2000 GlobalBrainTheEvolutionofMassMi
- (Bloom, 2000) ⇒ Howard Bloom. (2000). “Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century.” John Wiley and Sons. ISBN:978-0-471-41919-8
Subject Headings: Group Selection Theory
Notes
Cited By
2019
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1360065024?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1
- QUOTE: Similar to The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History, Howard Bloom has here concocted a powerful cocktail of popular science that manages to titillate the mind and challenge many of our preconceived notions. This time he tackles the notion of complex adaptive systems and the emergence of a global mind. ...
... Each part consists of contains thousands of fascinating stories and anecdotes that more or less mesh together. The writing is stunningly beautiful and mesmerizing. The ideas are uplifting and energizing. Some of the sections in the conclusion nearly brought me to tears. The sheer playfulness and erudition on display makes for an uplifting reading experience.
- QUOTE: Similar to The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History, Howard Bloom has here concocted a powerful cocktail of popular science that manages to titillate the mind and challenge many of our preconceived notions. This time he tackles the notion of complex adaptive systems and the emergence of a global mind. ...
2003
- https://web.stanford.edu/class/symbsys205/global_brain.html
- QUOTE: ... Bloom’s theory of group selection relies on five key elements: conformity enforcers, diversity generators, inner-judges, resource shifters, and intergroup tournaments. In Bloom’s words, this “pentagram of the learning machine” was in place at least 120 million years ago and comprised “some of the secrets of the nascent global brain.” At first glance, these components are rather straightforward. Conformity enforcers ensure that groups maintain enough similarities to actually function as a group. These “enforcers” are group members who, like the bully on the playground or the informant in a police state, demand obedience to some behavioral norm in exchange for protection from harm. In the best sense, conformity enforcers encourage unity and the pursuit of normalization; in the worst sense, enforcers stifle creativity and destroy deviants. These enforcers are balanced by another element: the “diversity generators.” These individuals each test a new hypothesis of the communal mind, exploring possibilities that conformity enforcers would ignore. They “spawn variety” and open paths to new developments. Generally, diversity generators seem overwhelmingly positive; however, they require some amount of balance, or the individuals lose their connection to the group. When too many members fail to identify with and protect the group, the group dies, and is thus removed from the “global brain.” So, some amount of conformity is required to ensure that the diversity generators do not diversify to the point of their group’s destruction. ...
Quotes
Book Overview
Informed by twenty years of interdisciplinary research, Bloom takes us on a spellbinding journey back to the big bang to let us see how its fires forged primordial sociality. As he brings us back via surprising routes, we see how our earliest bacterial ancestors built multitrillion-member research and development teams a full 3.5 billion years ago. We watch him unravel the previously unrecognized strands of interconnectedness woven by crowds of trilobites, hunting packs of dinosaurs, feathered flying lizards gathered in flocks, troops of baboons making communal decisions, and adventurous tribes of protohumans spreading across continents but still linked by primitive forms of information networking. We soon find ourselves reconsidering our place in the world. Along the way, Bloom offers us exhilarating insights into the strange tricks of body and mind that have organized a variety of life forms: spiny lobsters, which, during the Paleozoic age, participated in communal marching rituals; and bees, which, during the age of dinosaurs, conducted collective brainwork. This fascinating tour continues on to the sometimes brutal subculture wars that have spurred the growth of human civilization since the Stone Age. Bloom shows us how culture shapes our infant brains, immersing us in a matrix of truth and mass delusion that we think of as reality.
References
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| Author | volume | Date Value | title | type | journal | titleUrl | doi | note | year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 GlobalBrainTheEvolutionofMassMi | Howard Bloom | Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century | 2000 |