MAN-CHILD

by David & Doris Klein Jonas ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1970

To be perfectly fair this book starts out with the not uninteresting thesis that man's evolution can be described as ""regressive"": essentially the spurt in development of brain and central nervous system comes about as a result of physical weakness and the direction of this evolution is toward an increasing pedomorphism--the anatomical, physiological, and behavioral characteristics of the adult form approaching more and more those of the infant. From here on out the reader is taken on a whirlwind tour of man's life today and yesterday in which every conceivable argument is brought forth as evidence for this course of development. The result is a self-defeating reductio ad absurdum. Some points are cogent and relevant, the very length of time needed for a human baby to become a self-reliant individual being one of the strongest, along with the very interesting observation that man more closely resembles the chimpanzee infant than the adult of this near-relative species. But to conclude that man's pleasure in reasoning and learning, in eating and art, in virtually every aspect of ""cultural"" life, bespeaks infantilism is a bit much to swallow. Halfway through the book one might suspect that today's trend toward the midi dress would be explained as evidence that we were emulanting the helplessness of the newborn in its Christening dress. . . . In short, the speculation is fascinating, the arguments too simplistic and too uncritically evaluated, especially when derived from fields which are beyond the authors.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION