Human by Design: From Evolution by Chance to Transformation by Choice

by Gregg Braden

Human by Design invites you on a journey beyond Darwin’s theory of evolution, beginning with the fact that we exist as we do, even more empowered, and more connected with ourselves and the world, than scientists have believed possible.* * *In one of the great ironies of the modern world, the science that was expected to solve life’s mysteries has done just the opposite. New discoveries have led to more unanswered questions, created deeper mysteries, and brought us to the brink of forbidden territory when it comes to explaining our origin and existence. These discoveries reveal the following • Fact 1. Our origin—Modern humans appeared suddenly on earth approximately 200,000 years ago, with the advanced brain, nervous system, and capabilities that set them apart from all other known forms of life already developed, rather than having developed slowly and gradually over a long periods of time.• Fact 2. Missing physical evidence—The relationships shown on the conventional tree of human evolution are speculative connections only. While they are believed to exist, a 150-year search has failed to produce the physical evidence that confirms the relationships shown on the evolutionary family tree.• Fact 3. New DNA evidence—The comparison of DNA between ancient Neanderthals, previously thought to be our ancestors, and early humans tells us that we did not descend from the Neanderthals.• Fact 4. A rare DNA fusion—Advanced genome analysis reveals that the DNA that sets us apart from other primates, including in our advanced brain and nervous system, is the result of an ancient and precise fusion of genes occurring in a way that suggests something beyond evolution made our humanness possible.• Fact 5. Our extraordinary abilities—We are born with the capacity to self-heal, to self-regulate longevity, to activate an enhanced immune response, and to experience deep intuition, sympathy, empathy, and, ultimately, compassion—and to do each of these on demand.In this book, New York Times best-selling author and 2017 Templeton Award nominee Gregg Braden crosses the traditional boundaries of science and spirituality to answer the timeless question at the core of our existence—Who are we?—and to reveal science-based techniques that awaken our uniquely human experiences of deep intuition, precognition, advanced states of self-healing, and much more! Beyond any reasonable doubt, Human by Design reveals that we’re not what we’ve been told, and much more than we’ve ever imagined.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Science, Self Help, Audiobook, Health, Inspirational

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2017

About the author

New York Times best selling author Gregg Braden is internationally renowned as a pioneer in bridging science and spirituality. Following a successful career as a Computer Geologist for Phillips Petroleum during the 1970s energy crisis, he became a Senior Computer Systems Designer for Martin Marietta Defense Systems during the last year of the Cold War. In 1991 he was appointed the first Technical Operations Manager for Cisco Systems where he led the development of the global support team that assures the reliability of today’s Internet. For more than 22 years, Gregg has searched high mountain villages, remote monasteries, and forgotten texts to uncover their timeless secrets. To date, his work has led to such paradigm-shattering books as The Isaiah Effect, The God Code, The Divine Matrix and his 2008 release, The Spontaneous Healing of Belief: Shattering the Paradigm of False Limits. Gregg’s work is now published in 17 languages and 27 countries and shows us beyond any reasonable doubt that the key to our future lies in the wisdom of our past.

Reviews

[Piet Perske · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

Humans "popped" into existence 200,000 years ago, Scientist cannot explain how this happened. Darwin is only half right, and somehow there was intelligent design, although the author denies that this is his argument. At this point all my bullshit alarms went of simultaneously:

Quote:
Fact 2: Modern humans arose suddenly on earth approximately 200,000 years ago with the advanced features that set us apart from all other known forms of life already developed .

Fact 4: Advanced genome analysis reveals that the DNA that sets us apart from other primates is the result of an ancient, mysterious, and precise fusion of genes that suggests something beyond evolution made our humanness possible.

Enough said.

[H. Pereira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although entertaining, I found this book to be full of what I call "banana logic"... which goes something like this: bananas are good for us because they are rich in Potassium and I eat a lot of bananas. Therefore, I am good and rich.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting theory -- the modern human emerged from Africa 200,000 years ago with a fused chromosome that differentiated us from any potential evolutionary ancestors. With this fusion we had access to intuition, compassion, speech, empathy, love and self-healing. Gregg Braden says we are intentionally "wired" to be self-regulating of our brains and nervous systems. We are not specks of dirt in the universe with no purpose. We are spiritual beings who value life and we are here to nurture each other. Once we get that, senseless killings, bullying, greed, etc. will have no place on our planet. It starts with our ability to recognized our own self-worth and the worth of every living being. We are more powerful than we could ever imagine.

[Don · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although Braden says he is a scientist and researcher, I see nothing in his credentials to support this. He routinely uses a single reference to support his points and freely uses web sites as his sources of information. I recommend anyone who reads this book to check out the web sites he chooses to support his disbelief in evolution. If he submitted this as a junior level college term paper, I would give him a D+ or possibility a C-. This book is a weak argument to support his beliefs. I fully expected to find a coupon for buying something from his heartmath web site.

[Broccoli · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are familiar to Gregg Braden work and read his books then you will get ZERO value from this book. This book is complete rehash of his previous work.
If you never read any of his books, then you will get some value from it. Otherwise it's just not worth going trough stuff he already said in his every book before.

[Robin Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! If you love science, biology, history, archeology, spirit, and anything else nonfiction-geeky, you'll love this book. I'm doing a second soak of Gregg Braden's Human by Design and this time, I'm taking notes.

[Chris Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have long appreciated Gregg Braden's ability to bring a scientific objective viewpoint and backup evidence to more esoteric, spiritually oriented topics. This is a great read that takes his ability to the next level in our understanding of the human species, our origins and evolution.

[Eva Tichy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So interesting book, I didn’t want to stop reading. I made 30 pages of notes on my kindle and went thorough them twice already. I love everything with Gregg Braden especially Missing Links series on Gaia.

[Raed · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5❤

[Aqua Rask · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
It was an entertaining listening about the evolution possibly not explaining us being here on planet earth-“Evolution is a fact just not for humans”, with many intriguing examples. There were also many other topics like faith, spirituality and belonging interestingly discussed. One story that send me down the rabbit hole was about the organ donation and the theory of tissues having ‘memories’ and even old cravings. Although a fun listen and some interesting stories, there were some debatable conclusions and questionable points made, hence lowered rating from me.

[N.J. Gallegos · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting read although, I am not completely on board with all the statements made (mostly in the parts of human origins), I'm open to new thoughts and theories. More so, Braden's thoughts of how we have lost touch with our true humanity, resonate with me and I do agree that we need a change.

[Victor Betancourth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hugely overrated pseudoscience garbage.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives me a lot to think about. I'd loan it to my friends, but I've also scribbled notes on most of the pages, especially where I think the author takes a great leap from established fact into speculation without notifying the reader it has happened. He makes a good case for why the theory of evolution has yet to be proven. He makes a less good case for the heart-brain connection; I would have liked to have seen supporting evidence, also for his anecdotal support for "heart memory." Does every heart recipient experience unusual hungers based on the preferences of the original heart bearer? Have studies been done with every heart recipient to verify these occurrences? What percentage show "memories" from the donor?

I also wish Braden had explained more how we can heal ourselves - he claims to have shown us how, but other than some vague ideas about how we encourage lengthening of our telomeres, I didn't see any solid information on self-healing.

I don't argue that there is truth in what he is saying, I am only saying that to me, it was vaguer than I would prefer.

[Paul Bard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non sequitur.. it doesn’t follow that just because the genes and heart have certain features that they are spiritual and designed in nature.

From scant evidence the inspirational message comes that we can control our healing immunity and longevity.

Nice message, unsubstantiated science.

[Kevin Schoeninger · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his usual style, Gregg Braden combines the latest scientific research with ancient wisdom to reveal that some of our unquestioned assumptions don't hold up to the evidence. Most notably, he shows how evolution as we traditionally understand it simply isn't supported by the facts. The infinite complexity and connection of all Life points to a deeper Intelligence at work. Evolution is just one way life adapts. As humans, we are endowed with the ability to consciously step into our DNA library using mindfulness and compassionate action to activate certain genes and de-activate others to create vibrant health and positive change.

[Jean-Michel Desire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've simply got to raise my hat to Gregg. He has an amazing ability to bring his thorough research and even more incomparable ability to summarize his findings in a concise, legible and incredibly interesting manner. For anyone who truly has questions about our existence, where we come from and the possibility of a higher force, this book is enlightening. Of course, it does not have all the answers, but it surely triggers higher thinking and a renewed interest in the subjects of our humanness and our purpose on earth. This is another great winner on my list.

[Rustin Hallberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Human be design, must read!

Very fast read! Awesome layout! I love the book in review at the end. This book is for anyone that has ever thought that there has to be more to the story. We are so much more than just a basic sum of our parts. Gregg sheds insight into what we as anatomically modern humans are really capable of and then some. Thanks Gregg! I am so happy and thankful that I bought this book and use the teachings herein.

[jose Almeida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not groundbreaking

Good science justification. But to little practical advice. And the one there is, is based on hearthmate institute work. I had great expectations for this book but I am a little desapointed

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

His best book yet in my opinion.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeper Awareness

Thorough research on how we believe what we think and the impact of choices. Amazing how slow we are to change collectively in spite of advances in technology.

[Ursula Sportelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

The irony I knew it was there inside of me all along... Very inspirational! It changed everything in my life for me.

[George Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thirty thousand years ago a Neanderthal baby died and was perfectly preserved. Its available DNA proved that the modern human did not evolve from Neanderthals. In fact, human beings did not appear to evolve from other species at all. The mystical fusion of two human genes seems to have occurred "by design," implying the existence of a divine designer. Suddenly, 200,000 years ago, human beings began and have not evolved since. Modern science has disproved Darwin's theory of evolution. We are not by chance but rather by design. Mankind is not a soulless machine but the product of an advanced intelligence to which we are closely related. Greg Braden then goes on to show how special we are and what a great future we have if we come to understand the connection between our heart-brain and our head-brain. The two together can either affirm or deny life. We can be either good or evil, in our interactions. We can develop the wisdom of the heart that leads to empathy, sympathy, intuition and finally compassion for human and all other forms of life. By affirming life, we can control stress and lead healthier lives. And maybe even control our biological clocks. This is an uplifting book that connects the physical to the spiritual and should be read by everyone who thinks we are more than a chance collection of parts drifting around in a dead universe.

[Dan Mutter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Braden attempts to draw direct connections between the belief about human origins to the trauma and suffering perpetrated by humans on themselves and nature. The absence of "transitional" physical evidence in the fossil record, the revelation about the inconsistency of mitochondrial DNA between anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals, and the interesting fusion at chromosome 2, all make for a compelling case to warrant a more open conversation about selection being the SOLE generator of human evolution.

[Vincent R · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was actually a fairly painful book to read as it would seem the author doesn't really understand much, if anything beyond a most superficial understanding of natural selection or alternatively is an Intelligent Design proponent (which he denies in the book). It was so egregious at times that I almost gave up reading on it multiple times. Bizarre because I did actually like some of his other books. Such a shame.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a strange book. I really liked the information provided in the first half. But I feel like the second half dropped the ideas in the first half and became a different book altogether. Perhaps I should have read the book cover instead of just a blurb about the book before reading it. Still, although there were parts I disagreed with, it did have some interesting thoughts/science data that are worth thinking about.

[Reina · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
I find myself enjoying much of Gregg Braden's work, whether it's his books or his lectures/presentations. There is almost always something to learn, consider, or just view from a different perspective. Would recommend his books to those who may be interested in spirituality, but maybe not so much the "woo" aspects of it. Braden approaches the mysteries of the universe with a practical scientific lens that is at once digestible and appealing.

[Miss PaulaE · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read

I enjoyed part one of this book as it addressed matters I had engaged briefly but did not get. But having read Gregg Braden explanation I will be able to engage better in debates. As for part 2 , it was interesting but repetitive in parts. I'm still glad I read it.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

The early chapters full of hardcore science were good!!
The philosophy and politics from Chapters 6 on were a drastic turn from science to spiritualism. But in the end this author’s main point is that 100yrs of science has disproven Evolution and the Faith that currently propels evolution would be better focused on a faith that could bring value to human life.

[Manuel Gómez-Ortigoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

it provides a new perspective as to our origin as a species

Braden is challenging the accepted paradigm of human evolution and he does it in a masterful manner.
The heart brain connection by both having neurons is well established. Yet he misses or omits the third party the gut that also has neurons and is responsible for a large part to our health.

[BRIAN K BUZZAIRD · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t care much for hyperbole so please know when I say “life changing,” I mean it. Even if one doesn’t fully subscribe to the possibilities this book presents, it’s a fascinating read that I will come back to again and again.