Ape Mind, Old Mind, New Mind received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author John V. Wylie, MD.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Ape Mind, Old Mind, New Mind: Emotional Fossils and the Evolution of the Human Spirit; January, 2018
What’s the book’s first line?
I read Charles Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle during a dark night of the soul.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Ape Mind, Old Mind, New Mind is a personal memoir by a psychiatrist who gradually discovers from his patient’s descriptions of their mental illnesses that human motivations have been evolved over millions of years for productive engagement rather than competitive fitness. A new uplifting and spiritual view of human nature emerges that is not only consistent with the science of human evolution, but also opens up a simple explanation for such ancient mysteries as self-awareness, reflective thought, and the vast complexity of language.
Other books about the evolution of emotion approach it from the “outside” as an object; this book is about the biological evolution of the “inside” experience of emotion-and-motivation, which can only be known empathetically.
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INSIDE THIS BOOK YOU WILL LEARN:
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How our craving for sex and attention created human culture.
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How our penises and breasts got to be so big.
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Why belief is really an emotion.
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How ape dominance evolved into human authority.
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Why mental illness is a “side effect” of our species’ evolution.
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The biology of the human spirit.
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The origin of vanity, and why gold is so valuable.
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Why upright posture is so essential to being human.
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The intimate connection between sex, music, and language.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
Reading Carl Jung as a young doctor inspired me to become a psychiatrist and a philosopher “on the side.”
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
To fully recognize that there is little or no scientific backing for current cynical attitudes concerning what constitutes human nature, and to suggest a far more positive portrayal that is entirely consistent with evolutionary science. The final sentence of the introduction: “How much more majesty there is in the vision that the unique aspect of our nature is animated not by tooth and claw, but rather by our tribe’s ancient mission to transform the power of aggression into the bounty of communion.”
When did you first decide to become an author?
Always wanted to be an author, but only had time to immerse myself into it when I retired in 2007.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
I wrote a clinical book just after I retired: Diagnosing and Treating Mental Illness: A Guidebook for Physicians, Nurses, Patients and their Families.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I practiced clinical psychiatry for 35 years, starting out working in a maximum-security prison for several years when many of my basic theories first took shape.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
Basically, all my time (which is physically very unhealthy).
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
Best: complete independence in the actual writing
Hardest: no help marketing (I’m too cheap and shy to do it myself)
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
Don’t write unless you sincerely love (addicted to?) the actual process of writing and (in my case) thinking about ideas. The audience in your own head has to sustain you.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
Yes in order to get my ideas out there and hopefully affect peoples’ attitudes towards human nature in a positive way, and to counteract the current cynicism about what motivates us. I would love to collaborate with a first-rate editor.
Is there something in particular that motivates you?
The process of writing and thinking motivates me to write, but now I seek to spread my ideas and influence people’s underlying attitudes about who we really are. It’s about the ideas themselves and not how well I express them. I would like to engage in dialogue about them.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Charles Darwin.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871)