Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human
By Guy Leschziner

Before reading this book, I was aware of the seven deadly sins of Pride, Greed (Avarice), Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, and Sloth, but didn’t really know much about them or their origins. I learned that they were developed early around the 6th century with the idea that Christians who follow them would not wander away from God and the virtues that counteracted the sins.

The idea behind the Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human is simple, take the seven deadly sins and apply them to neuro and psychological science. This was an interesting concept, with each chapter dedicated to a specific sin and I was curious to see how author Guy Leschiziner would apply them scientifically, however, as I plowed through the book, I realized that while the concept probably looked good on paper, the execution wasn’t always well-realized.

I thought that the author tried extremely hard (too hard at times) to take the cases he presented and apply them to the deadly sins. When the presented cases and situations fit the sin, the book was fascinating because the cases themselves were fascinating, not that the sin was necessarily applicable.

I did find the chapter on Pride to be of major interest due to the upcoming American presidential election and how the discussion of narcissism could be applied to one of the major party candidates.

The eighth chapter focused on Free Will and since the seven deadly sins were derived from Christian thought, the idea of Free Will as Christianity sees it is moral accountability and the ability to choose between good and evil. While the author does go into a detailed discussion of the “readiness potential” or Bereitschafts-potential which is the idea that the brain is preparing to make a move on its own without conscious thought. While I found the concept to be fascinating and one, I’d not come across in my previous readings, I did find that the discussion veered into a more philosophical one which I found not as engaging.

This is a book I have a challenging time recommending, but to be fair, it is well-written and could be of interest to the reader who is looking for another approach to both neuro and psychological science.

3/5 stars

[Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the advanced ebook copy in exchange for my honest and objective opinion, which I have given here.]