On the Origin of Tepees: The Evolution of Ideas (and Ourselves)

On the Origin of Tepees: The Evolution of Ideas (and Ourselves)
ISBN-10
1439110247
ISBN-13
9781439110249
Category
Science
Pages
320
Language
English
Published
2012-06-19
Publisher
Simon and Schuster
Author
Jonnie Hughes

Description

We humans pride ourselves on our capacity to have ideas, but perhaps this pride is misplaced. Perhaps ideas have us. After all, ideas do appear to have a life of their own. Many biologists have already come to the opinion that our genes are selfish entities, tricking us into helping them to reproduce. Is it the same with our ideas? Jonnie Hughes, a science writer and documentary filmmaker, investigates the evolution of ideas in order to find out. Adopting the role of a cultural Charles Darwin, Hughes heads off, with his brother in tow, across the Midwest to observe firsthand the natural history of ideas--the patterns of their variation, inheritance, and selection in the cultural landscape. In place of Darwin's oceanic islands, Hughes visits the "mind islands" of Native American tribes. Instead of finches, Hughes searches for signs of natural selection among the tepees.--From publisher description.

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