What Makes us Human?

Note: This post has been cross-posted on The Walkabout.

Yesterday, I posted the following photo on Facebook.

It is the book I intend to read next, once I'm done with Cindy Trimm's Commanding Your Morning and Mbugua Mumbi's Becoming an 'A' Student in Life.
A comment on that Facebook post has made it necessary to explain what the book is all about. And please note this is not a book review at all, just a sneak peek.

Well, this book is inspired by talks that were presented at a symposium held in Oxford, in March 2006.

The book, put simply, is an attempt to answer the following questions:
Are we half ape or half angel? Is it our cognitive abilities, our use of tools, our story-telling, our beliefs, our curiosity, our ability to cook, our culture, that make us human?

These are the book chapters:

1. Imitation Makes us Human
2. Memory, Time and Language
3. Why are Humans not just Great Apes?
4. The Hominid that Talked
5. Half Ape, Half Angel?
6. Material facts from a non-materialist perspective
7. What Makes us Human? Our Ancestors and the Weather
8. Curiosity and Quest
9. Human Evolution and the Human Condition
10. The Place of "Deep Social Mind" in the Evolution of Human Nature
11. Causal Belief Maes us Human
12. The Cooking Enigma.

The book What Makes us Human? is available on Amazon and elsewhere across the web.

Remembering Chinua Achebe

Yesterday, Chinua Achebe was laid to rest in Nigeria, following his death in March.

Chinua Achebe is one of the most popular African writers. His 'Things Fall Apart' has been translated into dozens of languages and has sold millions of copies. Some of his other books are A Man of the People, Arrow of God, No Longer at Ease and The Trouble with Nigeria.

His writing continues to entertain and enlighten, and most important, inspire other writers across the world.

The day before last, I listened to an archive interview where Mr Achebe was speaking to the BBC's Veronique Edwards. He shared some enduring insights about his legacy, and his writing.
Listen below:


In death as in life, Chinua Achebe continues to be an enduring inspiration. His writing lives on, and as one of my favorite writers, I greatly respect and applaud his work.
Rest in Peace Chinua Achebe.