political philosophy and ethics...
. Nagel criticized Brooks' use of fictional characters in pursuit of his central thesis, writing,
The Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
published a positive review. Critic Claude R. Marx labeled it "a well-written and engaging tour d’horizon". He also commented that "the book’s effectiveness is at times diminished by the author’s glibness, selective use of evidence and insufficient attention to opposing viewpoints." He concluded that readers "will learn a great deal".
In Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, science writer PZ Myers
PZ Myers
Paul Zachary "PZ" Myers is an American biology professor at the University of Minnesota Morris and the author of the Pharyngula science blog. He is currently an associate professor of biology at UMM, works with zebrafish in the field of evolutionary developmental biology , and also cultivates an...
criticized the fictional literary narrative technique, calling the book an "arid wasteland," but he principally criticized what he called the scientific deficiencies,
Will Wilkinson
Will Wilkinson
Will Wilkinson is a Canadian American libertarian writer. Until August 2010, he was a research fellow at the Cato Institute where he worked on a variety of issues including Social Security reform and, most notably, the policy implications of happiness research. He is currently working on a paper...
wrote for Forbes.com what he labeled from the beginning as "A Scornful Review". He praised Brooks' "laudably ambitious aim" but found the follow-up disappointing. Wilkinson called the book's characters "two boring people who lead muted, more or less satisfactory lives in the successful pursuit of achievement as it is narrowly defined by their culture... emotionally straitened, humorlessly striving".
Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
ran a review by James Atlas praising the book as "authoritative, impressively learned, and vast in scope", and he also remarked:
Alan Wolfe
Alan Wolfe
Alan Wolfe is a political scientist and a sociologist and is currently on the faculty of Boston College and serves as director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life...
wrote a mixed review in The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
. He stated that Brooks is a "skillful popularizer of academic research in a wide variety of fields" and that Brooks "has a knack... to find experiments that, in his view, are chock full of revelations about the ways we live now." Wolfe also accused Brooks of cherry-picking facts to suit a given narrative about human nature. Wolf described The Social Animal as "a book by a conservative in which science is being used to buttress a prior point of view."
Walter Isaacson
Walter Isaacson
Walter Isaacson is a writer and biographer. He is the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C. He has been the Chairman and CEO of CNN and the Managing Editor of TIME...
, author and CEO of the Aspen Institute
Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1950 as the Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies. The organization is dedicated to "fostering enlightened leadership, the appreciation of timeless ideas and values, and open-minded dialogue on contemporary issues." The...
, praised the book as "an absolutely fascinating book about how we form our emotions and character." Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...
referred to it as "An uncommonly brilliant blend of sociology, intellect and allegory."
Tony Schwartz
Tony Schwartz (The Energy Project)
Tony Schwartz is the president, founder, and CEO of The Energy Project. Schwartz is also a best-selling author and professional speaker with more than 30 years of experience in writing about and working with leaders and organizations to effect change....
praised The Social Animal in the Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review is a general management magazine published since 1922 by Harvard Business School Publishing, owned by the Harvard Business School. A monthly research-based magazine written for business practitioners, it claims a high ranking business readership among academics, executives,...
, finding in it
Reception
The book achieved initial commercial success. The book reached the #3 spot on the Publishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
best-sellers list for non-fiction (as of April 3rd). It debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It also reached the Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
Bestsellers Rank of #35 in the general category 'Books' (as of April 12th). Brooks told Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
that he felt surprised by the large audience interest in his book tour, such as a women screaming "Will you marry me?" in Aspen
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
as well as people at Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
hugging him in their office corridors.
Brooks appeared on the Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
program The Colbert Report on March 9th to promote the book.
The book has made a deep impression upon the British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
and Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
leader, David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
. Cameron instructed all members of his Cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
to read the book. He also created a seminar at 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
so that Brooks, while promoting the book in the U.K., could speak directly to the Minister and his closest advisers. Cameron's media advisers in particular felt impressed by Brooks’s discussions with them.
See also
- Bobos in ParadiseBobos in ParadiseBobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There is a book by David Brooks, first published in 2000. The word bobo, Brooks's most famous coinage, is a portmanteau of the words bourgeois and bohemian. The term is used by Brooks to describe the 1990s descendants of the yuppies...
- Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain
External links
- An excerpt of David Brooks' 'The Social Animal' - msnbc.comMsnbc.commsnbc.com is a news website owned and operated as a joint venture by NBCUniversal and Microsoft.In addition to original content from its news staff, msnbc.com is the news website for the NBC News family, with content from the cable television news channel MSNBC, NBC shows such as Today, NBC Nightly...
- David Brooks interview about his book on Charlie Rose (talk show)Charlie Rose (talk show)Charlie Rose is an American television interview show, with Charlie Rose as executive producer, executive editor, and host. The show is syndicated...
March 7, 2011