Customer Reviews (2)

More relevant for today than when written.
This book is a scientific and spititual view of how the human species has evolved over all of time to become the frightened and violent and deceitful cariacature of his true nature.Humankind is experiencing "growing pains" that if seen and understood would change his inherited destructive attitudes for "solving problems" into truly humane solutions that would turn from a slow painfulsuicide to choices that will fulfill his potential and the destiny that is inherent in him. This book gives insight into this process so beautifully

A Rainbow of Paper Clips ...
as book marks, remain on my 1987 edition. Another swig of this marvelous gentleman's work dries out the wet algae in my thinking.

Born in 1903, Konrad Lorenz, winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine/Physiology, does not speak down to his reader.For the reader is often one who perceives the illness around him, who is already frightened by his own smallness and witnesses this waning as a root cause of our present-day world problems.

This gifted scholar selects concepts from his magic bag in a manner which best describes an understanding poet or novelist: straight to the reader's heart and mind, concepts which people hold in their deepest "No Admittance", but for various and often unavoidable reasons, do not express.

He begins by writing truthfully that with the nuclear threat, the prospects for human survival are dismal, continuing that even if this does not occur, if somehow there is a check on human's "incredibly stupid and blind conduct", he still is in grave danger of the "progressive decline of those human attributes and attainments which constitute their humanity."

This master animal behaviorist shares stories of Man's (and animals') pleasure in collecting -- baby fish miraculously appearing in one's aquarium, fruit in one's orchard, increase of the herd, a "stock split" - items which are of one kind.These, in his opinion, are more influenced by genetic programs than other kinds of joy found in possessions.But, he cites the immense danger that the greater the collection, the more intense is the desire, the urge for more.That this rage to collect can consume the personality is no secret, he wryly observes.

He continues to write of the neurotic lust for power, threatening the existence of all mankind - the highest possible position in the pecking order (not sic), and the utter ridiculous sight of it.

In his search into animal and human behavior, he often uses theword, "Gestalt", which means the coming together of diverse impressions and memories into one formidable idea.

In his twenty-five years with shamas, birds said to be the greatest "artists" among song birds, which species assemble beautiful, complicated songs when at play, he notes that should this bird have to defend its territory, court a mate or in any way have his song forced to serve a utilitarian purpose, the resultant stress would cause a loss of the song's awe-inspiring beauty.

From birds to humans, humans have an astonishing sensitivity toharmonies, the sensory and brain structures which are the Gestalt perception, one of the most important structures of the human.We cannot inspect or see this in ourselves, but enough is known that there is no doubt that they exist, can save us from not only extinction, but from having a life "not worth living." (not sic.)

Excerpts:

"Large populations mean that there are too many voters and too few to be voted upon."

"Very few people, regardless of how intelligent or morally faultless they may be, are capable of preserving their whole humaneness once they are in positions of power."

"Many people appear to be 'normal' because the humane voice within them has been struck dumb."

"Thomas Jefferson lived long enough to witness and realize that freedom of the press can be exploited for the dissemination of lies."

* * * * *

We will not be more fearful from reading "The Waning of Humaneness", for the strength of humans to bring beauty and selfless meaning to the world remains in our hands.In Lorenz's words, "A closed system is a non-living system." ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Konrad Zacharias Lorenz, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 1722 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Book Description
This article covers Lorenz, Konrad (1903-1989): Austrian behaviorist and early leader in the field of ethology.

The article is excerpted fromGale Encyclopedia of Psychology. This single-volume, accessible resource covers the entire spectrum of psychology, including: notable people, theories and terms; landmark case studies and experiments; applications of psychology in advertising, medicine and sports; and career information. More than 650 articles -- 65% of those are entirely new or updated since the last edition. Each article ranges from 25 to 1,500 words, covering the topics researchers want to know about, including:
Abnormal psychology
Bipolar disorder
Dyslexia
Sigmund Freud
Insomnia
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
Unconscious motivation
And hundreds more

In addition to more that 175 photographs, charts and graphs, students will also find a new glossary of over 350 terms, an updated organizations list and an updated and expanded index.

Published/Released: October 2000 ... Read more