Heartwarming: How Our Inner Thermostat Made Us Human

"A compelling investigation into the quest to maintain core body temperature-and how it drives genetic and social evolution, civilization, health, and technology. A cup of tea, coffee, or cocoa is calming and comforting-but why? Recent research suggests that temperature, even that derived from holding a hot beverage, can influence our emotions and behaviors. In Heartwarming, social psychologist Hans IJzerman explores temperature and its role in our daily lives through the long lens of evolution. Besides breathing, regulating body temperature is one of the most important tasks for any animal. Like huddling penguins, we humans have long relied each other to maintain our temperatures. Over millennia, this instinct for thermoregulation has driven our social lives. Understanding how temperature affects human sociality leads to fascinating new questions in our changing world: How will climate change impact society? Can thermoregulation keep relationships closer, even across distance? IJzerman offers new insights for therapists, doctors, sufferers of illnesses both mental and physical, and all of us who want to better understand our bodies and our connections. Heartwarming takes readers on a captivating journey through the world, seen from the perspective of coldness and warmth"--
An illuminating investigation of core body temperature regulation and its powerful effect on human civilization.
HeartwarmingTemperature contributed to our evolution—our upright walking, our loss of fur, and our big brains—and now continues to affect our lives in unexpected ways, and the link from a warm mug to our emotions is anything but straightforward. Studies have shown, for example, that a chilly deliberation room can predispose a jury to convict and that a cold day can make us more likely to buy a house. Our mind-body connection works the other way, too: thinking about friendly or caring people can make us feel warmer. Understanding how we subconsciously strive to keep our temperature in an optimal range can help us in our relationships, jobs, and even in the world of social media.Heartwarming