The Evolution of Everything Buchzusammenfassung - das Wichtigste aus The Evolution of Everything

Einleitung anhören

00:00

Zusammenfassung von The Evolution of Everything

Name: The Evolution of Everything
Rating: 4.2 (67 reviews)
Author: Matt Ridley

Matt Ridley

How New Ideas Emerge

4.2 (67 Bewertungen)

15 Min.

Themen

Kultur Wandel & Evolution

Inhaltsübersicht

The Evolution of Everything
in 7 Kernaussagen verstehen

Audio & Text in der Blinkist App

Kernaussage 1 von 7

What’s in it for me? Unfold the evolution of everything around you.

When we think of evolution, we usually think of the monkey-to-man picture and the mind-boggling research being done on the human genome. But have you ever considered the evolution of everything beyond biology?

These blinks explore evolution outside the realm of genetics, be it the evolution of morality, economy, language or technology. Typically, we’re taught that these things are created in a top-down manner, by leaders, scientists, priests, businesspeople, and so on. But actually, when evolution is understood in its broadest sense – i.e., as the gradual development of something – it is far more common for things to evolve from the bottom up.

The author argues that evolution, in the bottom-up sense, can explain virtually all human cultural changes.

You’ll also learn

what DNA and language have in common;
why the Wild West wasn’t so wild after all; and
how money got monopolized.

With few exceptions, the history of Western thought is shaped by a creationist perspective.

When we think of evolution, we often think of biology, Charles Darwin and his evolutionary theory. But the word “evolution” doesn’t just denote genetics. Originally, “evolution” meant “unfolding” and described how things gradually changed without a plan.

And yet, the history of Western thought has been dominated by a creationist mode of thinking. That is, explaining the world through design and planning.

Consider a few examples:

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato thought that society functioned by mimicking a designed cosmic order; in The Iliad, Homer had gods deciding the outcome of battles; much later, the Christian reformer Martin Luther stated that our fate lay in the hands of God; the nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche believed that healthy societies were made by the plans of powerful leaders; and Karl Marx claimed that a planned state was the best means to encourage economic and social progress.

The list goes on. Again and again, we see top-down descriptions of how the world is designed or should be organized. However, there are a few exceptions to this creationist mode of thinking. Just take the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus.

Epicurus believed that the physical world, including society and morality, emerged spontaneously, needing no divinity or royal power to explain it. Everything, he said, was made of invisible atoms which followed the laws of nature rather than the laws of God.

The Roman poet Lucretius adopted Epicurus’s stance, stating that the world was made of invisible particles. He believed the world had no creator and life had no end or purpose.

Epicurus and Lucretius were thus precursors to Darwin. We’ll explore this in detail in the blink.

Darwinian evolution removed the notion of creationism from biology.

It was the ideas of philosophers and poets such as Epicurus and Lucretius and, later, Enlightenment thinkers like David Hume, which gave rise to the question: “If God is the designer of humans and the world, who designed the designer?”

However, it was Charles Darwin who eliminated creationism from biology and replaced it with a theory of evolution through natural selection. Darwin came up with his theory of biological evolution after his sailing expedition to the Galápagos Islands, where he collected various animals and plants, and meticulously observed and reflected on his findings.

Evolution exists in culture, the economy and technology.

Although we associate it with biology and genetics, evolution’s reach is much longer than this. Evolution is inevitable in any system where information is transmitted with a degree of randomness, such as the genetic information in our DNA that we pass on to our children or the cultural information we impart to them when we raise them.

In other words, evolution applies to human culture, too. The best example can be seen in the evolution of language. Actually, there is a strong parallel between the evolution of DNA and the evolution of language. Both are systems capable of combining a small number of basic building blocks to form virtually infinite permutations.

Morality and religion are not God-given, but have evolved with society.

Most religions teach that morality is prescribed by God. For instance, the Judeo-Christian God had Moses climb Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments to pass on to his people. In Islam, it was Muhammad who received the word of God and imparted this to his people.

However, God isn’t necessary for morality. Rather, morality evolves through social interaction in which people seek out ways to communicate successfully and happily.

Creationist thinking shapes concepts of personality development and education.

Did you know that twins raised apart have very similar personalities? This is a fascinating discovery, because until the 1990s, psychologists widely assumed that personality depended only on a child’s upbringing.

Even today, our idea of personality development is shaped by the creationist belief that culture creates a child’s personality when, in actuality it evolves from within. Consider the following example: toy shops are split into girls’ and boys’ aisles where parents are encouraged to buy trucks for boys and dolls for girls. This angers people who believe that behavioral differences between the sexes are culturally forced upon children. But while it’s true that culture evolves, this doesn’t necessarily mean that personality evolves along with culture, or that culture creates personality.

Innovation evolves on its own – there’s no need for leaders or governments to “create” it.

In its first edition, the Encyclopédie – the encyclopedia of the French Enlightenment published between 1751 and 1772 – contained nearly no entries on people. Why? The authors wanted to remind readers that innovation evolves on its own, rather than being created by a handful of powerful people.

These days, though, leaders are viewed as the creators of innovation. But really, innovation can flourish without top-down creation. Take leadership in business. Hugely influential CEOs like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are granted nearly godlike powers for their innovation and success. So much so that, when Steve Jobs died in 2011, many people assumed that Apple would simply go under without him.

Money and the internet are evolutionary phenomena.

Most of us take for granted that the internet belongs to nobody in particular. It is neither controlled by monopolizing companies nor governments. So when it comes to money, which today is created and issued solely by governments through central banks, why do so many of us assume that it’s always been a government monopoly? In fact, money was once free to develop much in the way the internet does today.

Money gradually emerged among traders, and wasn’t always controlled by rulers. Take Sweden, which established a free banking system in the nineteenth century. During this time, several banks – the central bank among them – competed to issue their own banknotes. This system worked remarkably well and not a single bill-issuing bank went out of business.

Du möchtest die gesamte Zusammenfassung von The Evolution of Everything sehen?

Kernaussagen in The Evolution of Everything

Mehr Wissen in weniger Zeit

Sachbücher auf den Punkt gebracht

Kernaussagen aus Sachbüchern in ca. 15 Minuten pro Titel lesen & anhören mit den „Blinks”

Zeitsparende Empfehlungen

Titel, die dein Leben bereichern, passend zu deinen Interessen und Zielen

Podcasts in Kurzform ^Neu

Kernaussagen wichtiger Podcasts im Kurzformat mit den neuen „Shortcasts”

Worum geht es in The Evolution of Everything?

The Evolution of Everything (2015) argues that the phenomenon of evolution – gradual change without goal or end – reaches far beyond genetics. Evolution happens all around us in economic markets, our language, technology and customs, and is what’s behind nearly all changes that occur in these fields.

Bestes Zitat aus The Evolution of Everything

The way in which these streams of human culture flow is gradual, incremental, undirected, emergent and driven by natural selection among competing ideas.

—Matt Ridley

Wer The Evolution of Everything lesen sollte

Liberal thinkers
Anyone curious about the power and beauty of evolution outside biology

Über den Autor

Matt Ridley is the author of several bestselling books including The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves, Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters and The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature. Ridley writes for The Times and the Wall Street Journal and is a member of the UK House of Lords.

Kategorien mit The Evolution of Everything

Gesellschaft & Kultur Geschichte Wissenschaft

Ähnlich wie The Evolution of Everything

The Red Queen

Matt Ridley

Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature

The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters

And Why It Flourishes in Freedom

A Brief History of Humankind

28 min

4.4

A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century

Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein

Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life

How We Evolved to Have Reason, Consciousness, and Free Will

The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal

Human Evolution from the Origin of the Universe

19 min

4.0

The Beginning of Infinity

David Deutsch

Explanations That Transform the World

20 min

4.2

Excellent Advice for Living

Kevin Kelly

Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier

13 min

4.2

The Story of the Human Body

Daniel Lieberman

Evolution, Health, and Disease

How to Make Tomorrow Better Today

Developing Mental Agility and Resilience to Thrive in Uncertainty

16 min

4.3

The Fine Art Of Small Talk

Debra Fine

How To Start a Conversation, Keep It Going, Build Networking Skills – and Leave a Positive Impression!

19 min

4.1

Skin in the Game

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life

Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

A Simple Plan to Stop People-Pleasing, Reclaim Your Boundaries, and Say Yes to the Life You Want

16 min

4.2

A Brief History of Time

Stephen Hawking

From the Big Bang to Black Holes

One small step toward understanding the greatness of the universe

21 min

4.4

The Future is Faster Than You Think

Peter H. Diamandis

How Converging Technologies Are Transforming Business, Industries, and Our Lives

23 min

4.1

The Obstacle is the Way

Ryan Holiday

The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumph

The Small Changes That Change Everything

22 min

4.6

The Curious History of Dating

Nichi Hodgson

From Jane Austen to Tinder

30 min

4.1

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

Mark Manson

A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

19 min

4.3

The Myth of the Rational Voter

Bryan Caplan

Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies

Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

27 min

4.4

A Peace to End All Peace

David Fromkin

The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and Creation of the Modern Middle East

366 Meditations on Power, Seduction, Mastery, Strategy, and Human Nature

A landmark work in the field of biology and evolution

The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

366 Meditations on Parenting, Love, and Raising Great Kids

A Historical Novel on the Irrationality of Human Behavior in War

17 min

4.1

The Laws of Human Nature

Robert Greene

What affects your day-to-day life

The Politics of Feeling Good

Taoist Philosophy for Peace, Contentment & Balance in Life

16 min

4.2

That Little Voice in Your Head

Mo Gawdat

Adjust the Code That Runs Your Brain

Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You

The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos

8 min

3.2

How to Read a Financial Report

John A. Tracy and Tage C. Tracy

Essential Information for Entrepreneurs, Lenders, Investors, Analysts, and Management

Elevate Your Mind, Unlock Your Power, Heal Your Soul

How Understanding Your Brain Can Improve Your Work and Your Life

A Guide To Spiritual Enlightenment

19 min

4.5

How the World Really Works

Vaclav Smil

The Science of Our Past, Present and Future

A Political Satire on the Corrupting Influence of Power

A Brief History of Culture, Sex, War and the Evolution of Us

Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts

Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock

17 min

4.1

The Long-Distance Teammate

Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel

Stay Engaged and Connected While Working Anywhere

18 min

4.3

❤️ für Blinkist️️️

Ines S.

Ich bin begeistert. Ich liebe Bücher aber durch zwei kleine Kinder komme ich einfach nicht zum Lesen. Und ja, viele Bücher haben viel bla bla und die Quintessenz ist eigentlich ein Bruchteil.

Genau dafür ist Blinkist total genial! Es wird auf das Wesentliche reduziert, die Blinks sind gut verständlich, gut zusammengefasst und auch hörbar! Das ist super. 80 Euro für ein ganzes Jahr klingt viel, aber dafür unbegrenzt Zugriff auf 3000 Bücher. Und dieses Wissen und die Zeitersparnis ist unbezahlbar.

Ekaterina S.

Extrem empfehlenswert. Statt sinnlos im Facebook zu scrollen höre ich jetzt täglich zwischen 3-4 "Bücher". Bei manchen wird schnelle klar, dass der Kauf unnötig ist, da schon das wichtigste zusammen gefasst wurde..bei anderen macht es Lust doch das Buch selbständig zu lesen. Wirklich toll

Nils S.

Einer der besten, bequemsten und sinnvollsten Apps die auf ein Handy gehören. Jeden morgen 15-20 Minuten für die eigene Weiterbildung/Entwicklung oder Wissen.

Julia P.

Viele tolle Bücher, auf deren Kernaussagen reduziert- präzise und ansprechend zusammengefasst. Endlich habe ich das Gefühl, Zeit für Bücher zu finden, für die ich sonst keine Zeit habe.