The evolution of everything : how new ideas emerge

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

We are taught that the world is a top-down place. Acclaimed author, Matt Ridley, shows just how wrong this is in his compelling new book.

We are taught that the world is a top-down place. Generals win battles; politicians run countries; scientists discover truths; artists create genres; inventors make breakthroughs; teachers shape minds; philosophers change minds; priests teach morality; businessmen lead businesses; environmentalists save the planet. Not just individuals, but institutions too: Goldman Sachs, the Communist Party, the Catholic Church, Al Qaeda - these are said to shape the world.

This is more often wrong than right. 'Tear Down the Sky Hooks' is about bottom-up order and its enemy, the top-down twitch, the endless fascination human beings have for design rather than evolution, for direction rather than emergence. Top downery is the source of most of our worst problems in the past - why Hitler won an election, why the sub-prime bubble happened, why Africa lingered in poverty when Asia did not, why the euro is a disaster - and will be the scourge of this century too.

And although we neglect, defy and ignore them, bottom-up trends still shape the world. The growth of technology, the sanitation-driven health revolution, the quadrupling of farm yields so that more land could be released for nature - these were largely emergent phenomena. So was the internet, the mobile phone revolution and the rise of Asia.

In this wide-ranging, highly opinionated non-fiction narrative, Ridley draws on anecdotes from science, economics, history, politics and philosophy and examples drawn from the scientific literature, from historical narratives and from personal anecdotes.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Does the world operate according to a master blueprint, or is it far more influenced by unfolding events that cause gradual change? Science columnist Ridley (The Rational Optimist) posits the latter, explaining that all facets of human culture are driven by evolutionary change in a bottom-up ordering rather than a top-down design. The author champions the ideology of ancient Roman poet, Titus Lecretius Carus, using stanzas of his poem De Rerum Natura to segue to essays on subjects ranging from religion and government to population and technology. These revolutionary manifestos borrow narratives from science, economics, politics, and philosophy. Ridley's use of source material is vast, ranging from quoting author Sam Harris on free will in order to demonstrate the "evolutionary consequence of how the brain changed," to arguing how climate change has become a religious argument, with quotes from Nigel Lawson and French philosopher Pascal Bruckner. Despite impressive research, however, the author fails to hide his bias on certain subjects or his Libertarian beliefs, leaving the thoughtful reader wanting a bit more counterargument. VERDICT Readers of evolutionary theory, sociology, history, anthropology and philosophy shall be highly entertained by this thought-provoking read but may not evolve to Ridley's level of thinking.-Angela Forret, Clive P.L., IA © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Working from the idea that evolution is "happening all around us" and is "the best way of understanding how the human world changes, as well as the natural world," Ridley (The Rational Optimist) looks at how numerous facets of society and nature develop and change over time. "Evolution is far more common, and far more influential, than most people recognize," he says. The book's primary argument is that, more often than not, there is no rational mind or organized decision-making behind the development of common concepts or widespread phenomena, but an unconscious reaction to an immense variety of factors. "The genome has no master gene, the brain has no command center, the English language has no director, the economy has no chief executive," he states. Ridley observes this principle in culture, government, and technology. There's a lot of information to work through, but the reasoning is sound and arguments are well-supported with historical precedent and general observation. While the premise may not sit well with everyone, Ridley provides enough evidence to support his claims and generate no shortage of debate. Agent: Peter Ginsberg, Curtis Brown. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Darwin's great realization should be called the special theory of evolution, Ridley (The Rational Optimist, 2010) says, because life isn't the only thing that evolves. In 16 chapters (capped by a brief epilogue, The Evolution of the Future), he argues the evolution of other physical realities (the universe, genes, population), many more intangible public realities (the economy, technology, education, leadership, government, religion, money), a couple of personal realities (the mind, personality), culture, and the Internet. Each of these realms began and grows best by natural selection no creator started it, and no planner makes it change. As an epitaph for each chapter, Ridley quotes the Roman philosopher-poet Lucretius, whose De Rerum Natura (circa 49 BCE) both preserves the thought of Epicurus and provides the agenda for modernity, from Newton to Darwin to the present. Ridley also brings in Adam Smith to complement Darwin; as Darwin advances natural selection for the life sciences, so does Smith for the social sciences. All along, Ridley shows how hard it has been for even the most definite evolutionists to fully abandon the notion of a guiding intelligence, whether divine or human. Yet that is what the hard evidence to the effect that good things come by undirected means that Ridley adduces in every chapter compels us all to do.--Olson, Ray Copyright 2015 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

Evolution, a phenomenon without an underlying plan that explains life's development, has convinced scientists, if not the general public, but authorities still debate whether Darwin's theory applies to human society. Veteran science writer Ridley (The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves, 2010) investigates. According to conventional wisdom, progress in law, morals, economics, and even science itself doesn't just happen. It requires creative input through religion, legislation, political or philosophical movements, individual geniuses, or the work of deep thinkers. Not so, writes the author in this ingenious study: "Intelligent design is just as bad at explaining society as it is at explaining evolution." Over centuries, languages change in a planless process similar to natural selection, and authorities proclaim rules to little effect. Economic systems that appeared spontaneously (commerce, free markets) operate far more efficiently than top-down systems that require guidance (mercantilism, Marxism). Laws demand lawgiversexcept when they don't. The admirable Anglo-American common law simply evolved. How did torture, racism, slavery, and pedophiliaall once acceptablebecome immoral today despite the decline of religion in recent decades? Ridley argues that we have evolved to prefer nicer relationships. "Morality," he writes, "is an accidental by-product of the way human beings adjust their behavior towards each other as they grow upgoodness does not need to be taught, let alone associated with the superstitious belief that it would not exist but for the divine origin of an ancient Palestinian carpenter." These are fascinating essays backed by a mixture of good evidence and personal philosophy. Few readers will object to the author's contempt for intelligent design until his concluding chapters on government, when his fervent libertarianism nearly gets the better of him. Like Malcolm Gladwell, Ridley's taste for counterintuitive arguments often oversimplifies and ignores contradictory evidence, but he provides a wild ride, almost too thought-provoking to read for long stretches but difficult to put down. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.