Don Ross

Book Launch: The Gambling Animal

Economists Don Ross and Glenn Harrison have written a ‘natural history of risk management’ from the prehistoric origins of humans in Africa to the current crises of rapid climate change and biodiversity collapse. They see this as ‘a powerful way to understand the general career of Homo Sapiens and our relationship to the planet and its other inhabitants.

Love Books and Jonathan Ball Publishers will be hosting Don Ross for the launch of The Gambling Animal. Don Ross will be in conversation with Dr Nicky Nicholls.

 

The Gambling Animal

Humanity’s unique relationship with risk has driven us to defy the evolutionary odds – but as the stakes keep mounting, how long before our luck runs out?

Evolution is a series of bets, and no animal gambles the way humans do. This has led us to unprecedented ecological dominance, via the steepest odds and unlikeliest of outcomes, but our winning streak cuts both ways: the secret to our success may yet be our downfall.

The Gambling Animal offers a revelatory retelling of the human story. Drawing on their unique research into the risk psychology of humans and other animals – including their groundbreaking work with elephants in Limpopo (where  they’re teaching elephants to gamble!) – Don Ross and Glenn Harrison reveal the hidden logic of our rise.

Even before the dawn of civilisation, we bet the Earth on our ability to keep doubling down. But with an ecological crisis on the horizon, how long will our winning streak continue?​​​​​

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