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The Madness of Adam and Eve: Did Schizophrenia Shape Humanity? cover

The Madness of Adam and Eve: Did Schizophrenia Shape Humanity?

David Horrobin

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#3379 of 3,809 books · #485 in Science & Technology

Shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize (2002).

100,000 years ago we became human. A species of clever ape abruptly became something different. Technical, religious, artistic, musical, political, military and criminal abilities emerged and exploded. Rapid changes and murderous brilliance became the predominant features of our world. How did this happen? The first modern humans originated in Africa. From there they migrated over the whole of Eurasia and Australasia. These first humans carried with them the genetic basis of schizophrenia, the only major illness found to the same extent in all racial groups. This universal distribution shows that the disease must have been present before the races separated. Modern evidence shows that families where schizophrenia is present are also exceptionally creative in many different fields. Albert Einstein and James Joyce each had a schizophrenic child. Families with schizophrenia also have more dyslexic and manic-depressive members, more sociopaths and criminals, but also more high achievers in every field. In this radical book David Horrobin draws on his knowledge of medicine, of evolution, of psychiatry, of Africa and of nutrition to generate a startling hypothesis: we are human because some of us are schizophrenic and because a 'touch of schizophrenia' is associated with exceptional skills of many sorts, both good and evil, and with that creativity which defines us and separates us from our nearest primate relatives. His own research, extending this concept, strongly suggests that an effective treatment for schizophrenia, using specific nutrients, may be within our reach. This remarkable theory not only addresses the deepest issues of humanity, but also has the potential to be world-changing in practice, not at some distant future date but within the next decade.

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Publisher
Bantam Press
Topics
SchizophreniaHuman evolutionPsychiatry

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