The Ten Types of Human

‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ In other words, is what happens to my brother my responsibility? To this eternal human dilemma, Michael, a boy sold into slavery in sub-Saharan Africa, simply answered yes.

So: Ten critical life problems Ten modules in our mind Ten characteristic types of human behaviour Ten ‘Types’ of human

study published in 2014 by Yale psychologists Annie Wertz and Karen Wynn indicated that six-month-old babies are born with an evolved learning mechanism for identifying which plants can be eaten. This ability was present ‘prior to any formalized instruction, and mirrors the ancestrally recurrent problem humans faced with respect to identifying edib

demise lies at the very heart of much human striving. His work culminated in the last book published during his lifetime, The Denial of Death.

but I should observe that my approach has also been heavily influenced by two of the foremost critical thinkers of the last 30 years, Pierre Bourdieu and Loïc Wacquant (including invaluable correspondence with the latter,

Your first duty, never forget this, is to look after yourself. But after you’ve done that, then you should reach out and help those who need help.’ It was a lesson Solomon never forgot.

‘The worst in our nature coexists with the best’ – the ‘monster in the fever swamp’. This is not a new thought. In fact, it is almost our oldest. Sophocles saw it. In his imperishable Antigone he tells us, ‘Many things are both wonderful and terrible, but none more so than humans.’

The Birth and Death of Meaning. It was the title that grabbed my attention, and the green spots on the cover – literally. It was by some cultural anthropologist, this guy called Becker.’

The notion that compassion costs, but that the cost can be budgeted for, managed, absorbed – paid – is not the most intuitive one. In fact it runs counter to many prevalent media messages about compassion fatigue and the futility of attempting to engage with ‘big’ social problems. (What’s the point? What difference could I make, anyway?) But nevert