Nothing prevents us from describing and explaining human societies as accurately and as successfully as everything else in the world, using scientific tools. So argues evolutionary psychologist Pascal Boyer in this groundbreaking book. By comparing the latest advances in evolutionary biology, psychology, genetics, economics and other scientific disciplines, the author presents a new perspective on the structure of human societies. Boyer convincingly argues how significant a role cognitive processes play in how people build hierarchies, family and gender norms, how intergroup conflicts and ethnic stereotypes arise. His focus is on the fundamental question: how human abilities and predispositions developed during evolution explain the how do we live in society? And why are data from the natural sciences critical to understanding historical events and social processes?