In Defense of the World's Most Despised Species
eBook - ePub

In Defense of the World's Most Despised Species

Why we love some species but hate most, and why it matters

  1. 724 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

In Defense of the World's Most Despised Species

Why we love some species but hate most, and why it matters

About this book

Some animals and plants injure or kill millions of people annually, others cause trillions of dollars in property damage and loss. Such harmful species are understandably hated. However, the vast majority of the planet's millions of species are disliked simply because of how they look and act. This bias is endangering numerous species that play important roles in maintaining both the natural ecosystems and the human economies of the world. In Defense of the World's Most Despised Species examines the psychological motivations that lead people to make judgments about the attractiveness of species, noting the overwhelming importance of visual cues. It describes in considerable detail the physical and behavioral traits of species that lead us to love or hate them. Full color illustrations throughout present beautiful, charming animals and plants, species that seem loathsome, behavior of people in relation to such divergent species and their characteristics, and numerous explanatory diagrams of relevant biological and psychological phenomena. The aim of this book is to give readers insights into how we humans arrive at biased judgments and to promote the welfare of valuable, albeit sometimes unlovable animals and plants that consequently suffer from discrimination. Many of the ugliest, most disgusting, and feared species, such as vultures, toads, hyenas, sharks, spiders, and even the vast majority of cockroaches, in reality are some of our most valuable friends.

Features

  • Theme of the book – human preferences for and against species – is novel, scarcely examined to date
  • Multidisciplinary analysis, especially psychology, biological conservation science, and ecology, as well as philosophy, agriculture, urban planning, human health, and law
  • Text is accessible, user-friendly, concise, and well-organized, making numerous complex topics comprehensible, readable not only by specialists, but also by students and the educated layperson
  • Includes over 2, 000 high-quality, entertaining, and informative color figures

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Yes, you can access In Defense of the World's Most Despised Species by Ernest Small in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Biological Sciences & History & Theory in Psychology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Table of Contents
  6. Executive summary
  7. Preface
  8. Acknowledgments
  9. About the Author
  10. Chapter 1 Introduction and Chapter Summaries
  11. Chapter 2 The Cruel and Compassionate Sides of Human Nature
  12. Chapter 3 Human Prejudice against Other Species (Speciesism)
  13. Chapter 4 Size, the Most Important Determinant of Human Prejudice against and Preference for Species
  14. Chapter 5 Visual (‘Beauty’) Determinants of Human Prejudices against and Preferences for Species
  15. Chapter 6 Non-visual Determinants of Human Prejudices against and Preferences for Species
  16. Chapter 7 Symbolic (Representational) Creatures: Reflections of Human Prejudices against and Preferences for Species
  17. Chapter 8 Indispensable Values of Species for Human Welfare
  18. Chapter 9 Extinction: How Biased Elimination of Species Endangers Humans
  19. Chapter 10 Bias and Prejudice in Species Conservation
  20. Chapter 11 Dealing with Dangerous Species
  21. Chapter 12 Reforming Agriculture: The Greatest Threat to Species
  22. Chapter 13 Reforming Urbanization: The Second Major Threat to Species
  23. Chapter 14 Advancing Technologies and the Fate of the World’s Species
  24. Chapter 15 In Defense of the World’s Most Reviled Invertebrate ‘Bugs’
  25. Chapter 16 In Defense of the World’s Most Despised ‘Lower’ Vertebrate Animals
  26. Chapter 17 In Defense of the World’s Most Despised Mammals
  27. Chapter 18 In Defense of the World’s Most Despised Toxic Plants
  28. Chapter 19 In Defense of the World’s Most Despised Agricultural Weeds
  29. Chapter 20 In Defense of the World’s Most Despised Environmental Weeds
  30. Chapter 21 In Defense of the World’s Most Despised Urban Weeds
  31. Epilogue: Tolerant Co-existence vs. Justifiable Biocide
  32. Literature Cited
  33. General Index
  34. Scientific Name Index
  35. Vernacular Name Index