India, Feb. 21 -- Could our sins have helped us survive?

A new book by the English neurologist Dr Guy Leschziner suggests the reason we don't evolve out of our "dark sides" is that they once helped us live on as a species. They were, in fact, so helpful that the fast-learning, fast-growing human brain became hard-wired for gluttony, envy, pride, wrath, greed, sloth and lust.

In his book, Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human (November; HarperCollins), Dr Leschziner, 50, studies brain scans, case studies, genetic findings and research papers from the fields of neuroscience, evolutionary psychology and pathology, to explore these sins as biological imperatives.

Does that mean we should simply give in? (The short answer is: Of cou...