The global brain : the evolution of mass mind from the big bang to the 21st century / Howard Bloom.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bloom, Howard K., 1943-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Brain--Evolution.

Brain.

Human evolution.

Physical Description:

x, 370 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Wiley, [2000]

Summary:

This exciting new book by the author of the critically acclaimed Lucifer Principle introduces the public to the highly controversial theory of "group selection." As Howard Bloom highlights in this captivating account of the evolution of life on Earth -- from the first microbes to the rapid expansion of the Internet -- communications and cooperation among groups have been at least as important as the fierce competition that Darwin emphasized. The theory of group selection portrays life on earth as one macro-community of symbiant organisms working together for the benefit of all. Viewed from this perspective, the network of life on Earth is akin to a giant "global brain" in which each organism is a functional part, and of which the world Wide Web is only the most recent evolutionary step. Writing in his charismaticaly engaging and colorful style, Howard Bloom offers unforgettable descriptions of the life processes at work in everything from the growth of microbes to the dynamics of public opinion.

Contents:

Prologue: Biology, Evolution, and the Global Brain 1

1. Creative Nets in the Precambrian Era 14

2. Networking in Paleontology's "Dark Ages" 20

3. The Embryonic Meme 29

4. From Social Synapses to Social Ganglions: Complex Adaptive Systems in Jurassic Days 39

5. Mammals and the Further Rise of Mind 49

6. Threading a New Tapestry 57

7. A Trip through the Perception Factory 64

8. Reality Is a Shared Hallucination 71

9. The Conformity Police 81

10. Diversity Generators: The Huddle and the Squabble

Group Fission 91

11. The End of the Ice Age and the Rise of Urban Fire 100

12. The Weave of Conquest and the Genes of Trade 109

13. Greece, Miletus, and Thales: The Birth of the Boundary Breakers 121

14. Sparta and Baboonery: The Guesswork of Collective Mind 129

15. The Pluralism Hypothesis: Athens' Underside 141

16. Pythagoras, Subcultures, and Psycho-Bio-Circuitry 151

17. Swiveling Eyes and Pivoting Minds: The Pull of Influence Attractors 164

18. Outstretch, Upgrade, and Irrationality: Science and the Warps of Mass Psychology 178

19. The Kidnap of Mass Mind: Fundamentalism, Spartanism, and the Games Subcultures Play 191

20. Interspecies Global Mind 207

21. Conclusion: The Reality of the Mass Mind's Dreams: Terraforming the Cosmos 217.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-352) and index.

ISBN:

0471295841

OCLC:

43207426