The Spirit in the Gene: Humanity's Proud Illusion and the Laws of NatureCornell University Press, 1999 - 286 стор. From famines and deforestation to water pollution, global warming, and the rapid rate of extinction of plants and animals--the extent of the global damage wrought by humankind is staggering. Why have we allowed our environment to reach such a crisis? What produced the catastrophic population explosion that so taxes the earth's resources? Reg Morrison's search for answers led him to ponder our species' astonishing evolutionary success. His extraordinary book describes how a spiritual outlook combined with a capacity for rational thought have enabled Homo sapiens to prosper through the millennia. It convincingly depicts these traits as part of our genetic makeup--and as the likely cause of our ultimate downfall against the inexorable laws of nature. The book will change the way readers think about human evolution and the fate of our species. Small bands of apes walked erect on the dangerous plains of East Africa several million years ago. Morrison marvels that they not only survived, but migrated to all corners of the earth and established civilizations. To understand this feat, he takes us back to a critical moment when these hominids developed language and with it the unique ability to think abstractly. He shows how at this same time they began to derive increasing advantage from their growing sense of spirituality. He convincingly depicts spirituality as an evolutionary strategy that helped rescue our ancestors from extinction and drive the species toward global dominance. Morrison concludes that this genetically productive spirituality, which has influenced every aspect of our lives, has led us to overpopulate the world and to devastate our own habitats. Sobering, sometimes chilling, consistently fascinating, his book offers a startling new view of human adaptation running its natural course. |
Зміст
Turn of the Tide | 11 |
Our Genetic Origins | 57 |
The Agrarian Transition | 91 |
Evolutions Answer to Biological Waste | 102 |
Correcting Imbalances | 119 |
The Terminators | 144 |
The Spirit in the Gene | 159 |
Excalibur | 193 |
Midnight Prognosis | 233 |
Notes | 261 |
Bibliography | 273 |
281 | |
Загальні терміни та фрази
Aboriginal agricultural ancestors animal apes appears archaic atmosphere Australia bacteria behavior believe biological biosphere biota bonobos Broca's area carbon dioxide Carl Sagan chimpanzee chimps climate complex Consequently continue cortex culture decade decline earth's emotions energy environment environmental evolution evolutionary extinction fact factors female fertility forest fossil Frans de Waal Fred Pearce frog genes genetic genetic imperatives global greenhouse harvest hominid Homo erectus Homo sapiens human brain hunter-gatherers hunting increased Island Jared Diamond kilometers known land language lives Lynn Margulis male mammals massive mate methane million years ago modern human mystical nations natural neuronal occurred orangutan original oxygen past patterns plague planet pollution population growth predators primate production region represents reproductive retiarius Sagan Scientific American Scientist seems sexual similar skull social soil species spider spiritual stromatolites structure survival temperature threat tion tribal tropical twins University waste words
Посилання на книгу
The Biology of Civilisation: Understanding Human Culture as a Force in Nature Stephen Vickers Boyden Обмежений попередній перегляд - 2004 |