--- product_id: 11632253 title: "The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit" price: "49.37 DT" currency: TND in_stock: false reviews_count: 10 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/11632253-the-tangled-wing-biological-constraints-on-the-human-spirit store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit **Price:** 49.37 DT **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit - **How much does it cost?** 49.37 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/11632253-the-tangled-wing-biological-constraints-on-the-human-spirit) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description A vital updating of a seminal work of science First published to great acclaim twenty years ago, T he Tangled Wing has become required reading for anyone interested in the biological roots of human behavior. Since then, revolutions have taken place in genetics, molecular biology, and neuroscience. All of these innovations have been brought into account in this greatly expanded edition of a book originally called an "overwhelming achievement" by The Times Literary Supplement . A masterful synthesis of biology, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy, The Tangled Wing reveals human identity and activity to be an intricately woven fabric of innumerable factors. Melvin Konner's sensitive and straightforward discussion ranges across topics such as the roots of aggression, the basis of attachment and desire, the differences between the sexes, and the foundations of mental illness. Review: This is how science is done - Melvin Konner's The Tangled Wing is a shining example of the way science is done. The depth of scholarship is truly inspiring - Konner remarked that there were originally two hundred pages of notes, "the meticulous preparation of which added at least a year to the project" (they were published online to keep the cost of the book down). Warning: after reading this book, the methodology of other authors might seem pathetically underwhelming by comparison. The next two books I read as part of my master's degree in engineering management seemed ludicrously speculative by comparison, with poor or nonexistent empirical support. A joke, in short, made all the more laughable due to the stark contrast with the depth of scholarship displayed in The Tangled Wing. Scientific authors often have to trade off between popular appeal of their books and usefulness to the academic community. Konner settled that compromise more on the academic side, but I wouldn't say this book is wholly inaccessible to those outside the academic community (my education is in engineering, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it). If you don't mind wading through a little jargon about neurotransmitters and brain regions, there are plenty of fascinating gems to be discovered. And laymen might be just as impressed by the methodology of a real scientist as they are by the discoveries garnered thereby. There is a chapter about weight regulation titled 'Gluttony' that I found particularly interesting. This is a deceptively complex topic that is subject to much pseudoscience and uninformed opinion, so it is refreshing to see the bright light of science shone upon it. I'll summarize some of the findings: "Between the age twenty-five and fifty-five, the average American puts on an additional twenty pounds; all this takes is an energy intake that exceeds energy output by one third of one percent. " The sensations of hunger and satiety (fullness) are regulated by a complicated system using various forms of feedback, and tiny variations can make all the difference. "40 to 70 percent of human variation in plumpness is genetic, as measured in various ways in many studies. In a classic adoption study led by Albert Stunkard, 540 adult Danish adoptees were compared with their biological and adoptive parents. The subjects ranged from thin to extremely obese, and this dimension was highly predictable from the fatness of either biological parent but not from either or both adoptive parents...the family environment had no apparent effect." "The meal-ending signal system is framed by the long-term fat-regulation system." In other words, when you have more body fat than your "set point," you feel full after eating less food than you otherwise would, triggering a loss of weight. "Unfortunately, it works both ways. Go on a diet, reduce your fat mass, and pretty soon your meal-ending sensors don't hear so well anymore." So lose weight and it takes more food to make you feel full, stimulating weight gain. This is combined with another insidious effect: the body regulates its fat content by varying its metabolic rate, so losing weight means the body reduces its energy consumption. "Energy output is reduced by even a small (10 percent) weight loss, deliberate or not, so a 'formerly obese person requires approximately fifteen percent fewer calories to maintain a 'normal' body weight than a person of the same body composition who has never been obese.' This is due to an 18 percent decrease in energy use at rest and a 25 percent decrease in energy use while active." So an obese person who loses weight may 1) require more food to feel full than they used to and 2) their metabolism may decrease so their body naturally burns fewer calories than it used to. It's as if the body is striving to achieve a certain amount of body fat, called the "set point," which varies from person to person. These two factors explain why weight loss is rarely achieved in the long term. Why does the human body seem to be designed for obesity? We evolved under hunter-gatherer conditions, when periodic food deficits were the norm. Studies of modern hunter-gatherer societies show that mild to severe food deficits are common, during which times stored fat confers survival advantage. This was probably also true in our species' history. "Natural selection could not provide us with an effective mechanism for keeping our weight down in times of abundance for the simple reason that it was giving us quite the opposite, a system that piles on excess fat in times of abundance, stores to draw on during shortages. Since there was rarely continuous abundance during the whole of human evolution - and certainly not combined with physical indolence - natural selection cannot have prepared us for such conditions." Review: Favorite Book - This book was recommended to my by an anthropologist friend many years ago. It was instrumental in launching me on a multi-year study of evolutionary psychology and remains one of my favorite books of all time. Part One gives an excellent introduction to our evolutionary history and how our brains work. Part Two is an engaging look at the history and experience of our most basic emotions. Dr. Konner is an eminent scientist as attested by this work and even more so by his more recent book "The Evolution of Childhood." In 'Wing' he presents good science on topics critical to human existence in a most engaging way. I chose to give a copy of this book to a most promising clinical psychology intern I just supervised as it is thought provoking on a number of subjects. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #1,689,538 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #315 in Medical Physiological Aspects of Psychology #396 in Physiological Aspects in Psychology (Books) #1,567 in Anatomy (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 37 Reviews | ## Images ![The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71I7irxYSBL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This is how science is done *by A***Y on March 5, 2010* Melvin Konner's The Tangled Wing is a shining example of the way science is done. The depth of scholarship is truly inspiring - Konner remarked that there were originally two hundred pages of notes, "the meticulous preparation of which added at least a year to the project" (they were published online to keep the cost of the book down). Warning: after reading this book, the methodology of other authors might seem pathetically underwhelming by comparison. The next two books I read as part of my master's degree in engineering management seemed ludicrously speculative by comparison, with poor or nonexistent empirical support. A joke, in short, made all the more laughable due to the stark contrast with the depth of scholarship displayed in The Tangled Wing. Scientific authors often have to trade off between popular appeal of their books and usefulness to the academic community. Konner settled that compromise more on the academic side, but I wouldn't say this book is wholly inaccessible to those outside the academic community (my education is in engineering, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it). If you don't mind wading through a little jargon about neurotransmitters and brain regions, there are plenty of fascinating gems to be discovered. And laymen might be just as impressed by the methodology of a real scientist as they are by the discoveries garnered thereby. There is a chapter about weight regulation titled 'Gluttony' that I found particularly interesting. This is a deceptively complex topic that is subject to much pseudoscience and uninformed opinion, so it is refreshing to see the bright light of science shone upon it. I'll summarize some of the findings: "Between the age twenty-five and fifty-five, the average American puts on an additional twenty pounds; all this takes is an energy intake that exceeds energy output by one third of one percent. " The sensations of hunger and satiety (fullness) are regulated by a complicated system using various forms of feedback, and tiny variations can make all the difference. "40 to 70 percent of human variation in plumpness is genetic, as measured in various ways in many studies. In a classic adoption study led by Albert Stunkard, 540 adult Danish adoptees were compared with their biological and adoptive parents. The subjects ranged from thin to extremely obese, and this dimension was highly predictable from the fatness of either biological parent but not from either or both adoptive parents...the family environment had no apparent effect." "The meal-ending signal system is framed by the long-term fat-regulation system." In other words, when you have more body fat than your "set point," you feel full after eating less food than you otherwise would, triggering a loss of weight. "Unfortunately, it works both ways. Go on a diet, reduce your fat mass, and pretty soon your meal-ending sensors don't hear so well anymore." So lose weight and it takes more food to make you feel full, stimulating weight gain. This is combined with another insidious effect: the body regulates its fat content by varying its metabolic rate, so losing weight means the body reduces its energy consumption. "Energy output is reduced by even a small (10 percent) weight loss, deliberate or not, so a 'formerly obese person requires approximately fifteen percent fewer calories to maintain a 'normal' body weight than a person of the same body composition who has never been obese.' This is due to an 18 percent decrease in energy use at rest and a 25 percent decrease in energy use while active." So an obese person who loses weight may 1) require more food to feel full than they used to and 2) their metabolism may decrease so their body naturally burns fewer calories than it used to. It's as if the body is striving to achieve a certain amount of body fat, called the "set point," which varies from person to person. These two factors explain why weight loss is rarely achieved in the long term. Why does the human body seem to be designed for obesity? We evolved under hunter-gatherer conditions, when periodic food deficits were the norm. Studies of modern hunter-gatherer societies show that mild to severe food deficits are common, during which times stored fat confers survival advantage. This was probably also true in our species' history. "Natural selection could not provide us with an effective mechanism for keeping our weight down in times of abundance for the simple reason that it was giving us quite the opposite, a system that piles on excess fat in times of abundance, stores to draw on during shortages. Since there was rarely continuous abundance during the whole of human evolution - and certainly not combined with physical indolence - natural selection cannot have prepared us for such conditions." ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Favorite Book *by B***K on September 2, 2013* This book was recommended to my by an anthropologist friend many years ago. It was instrumental in launching me on a multi-year study of evolutionary psychology and remains one of my favorite books of all time. Part One gives an excellent introduction to our evolutionary history and how our brains work. Part Two is an engaging look at the history and experience of our most basic emotions. Dr. Konner is an eminent scientist as attested by this work and even more so by his more recent book "The Evolution of Childhood." In 'Wing' he presents good science on topics critical to human existence in a most engaging way. I chose to give a copy of this book to a most promising clinical psychology intern I just supervised as it is thought provoking on a number of subjects. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very interesting....... *by A***E on May 27, 2016* Very interesting and includes more information about the fairly recent discovery of the gene that causes some people; particularly women, to lose weight. It's a very primal part of the brain that "prepares" the body for famine and, at the moment, they don't know how to help people overcome this genetic condition. Good to understand however.... --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/11632253-the-tangled-wing-biological-constraints-on-the-human-spirit](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/11632253-the-tangled-wing-biological-constraints-on-the-human-spirit) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-08-09*