num_pages: 368
description: The Evolution of Everything is about bottom-up order and its enemy the top-down twitchthe endless fascination human beings have for design rather than evolution for direction rather than emergence. Drawing on anecdotes from science economics history politics and philosophy Matt Ridleys wide-ranging highly opinionated opus demolishes conventional assumptions that major scientific and social imperatives are dictated by those on high whether in government business academia or morality. On the contrary our most important achievements develop from the bottom up. Patterns emerge trends evolve. Just as skeins of geese form Vs in the sky without meaning to and termites build mud cathedrals without architects so brains take shape without brain-makers learning can happen without teaching and morality changes without a plan.Although we neglect defy and ignore them bottom-up trends shape the world. The growth of technology the sanitation-driven health revolution the quadrupling of farm yields so that more land can be released for naturethese were largely emergent phenomena as were the Internet the mobile phone revolution and the rise of Asia. Ridley demolishes the arguments for design and effectively makes the case for evolution in the universe morality genes the economy culture technology the mind personality population education history government God money and the future.
language: English
title: The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge
publisher: Harper