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The Explorer's Gene

Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the MapBy Alex HutchinsonNarrated by Michael David Axtell
Length9h 25m

About this audiobook

New York Times-bestselling author of Endure Alex Hutchinson returns with a fresh, provocative investigation into how exploration, uncertainty, and risk shape our behavior and help us find meaning. Off the beaten path, following unmarked trails, we are wired to explore. More than just a need to get outside, the search for the unknown is a primal urge that has shaped the history of our species and continues to mold our behavior in ways we are only beginning to understand. In fact, the latest neuroscience suggests that exploration in any form—whether it’s trying a new restaurant, changing careers, or deciding to run a marathon—is an essential ingredient of human life. Exploration, it turns out, isn’t merely a hobby—it’s our story. In this much-anticipated follow-up to his New York Times bestseller Endure, Alex Hutchinson refutes the myth that, in our fully mapped digital world, the age of exploration is dead. Instead, the itch to discover new things persists in all of us, expressed not just on the slopes of Everest but in the ways we work, play, and live. From paddling the lost rivers of the northern Canadian wilderness to the ocean-spanning voyages of the Polynesians to the search for next-generation quantum computers, The Explorer’s Gene combines riveting stories of exploration with cutting-edge insights from behavioral psychology and neuroscience, making a powerful case that our lives are better—more productive, more meaningful, and more fun—when we break our habits and chart a new path.  Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Audiobook details

Rating★★★★ 3.9 (1.1K)
Includes Goodreads, LibraryThing
GenreScience and Nature, Self-Help
Length9 hrs 25 mins
Narrated byMichael David Axtell
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateMar 25, 2025
LanguageEnglish
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