A deep dive into the social mind-brain, examining the processes we share with other social animals and illuminating those that are uniquely human. What Makes Us Social? is a scholarly but accessible exploration of the underlying processes that make humans the most social species on the planet. Chris and Uta Frith, pioneers in the field of cognitive neuroscience, review the many forms of social behavior that we humans share with other animals and examine the special form that only humans possess, including its dark side. These uniquely human abilities allow us to reflect on our behavior and share these reflections with other people. This allows us to reason why we do things and to exert some control over our automatic behaviors. As a result, we can learn cooperatively with others and create and value cultural artifacts that survive through the generations.
Going beyond how we come to know ourselves and understand the mind of others, Frith and Frith investigate how we adapt mutually to make social interactions work. This book stands out in its application of a computational framework --one that lies at the intersection of psychology and artificial intelligence--to key concepts of social cognition, such as empathy, trust, group identity, and reputation management. Ultimately,
What Makes Us Social? is a profound examination of the ways we communicate, cooperate, share, and compete with other humans and how these capabilities define us as a species.
深入探討社會心智與大腦，檢視我們與其他社會動物共享的過程，並揭示那些獨特於人類的特徵。
《什麼讓我們成為社會性動物？》是一部學術性但易於理解的著作，探索使人類成為地球上最社會性物種的基本過程。克里斯與烏塔·弗里斯（Chris and Uta Frith）是認知神經科學領域的先驅，他們回顧了人類與其他動物共享的多種社會行為，並檢視只有人類擁有的特殊形式，包括其陰暗面。這些獨特的人類能力使我們能夠反思自己的行為，並與他人分享這些反思。這使我們能夠推理為何我們會這樣做，並對我們的自動行為施加一些控制。因此，我們能夠與他人合作學習，創造並珍視能夠世代相傳的文化產物。
超越我們如何認識自己和理解他人心智的範疇，弗里斯夫婦探討了我們如何相互適應以使社會互動得以運作。本書在應用計算框架方面脫穎而出，這一框架位於心理學與人工智慧的交匯處，針對社會認知的關鍵概念，如同理心、信任、群體身份和聲譽管理進行探討。最終，《什麼讓我們成為社會性動物？》深入檢視了我們如何與其他人類溝通、合作、分享和競爭，以及這些能力如何定義我們作為一個物種的特徵。
Chris Frith is Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging at University College London and Honorary Research Fellow, Institute of Philosophy, University of London. He is author of
Making up the Mind: How the Brain Creates our Mental World.
Uta Frith is Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Development at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. She is author of
Autism: Explaining the Enigma.
The Friths jointly received the European Latsis Prize in 2009 for their contribution to understanding the human mind and brain, the Jean Nicod Prize in 2014 for their work on social cognition, and the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society's Distinguished Scholar Award in 2021.
克里斯·弗里斯（Chris Frith）是倫敦大學學院威康人類神經影像中心的名譽神經心理學教授，以及倫敦大學哲學研究所的榮譽研究員。他是《心智的形成：大腦如何創造我們的心理世界》（Making up the Mind: How the Brain Creates our Mental World）的作者。
尤塔·弗里斯（Uta Frith）是倫敦大學學院認知神經科學研究所的名譽認知發展教授。她是《自閉症：解釋謎團》（Autism: Explaining the Enigma）的作者。
弗里斯夫婦於2009年共同獲得歐洲拉提斯獎，以表彰他們對理解人類心智和大腦的貢獻；2014年獲得讓·尼科獎，以表彰他們在社會認知方面的研究；並於2021年獲得社會與情感神經科學學會的傑出學者獎。
