The Spaces Between Us: A Story of Neuroscience, Evolution, and

The Spaces Between Us: A Story of Neuroscience, Evolution, and Human Nature

Each of us has a protected zone two or three feet wide, swelling around the head and narrowing towards the feet. This zone isn't fixed in size: if you're nervous, it grows; if you're relaxed, it shrinks. It also depends on your cultural upbringing. Personal space is small in Japan and large in Australia. This safety zone, called personal space, provides an invisible spatial scaffold that frames our social interactions.

As Michael Graziano argues in The Spaces Between Us, it also organizes our social and emotional spacing, influences our facial expressions, and shapes our interactions with everyday objects including tools, furniture, and clothing. Even ordinary actions like walking are informed by a continuous under-the-surface calculation of threats and obstacles around the body: what Graziano calls a virtual bubble-wrap of active neurons that fire and move us to action, even before we may be conscious of our course corrections in real time. Humans evolved a complex way of interacting with others and their environment, and The Spaces Between Us looks at how this infrastructure may have led to the first smile and to a host of other human activities, from tool use, to courtship, and to a sense of self. The book concludes with a case study of Graziano's son, who had heart-breaking difficulties developing a functioning personal space. Written with poignant narrative clarity, Graziano makes the case for the interested scientific public that this system in the brain is more than a fascinating scientific topic: it's deeply personal and shapes our human nature.

Country	USA
Author	Michael Graziano
Binding	Hardcover
EAN	9780190461010
Edition	1
ISBN	0190461012
Label	Oxford University Press
Manufacturer	Oxford University Press
MPN	9780190461010
NumberOfItems	1
NumberOfPages	216
PartNumber	9780190461010
PublicationDate	2018-01-05
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Studio	Oxford University Press
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

The Spaces Between Us: A Story of Neuroscience, Evolution, and Human Nature

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