Human universals
by Brown, Donald E. · first published 1991
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5HN commenters
2014–2024first – last mentioned
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…human univerals, and figure out a way to use technology to address that. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id1WShzzMCQ [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e8VZlPBx_0 [3]: https://www.amazon.com/Human-Universals-Donald-Brown/dp/0070...
on “Ask HN: Why is there still guessing involved in “Make something people want”?” ↗That 'universals' guy seems actually to be Donald Brown, and his book is 'Human Universals'. http://www.amazon.com/Human-Universals-Donald-Brown/dp/00700... The book is expensive, here's a list: http://condor.depaul.edu/mfiddler/hyphen/humunivers.htm
on “Alan Kay at Demo: The Future Doesn't Have to Be Incremental” ↗Human Universals by Donald Brown. Identifies the traits common to all humans, all societies and cultures. http://www.amazon.com/Human-Universals-Donald-Brown/dp/00700...
on “Ask HN: What book are you reading?” ↗…some reason (maybe somebody famous mentioned it in a popular Youtube video or something) and the pricing algorithms were reacting, but just overshot the mark. I think something like that happened with Human Universals (https://www.amazon.com/Human-Universals-Donald-Brown/dp/0070...) a while back... it's not really all that notable a book in general, and there are plenty of used copies available. But Alan Kay recommended…
on “Ask HN: Why is this C Programming Book Worth $674.99” ↗…in The Science of Man in the World Crisis ed Ralph Linton. New York: Columbia University Press. 123-142. (1945) * Charles Francis Hockett, Man's Place in Nature, McGraw-Hill (1973) * Donald E. Brown, Human Universals (1991) These are seminal works in that field - the seminal works as I understand it (I'm not an expert). You can find all/most at the Internet Archive, as far as I know.
on “Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth” ↗…I really can't do it justice. I'd say go find the videos and watch them and consider giving his approach a shot. You'll know you're at the bit I'm talking about when he starts talking about the book Human Universals.
on “Ask HN: Am I just a wantrepreneur?” ↗…if you can come up with something that addresses any of these highly general topics, you might have a good candidate. Alan Kay, in one of his videos[3][4] talks about referencing Donald Brown's book Human Universals[5] as a source for thoughts on these "universal" themes. There's a LOT of good stuff in those two videos, so if you haven't seen them yet, I'd highly advice watching them. Another thought is to find…
on “Ask HN: How to Choose Problem?” ↗Just about any introductory anthropology textbook. I think the idea may have originated with anthropologist Donald Brown, who wrote a book Human Universals (which I haven't read) about traits that are pretty much ubiquitous across all cultures. If you can tolerate a Wikipedia article, here it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_universal
on “Why do men strive for status and money?” ↗The full list: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/33942804-phillip-rhode... To narrow it down a bit... I just read Start at the End, and that motivated me to finally pick up Human Universals (which I originally discovered via a talk from Alan Kay). So I'm reading Human Universals now, and then intend to re-read Start at the End again after that. I sort of feel like there's a connection between…
on “Ask HN: What Are You Reading?” ↗…anthropology / etc., that I have been meaning to read. Books like Guns, Germs, and Steel, and Sapiens - things of that nature. One of those that I'm already on, but probably won't finish before Jan 1, is Human Universals by Donald Brown. I also want to get through some books on writing/reading mathematical proofs. Mathematical Reasoning: Writing and Proof by Ted Sundstrom, or The Book of Proof by Richard Hammack. Another…
on “Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?” ↗…vary from culture to culture. Facial expressions, at least many of them, are consistent across humanity. If someone stubs their toe or tastes something delicious, you'll know without words. Look up 'human universals' in anthropology, evolutionary psychology, and in other fields. Donald Brown (see below) gives some opinionated background here, including a literature review (of Brown's own writings, and more): https://literary-universals.uconn.edu/2017/06/25/human-unive...…
on “12,000-year-old realistic human statue was unearthed” ↗…rules? Edit: Also there are universal aspects to grammar, found in completely disconnected cultures, strongly implying an inherited foundation to them. Here's a non-exhaustive list based on Donald Brown's Human Universals, the seminal book on such things, language and otherwise. Unfortunately, not much detail here on grammar, but my point is more about the inherited, not learned or created, nature of much language. (The…
on “Hearing 'bad grammar' results in physical signs of stress – new study reveals” ↗