evolution

This book was simply breathtaking. Howard Bloom gives an excellent summary of the history of life and evolution in order to explain a mass consciousness, or a "Global Brain". He does so by elaborating on Group selection, arguably more convincing than individual selection. If we did indeed evolve from lesser creatures, then we evolved from creatures that had to group together in order to conquer their surroundings. What did a single bacterium ever accomplish? Howard weaves in and out of time and space so that the Spartans are just as relevant as any other extinct group that strictly enforced conformity and failed to support diversity, and the Athenians are not unlike a group of bacteria that took advantage of mutations in order to survive or thrive when conditions changed. While Bloom is extraordinarily edifying and quite vast in scope, I failed to find a central theme. The conclusion of the book seemed to be a warning of the virility of viruses and that we are coming ever closer to a war that pits mankind against bacteria. I recommend this book on the merit of its incredible historical scope and the knowledge emparted. I feel that I have taken a few steps closer toward enlightment, a state I hope to reach when I feel comfortable in my knowledge of the world.

Howard Bloom's Global brain is a book that explores one pivotal theme, which I felt other reviewers did not hint at. This theme is that of Group Selection versus individual selection, and while he explored the idea of individual selection in the Lucifer Principle, he deals more with the fact that this does not negate a higher fucntioning, that of group selection, and the intriguing thing about group selection is that, as hinted at by Bloom, This group selection is a principle of evolution, and involves ever greater series of organizing principles, thereby leading to the idea of a global brain or consciousness, which immediately leads one into thinking about Quantum physics, and the holographic or illusory properties of perception usually attributed to the brain.And yes, while this book is not a theory of everything, it is a continuation of the Lucifer Principle, it deals with ideas such as the Spatan verus Athens Paradigm, which seems very useful when examining modern societies, as well as how memes function, particular as the species conflicts using ideas, ideas which are utilized by the Global brain to transform the beings on it and to itself evolve into other more complex, as yet unimagined forms. Bloom is excellent at this, and the book itself, as is the purpose I think of a good book, is to stimulate the reader into thinking about such matters, and to have their own ideas about them. I recommend this book to the curious, the wellread, and to the open minded.It is a good, quick, fun read, and it has a great many insights, not all of which are obvious. Check it out.

Obviously a lot of research went into this book. This book places the meaning of our existence in its correct perspective. Infinitely next to nothing, but each "almost nothing" plays a role in forming the universe. Excellent reading!