Book contents
- The Ape that Understood the Universe
- Praise for The Ape that Understood the Universe
- The Ape that Understood the Universe
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Alien’s Challenge
- 2 Darwin Comes to Mind
- 3 The SeXX/XY Animal
- 4 The Dating, Mating, Baby-Making Animal
- 5 The Altruistic Animal
- 6 The Cultural Animal
- Book part
- Permissions
- Notes
- References
- Index
6 - The Cultural Animal
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 September 2019
- The Ape that Understood the Universe
- Praise for The Ape that Understood the Universe
- The Ape that Understood the Universe
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Alien’s Challenge
- 2 Darwin Comes to Mind
- 3 The SeXX/XY Animal
- 4 The Dating, Mating, Baby-Making Animal
- 5 The Altruistic Animal
- 6 The Cultural Animal
- Book part
- Permissions
- Notes
- References
- Index
Summary
Guess what? Earlier today, I received some good news. I don’t want to say too much about it in case I jinx it, but… well, just between you and me, I got a letter today that was sent to me for good luck. The letter has been around the world nine times already. I’ll receive good luck within four days of getting it – providing I send it on. This is no joke. I need to send copies to people I think need good luck. I should not send money, because fate has no price. I must not keep the letter. It must leave my hands within 96 hours. I’m usually skeptical about this kind of thing, but an RAF officer followed the instructions and received $70,000. I could do with $70,000. Meanwhile, Joe Elliot received $40,000, but then lost it because he didn’t send the letter on and thereby broke the chain. And in the Philippines, Gene Welch lost his wife just six days after receiving the letter. He’d failed to circulate it. Before his wife died, though, Welch received $7,755,000. That probably eased the blow a little.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Ape that Understood the UniverseHow the Mind and Culture Evolve, pp. 219 - 282Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019