Nature's Magic: Synergy in Evolution and the Fate of Humankind

ISBN-13: 9780521825474 / Angielski / Twarda / 2003 / 468 str.

Peter Corning

Opis

In Nature's Magic Peter Corning states that synergy--a vaguely familiar term to many of us--has been a wellspring of creativity in the natural world and has played a key role in the evolution of cooperation and complexity at all levels, from physics and chemistry to the latest human technologies. The 'Synergism Hypothesis' asserts that synergy is more than a class of interesting and ubiquitous effects. It has also been a major causal agency in evolution; it represents a unifying explanation for biological complexity and represents a different perspective on the evolutionary process. In contrast to gene-centered theories, or postulates of self-organization and emergent 'laws' of complexity, the Synergism Hypothesis represents, in essence, an 'economic' (or bio-economic) theory of complexity. Peter A. Corning, Ph.D., is the Director of the Institute for the Study of Complex Systems in Palo Alto, California. He has published numerous research papers and articles and three previous books, one of which was a theoretical monograph on the role of synergy in evolution, The Synergism Hypothesis: A Theory of Progressive Evolution (McGraw-Hill, 1983).

Recenzje

Review of the hardback: 'Corning's book is a masterpeice of integrating the most far-reaching facts and theories of evolutionary biology and applying them with finesse to a variety of social phenomena … the most intriguing chapter in Nature's Magic is the last one, titled 'Conjuring the Future' … Dramatic environmental change, complex technologies, and institutions for social cohesion can destroy as well as create. Corning's final message is that if the current world system is to survive we must understand the negative as well as the positive forces of synergy … Peter Corning has written a delightful and profound book about the human species. It should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the exciting field of social evolution and in the possibilities for human cultural evolution in the 21st century.' Journal of Bioeconomics

Spis treści

1. Prologue: the new evolutionary paradigm; 2. The enchanted loom; 3. The magic castle; 4. Black magic; 5. The synergism hypothesis; 6. The 'Sorcerer's Apprentice'; 7. Conjuring human evolution: the synergistic ape; 8. Conjuring history: does cultural evolution have an 'arrow'?; 9. The science of history; 10. Conjuring the future: what can we predict?; Afterword; Endnotes; Bibliography.