The Human Nature Handbook
Discover the hidden evolutionary drivers behind your daily choices and social interactions. Learn why your brain takes shortcuts and how to navigate the quirks of being human.
Like Duolingo, but for The Human Nature Handbook. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 9 levels across 2 sections, about 18 minutes end to end, roughly 4 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Instinctive Self and The Rationalizing Mind. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in The Human Nature Handbook
- The human brain prioritizes negative information as a survival mechanism
- The amygdala triggers the same physiological response for social ego threats as for physical danger
- Negative stimuli produce more brain activity than positive stimuli of the same intensity
- Physical symptoms like sweaty palms and racing heart are the body preparing to fight or flee
- Survival software treats social insults as threats to our standing in the 'tribe'
- Modern social stressors hijack ancient survival circuitry
- Negativity bias in social feedback
- Physical and social threats
- The brain consumes a massive amount of the body's energy and seeks to conserve it
- Humans are evolved to assume 'agency' or intent behind sounds to avoid being surprised by predators
- Habits allow the brain to shift from expensive 'deep thinking' to efficient 'automatic processing'
- Recognition of negativity bias in social feedback
- Novelty requires active monitoring which is metabolically taxing
- Pattern seeking helps us find order in chaos, even when none exists
- The brain prefers a false alarm (hearing a ghost) over a missed threat (ignoring a predator)
- The psychological pain of loss is roughly twice as powerful as the pleasure of gain
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives The Human Nature Handbook the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
When someone is mean to you, which part of your brain sounds the alarm just like it would for a physical danger?
Get it right to open this lesson and 8 more in the app.
How to learn The Human Nature Handbook, step by step
Go in order. 9 short levels across 2 sections, about 18 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
The Instinctive Self
- Your Survival Software
- The Social Animal
- 2
The Rationalizing Mind
- How We Make Sense of the Mess
2 sections · 3 units · 9 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about The Human Nature Handbook
How do I learn The Human Nature Handbook?
Go in order: start with The Instinctive Self, then The Rationalizing Mind. On Tomo that's 9 short levels, about 18 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for The Human Nature Handbook?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. The Human Nature Handbook is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is The Human Nature Handbook free?
Yes. The Human Nature Handbook is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn The Human Nature Handbook?
9 levels across 2 sections, about 18 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start The Human Nature Handbook?
No. It's pitched at a beginner level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
The Human Nature Handbook is taught in the Explain Like I'm 5 style: no big words. promise.. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start The Human Nature Handbook today.
Download Tomo, search The Human Nature Handbook, and play your first lesson in under a minute.