Name: The Lucifer Principle
ISBN: 9780802192189

The Lucifer Principle

In the course of his inquiry, Howard Bloom became convinced that evolution could explain the fundamentals of human nature and the broad sweep of human history. He is not alone. It is no longer heretical to study our own species as one of evolution's creations, and many books are appearing on the subject. The Lucifer Principle, however, does not merely report on the rapid developments that are taking place within academia. Howard Bloom has his own vision of evolution and human nature that many scientific authorities would dispute. He is a heretic among former heretics. The bone of contention is the organismic nature of human society. - Foreword.

What Hacker News says

brigaDec 2017

A few of the best were:

What Technology Wants by Kevin Kelly. A really profound and interesting look into what technology is. Technology evolves through the same sort of Darwinian process that life evolves. Technology is in some sense alive, and Kelly's perspective on it is wonderfully refreshing. I also read his book Out of Control, which is fantastic.

Sapiens by Yuval Harari. Enough people are talking about this one that I don't have to say much, suffice it to say it's a fascinating look into human history a la Guns, Germs, and Steel.

The Lucifer Principle by Howard Bloom. If you're a fan of Harari you'll love this one. It's an alternative scientific look at evil, and how evil appears to be encoded into our species.

Hyperspace by Michio Kaku. Kaku is an amazing popular science writer bar none and this is his exploration of modern physics and string theory. The most concise and understandable explanation of modern physics I've read, which is part for the course with Kaku.

Red Queen by Matt Ridley. A fascinating look at sex, and why the human sex drive, and therefore human nature, is the way it is.

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brigaJul 2017

I felt like Homo Deus was largely a retread of Sapiens. Some of his speculations about the various forms of humanism that have arisen in the 20th century were interesting, but for most of the book it felt like he was treading very familiar ground. It seemed like Harari was in a rush to release another book after the runaway success of Sapiens, and because of that he didn't take his time writing it. Sapiens was very concise and felt like the product of years of careful thought. Homo Deus felt like it was rushed in comparison. Still a good read, don't get me wrong.

For a similar type of book I would recommend Howard Bloom's Lucifer Principle and Global Brain. They both take a similarly broad scientific perspective on human history and behavior, and both are fun reads.

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Asa-NisseJan 2010

Recommendations:

- Collapse by Jared Diamond, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_%28book%29 about how we over-exploit our planet.

- The Lucifer Principle by Howard Bloom, psychological and cultural explanations of how humans react to "memes" amongst other gems of knowledge.

- The Eschaton series by Charles Stross (sci-fi).

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aswansonMar 2008

Lucifer Principle -- Howard Bloom.

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phs318uJul 2026

> capitalism is a better contender. It's a self-healing, self-organizing system that has its own logic and seems to have escaped the desires of its human creators. It treats individual firms as the cells within it, individual humans as its DNA molecules, and it even has a form of tissue differentiation via industries

This is not a new idea. Howard Bloom (author of The Lucifer Principle [0]) developed the idea that among intelligeng beings "memetic evolution" > "genetic evolution" i.e. the unit of selection is the "idea" as expressed in social/political groupings. In this view of the world, the survival of individuals are less important than the survival of the "group concept" (not the set of genes i.e. the tribal "badge" > the tribal genes). e.g. Judaism, mercantilism, Catholicism, free-market capitalism etc etc.

Definitely worth a read.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lucifer_Principle

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