David Brooks thinks we understand too little about ourselves.
“We are good at teaching technical skills,” he says, “but when it comes to the most important things, like character, we have almost nothing to say.”
So David tells a story to teach us about how a person’s character forms. He’s not just referring to moral character. He’s talking about total cognitive and social development.
David tells us how babies learn to talk, why five-year-olds have active imaginations, and why some jocks might hang out with geeks. He describes why woman flip their hair when they flirt, why babies laugh at the strangest cues, and why high school seniors become interested in obscure subjects like Ancient Greece.
David tells us this — and much, much more — by creating a fictional story of two characters, Harold and Erica, in his book, The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement.
Harold Meets Erica
Years before the fictional character Harold is born, Harold’s future parents are set up on a blind date with one another. They make snap judgments about each other at first glance, as all people do.
David walks us through the story of this young couple meeting for lunch at a cafe, then transitions into describing two Princeton researchers who found that people make snap judgments about trustworthiness in one-tenth of a second.
He describes that research, plus a few accompanying studies, before he takes us back to that scene in the café where two lovers are dining on salad and steak.
He describes Harold’s childhood, drawing us through how – as a baby – Harold acquired speech, cognition and other distinctly human skills. He describes the crushes Harold formed as a teenager and the social hierarchy in the school cafeteria.
Then he transitions to Erica’s story – the low-income childhood she spent bouncing from apartment to apartment. He talks about Erica’s alcoholic mother would couldn’t pay the rent, and in telling that story, he teaches us about research into the impact of poverty on child-rearing.
As Erica becomes a teenager, burning with anger and the desire to better her situation, the author teaches us about research on the source of ambition.
Erica blossoms in the business world, hires Harold, and they fall in love. The author – you guessed it! – explains, in depth, what happens to a brain in love.
The Social Animal blends psychology, sociology, anthropology and a slight dose of history. At times, it gets science-y, but at other moments, it feel esoteric.
Should You Read It?
I’ll admit, I wasn’t a fan in the beginning. His introduction is laced with flowery language, and at times he strays away from the storyline and delves into the sciences for many pages at a stretch.
But as the story of Harold and Erica progressed, I became more engrossed in this book. The Social Animal is a great way to learn about society, motivation, social class, the workforce, cognition, development and love — all tied into one story.
This Book Is For You If: You enjoy learning about a wide array of subjects spanning the social sciences and hard sciences.
This Book Is NOT For You If: You want a book with actionable, how-to “news you can use” information.
Check out more about The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement by David Brooks.
Note: Every Friday I review a book or movie. See a complete list here.
Photo courtesy SabianMaggy.
It sounds like the kind of book I would definitely enjoy. Now if only I can find it here in Thailand.
Every Friday you review.. does this mean that you either read a book or watch a movie every week? Wow! I wish I had the time to read a book per week. Reading PF blogs is just as good though, right?
@Matt — Exactly!! Haha, I actually started doing this because I spent so much time reading blogs that I had completely stopped reading books. I started it as a 3-month challenge for myself, in the fall of last year, but I decided to stick with it as we got into 2012.
My wife and I were just talking about something similar: why we develop the preferences we do. We were talking specifically about food but what it is that makes us like some foods and dislike others? I bet this book might answer that question…
Definitely going to read this one!
Another enjoyable review. I’d agree that people don’t take enough time studying themselves and why they do things. It’s incredible thinking about some of the random acts which form a person over the length of their life. Experiences. Habits. It isn’t hard to see why most of us are contradictions of ourselves.
Very interesting. I like the social and scientific reasons behind how we as humans learn to function and flourish in this crazy world. This is going on my short list of reads!
I am curious to know how Harold and Erika developed feelings toward each other especially that I do not see any connection to their background. I would love to know how their lives came to be. This sounds like a good read. I like reading something new.
@Kimberly – You’ll have to read the book to find out! LOL.