Nature's Magic

Synergy in Evolution and the Fate of Humankind

Peter Corning

454 pages, parution le 24/06/2003

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Résumé

Nature's Magic presents a bold new vision of the evolutionary process from the Big Bang to the 21st century. Synergy of various kinds is not only a ubiquitous aspect of the natural world but it has also been a wellspring of creativity and the ‘driver' of the broad evolutionary trend toward increased complexity, in nature and human societies alike. But in contrast with the many theories of emergence or complexity that rely on some underlying force or ‘law', the ‘Synergism Hypothesis', as Peter Corning calls it, is in essence an economic theory of biological complexity; it is fully consistent with mainstream evolutionary biology. Corning refers to it as Holistic Darwinism. Among the many important insights that are provided by this new paradigm, Corning presents a scenario in which the human species invented itself; synergistic, behavioral and technological innovations were the ‘pacemakers' of our biological evolution. Synergy has also been the key to the evolution of complex modern societies, he concludes. The final chapter addresses our current challenges and future prospects.

Prologue: The new evolutionary paradigm
The Enchanted Loom
The Magic Castle
Black Magic
The Synergism Hypothesis
The 'Sorcerer's Apprentice'
Conjuring human evolution: the synergistic ape
Conjuring history: does cultural evolution have an 'arrow'?
The science of history
Conjuring the future: what can we predict?
Afterword
Endnotes
Bibliography

Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Cambridge University Press
Auteur(s)	Peter Corning
Parution	24/06/2003
Nb. de pages	454
Format	16 x 23,5
Couverture	Broché
Poids	760g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780521825474
ISBN13	978-0-521-82547-4