From Bacteria to Bach and Back

What Hacker News says

1. disqardDec 2024
   If you haven't already, you should check out Daniel Dennett's "From Bacteria to Bach and Back". I think you'll be susceptible to "catching" a lot of the ideas in there :)
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2. spicyusernameOct 2024
   I was very influenced by Kurt Vonnegut when I was a teenager. Coming of age is a perfect time to learn that the fact that life is absurd doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't laugh, just the opposite. Sirens of Titan and Slaughterhouse Five are some of my favorite books of his.

   As an adult, I've been very influenced by the late Daniel Dennett and his naturalist philosophy. Books like From Bacteria to Bach and Back or Darwin's Dangerous Idea.

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3. glensteinJun 2023
   Not a wiki article, but From Bacteria to Bach and Back is more or less about this very subject.
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4. yborisFeb 2023
   Academic side-note: an excellent book about memes, culture, genetics, evolution, and life is by one of my favorite philosophers: Daniel C. Dennett

   From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds

   https://www.amazon.com/Bacteria-Bach-Back-Evolution-Minds/dp...

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5. yborisSep 2022
   I think a fantastic follow-up to The Selfish Gene is Daniel Dennett's From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds:

   https://www.amazon.com/Bacteria-Bach-Back-Evolution-Minds/dp...

   The author (a philosopher informed by scientific theories, writing on the subject for many decades) weaves together the grand story explaining biological evolution, evolution of minds, evolution of culture, and more (explaining how memes are a very useful concept to understand the tremendous non-biological changes over the course of the history of life).

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6. cosminscaunasuFeb 2019
   Daniel Dennet's books - explains how complex designs like our mind can appear out of very simple rules without the need of a designer or what consciousness basically is - a high level view i.e. how can we understand it in simple terms - or what is the purpose of humor. Some examples: "Darwin's dangerous idea", "From Bacteria to Bach and Back".
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