A LIBRARIAN’S ORIENTATION
What this book explores
Robert Wright uses evolutionary psychology, cognitive science, personal meditation experience, and selected Buddhist teachings to examine craving, dissatisfaction, perception, no-self, and moral concern. He argues that natural selection shaped minds to pursue fitness rather than see reality impartially, and that mindfulness practice can expose some of these distortions and loosen their hold.
EDITORIAL NOTE
Why it’s in the Library
It is a strong bridge for scientifically oriented travelers who are curious about Buddhism but not ready to accept rebirth, karma across lives, or religious authority. Wright makes particular Buddhist diagnoses experientially testable and connects them with contemporary accounts of the mind. The book is included as a naturalistic interpretation of selected teachings, not as proof that science has validated Buddhism as a whole.
Good starting place if…
You want an evolutionary-psychology conversation with mindfulness, craving, perception, and no-self, and prefer naturalistic argument to a tradition-first introduction.
Know before you begin…
The title overstates the scope: ‘Buddhism’ contains many traditions, practices, metaphysical claims, rituals, and ethical worlds not evaluated by the science Wright discusses. Evolutionary explanations are interpretive models, and meditation findings do not establish enlightenment or every Buddhist doctrine. Pair this with Buddhist teachers and sources who locate meditation within ethics, community, and liberation.