Edition |
599.93/8 23 |
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First edition. |
Physical Description |
viii, 335 pages ; 25 cm. |
Note |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Contents |
Genesis. Conception -- Birth Fire. Landscaping -- Brain building -- Cultural levers Word. Story -- Language -- Telling Beauty. Belonging -- Trinkets and treasurers -- Builders Time. Timekeepers -- Reason -- Homni. |
Summary |
What enabled us to go from simple stone tools to smartphones? How did bands of hunter-gatherers evolve into multinational empires? Readers of Sapiens will say a cognitive revolution -- a dramatic evolutionary change that altered our brains, turning primitive humans into modern ones -- caused a cultural explosion. In Transcendence, Gaia Vince argues instead that modern humans are the product of a nuanced coevolution of our genes, environment, and culture that goes back into deep time. She explains how, through four key elements -- fire, language, beauty, and time -- our species diverged from the evolutionary path of all other animals, unleashing a compounding process that launched us into the Space Age and beyond. Provocative and poetic, Transcendence shows how a primate took dominion over nature and turned itself into something marvelous. |
Subject |
Social history.
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Evolutionary psychology.
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Human evolution.
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