Download or read book Evolutionary Systems and Society written by Vilmos Csányi and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 1989 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work is a bold new effort to embrace all aspects of life--molecular, cellular, behavioral, and cultural--within the formulation of a general theory of evolution that extends classical Darwinian theory to include human society.
Download or read book Guided Evolution of Society written by Bela H. Banathy and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a comprehensive review of human and societal evolution the book develops an approach to conscious, self-guided evolution. In the course of the evolutionary journey of our species, there have been three seminal events. The first happened some seven million yeas ago, when our humanoid ancestors entered on the evolutionary scene. Their journey toward the second crucial event lasted over six million years when - as the greatest event of our evolutionary history - homo sapiens sapiens, started the revolutionary process of cultural evolution. Today, we have arrived at the threshold of the third major event, `the revolution of conscious evolution,' when it becomes our responsibility to enter into the evolutionary design space and guide the evolutionary journey of our species. The book tells the story of the first six million years of the journey in just enough detail to understand how evolution had worked in times when it was primarily biological, driven by natural selection. With the human revolution some fifty thousand years ago, with the emergence of self-reflective consciousness, the evolutionary process transformed from biological into cultural. From this point on, the book follows the journey with detailed attention, in order to learn how cultural evolution works. The book is organized in three parts. Part One commences with an exposition of a brief history of the evolutionary idea through time with a focus on a review of the science of general evolution and specifically social and societal evolution. Next, the book unfolds the `evolutionary story' of our species from the time when the first humanoids entered the evolutionary scene to our current era. Part Two develops a systems view of evolution, explores the ways and means of how evolution works, characterizes evolutionary consciousness and develops the idea of conscious evolution. Part Three builds upon the knowledge developed in the first two parts and sets forth the key conditions of conscious, self-guided evolution, elaborating the core condition, which is the acquisition of evolutionary competence through evolutionary learning. The focus of this part is on an approach to the design of evolutionary guidance systems that our families, neighborhoods, communities, organizations, social and societal systems can use to design the future they aspire to attain. The work is set aside from other statements in three important ways. It provides: (1) a comprehensive review of how evolution has worked with a focus on socio-cultural evolution, (2) an explanation of evolutionary consciousness and the conditions of engaging in conscious evolution, and (3) most significantly, it develops a detailed approach and a methodology to the design of evolutionary guidance systems.
Download or read book Creative Evolutionary Systems written by Peter Bentley and published by Morgan Kaufmann. This book was released on 2002 with total page 618 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written for computer scientists and students, and computer literate artists, designers and specialists in evolutionary computation, this text brings together the most advanced work in the use of evolutionary computation for creative results.
Download or read book Evolutionary Computation with Intelligent Systems written by R.S. Chauhan and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2022-03-29 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on cutting-edge innovations and core theories, principles, and algorithms applicable to a wide area. Real-life applications, case studies, and examples are included along with emerging trends, design, and optimized solutions pivoting around the needs of Society 5.0. Evolutionary Computation with Intelligent Systems: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Society 5.0 provides a holistic view of evolutionary computation techniques including principles, procedures, and future applications with real-life examples. The book comprehensively explains evolutionary computation, design, principles, development trends, and optimization and describes how it can transform the operating context of the organization. It exemplifies the potential of evolutionary computation for the next generation and the role of cloud computing in shaping Society 5.0. It also provides insight into various platforms, paradigms, techniques, and tools used in diverse fields. This book appeals to a variety of readers such as academicians, researchers, research scholars, and postgraduates.
Download or read book Trust written by Toshio Yamagishi and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-09-13 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is written around the central message that collectivist societies produce security, but destroy trust. In collectivist societies, people are connected through networks of strong personal ties where the behavior of all agents is constantly monitored and controlled. As a result, individuals in collectivist networks are assured that others will abide by social norms, and gain a sense of security erroneously thought of as “trust.” However, this book argues that this security is not truly trust, based on beliefs regarding the integrity of others, but assurance, based on the system of mutual control within the network. In collectivist societies, security is assured insofar as people stay within the network, but people do not trust in the benevolence of human nature. On the one hand, transaction costs are reduced within collectivist networks, as once accepted into a network the risk of being maltreated is minimized. However, joining the network requires individuals to pay opportunity cost, that is, they pay a cost by forgoing potentially superior opportunities outside the security of the network. In this era of globalization, people from traditionally collectivistic societies face the challenge of learning how to free themselves from the security of such collectivistic networks in order to explore the opportunities open to them elsewhere. This book presents research investigating how the minds of individuals are shaped by the conflict between maintaining security inside closed networks of strong ties, and venturing outside of the network to seek out new opportunities.
Download or read book Freedom and Evolution written by Adrian Bejan and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-12-06 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book begins with familiar designs found all around and inside us (such as the ‘trees’ of river basins, human lungs, blood and city traffic). It then shows how all flow systems are driven by power from natural engines everywhere, and how they are endlessly shaped because of freedom. Finally, Professor Bejan explains how people, like everything else that moves on earth, are driven by power derived from our “engines” that consume fuel and food, and that our movement dissipates the power completely and changes constantly for greater access, economies of scale, efficiency, innovation and life. Written for wide audiences of all ages, including readers interested in science, patterns in nature, similarity and non-uniformity, history and the future, and those just interested in having fun with ideas, the book shows how many “design change” concepts acquire a solid scientific footing and how they exist with the evolution of nature, society, technology and science.
Download or read book Evolutionary Systems written by G. Vijver and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-04-17 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The three well known revolutions of the past centuries - the Copernican, the Darwinian and the Freudian - each in their own way had a deflating and mechanizing effect on the position of humans in nature. They opened up a richness of disillusion: earth acquired a more modest place in the universe, the human body and mind became products of a long material evolutionary history, and human reason, instead of being the central, immaterial, locus of understanding, was admitted into the theater of discourse only as a materialized and frequently out-of-control actor. Is there something objectionable to this picture? Formulated as such, probably not. Why should we resist the idea that we are in certain ways, and to some degree, physically, biologically or psychically determined? Why refuse to acknowledge the fact that we are materially situated in an ever evolving world? Why deny that the ways of inscription (traces of past events and processes) are co-determinative of further "evolutionary pathways"? Why minimize the idea that each intervention, of each natural being, is temporally and materially situated, and has, as such, the inevitable consequence of changing the world? The point is, however, that there are many, more or less radically different, ways to consider the "mechanization" of man and nature. There are, in particular, many ways to get the message of "material and evolutionary determination", as well as many levels at which this determination can be thought of as relevant or irrelevant.
Download or read book Ecological evolutionary Theory written by Gerhard Lenski and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-11-17 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For forty years, in a variety of books and articles, Gerhard Lenski has become the most influential proponent of ecological and evolutionary explanations of human societies, their development and transformations, from the Stone Age to the present. In his newest book, Lenski offers a succinct but comprehensive statement of the full body of his theory followed by demonstration of how it can be used to generate new and valuable insights when applied to a set of highly diverse issues. These include debates concerning the origin of ancient Israel and its distinctive culture, the rise of the West in the modern era, the highly varied trajectories of development of Third World nations in recent decades, and the failure of Marxist efforts to transform society in the Soviet Union and elsewhere. In the concluding chapter, Lenski discusses a number of other issues and areas where ecological-evolutionary theory may be fruitfully applied in the future.
Download or read book The Spirit of System written by Richard Wellington Burkhardt and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was a biological Janus, at once a highly competent taxonomist in a traditional mold and a bold, almost visionary, philosopher of nature who aspired to contrive an all-embracing "physics of the earth" by sheer force of intellect. Lamarck is generally remembered only for his ideas about the inheritance of acquired characters, ideas he did not originate or take special credit for, ideas that were only one part of his broad theory of evolution. In this, the first modern book-length study of Lamarck, Richard Burkhardt examines the origin and development of Lamarck's theory of organic evolution, the major theory prior to Darwin.
Download or read book Rodent Societies written by Jerry O. Wolff and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 627 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rodent Societies synthesizes and integrates the current state of knowledge about the social behavior of rodents, providing ecological and evolutionary contexts for understanding their societies and highlighting emerging conservation and management strategies to preserve them. It begins with a summary of the evolution, phylogeny, and biogeography of social and nonsocial rodents, providing a historical basis for comparative analyses. Subsequent sections focus on group-living rodents and characterize their reproductive behaviors, life histories and population ecology, genetics, neuroendocrine mechanisms, behavioral development, cognitive processes, communication mechanisms, cooperative and uncooperative behaviors, antipredator strategies, comparative socioecology, diseases, and conservation. Using the highly diverse and well-studied Rodentia as model systems to integrate a variety of research approaches and evolutionary theory into a unifying framework, Rodent Societies will appeal to a wide range of disciplines, both as a compendium of current research and as a stimulus for future collaborative and interdisciplinary investigations.
Download or read book The Social Cage written by Alexandra Maryanski and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors assert that traditional sociological theories of human nature and society do not pay sufficient attention to the evolution of "big-brained hominoids," resulting in assumptions about humans' propensity for "groupness" that go against the record of primate evolution. When this record is analyzed in detail, and is supplemented by a review of the social structures of contemporary apes and the basic types of human societies (hunter-gathering, horticultural, agrarian, and industrial), commonplace criticisms about the de-humanizing effects of industrial society appear overdrawn, if not downright incorrect. The book concludes that the mistakes in contemporary social theory - as well as much of general social commentary - stem from a failure to analyze humans as "big-brained" apes with certain phylogenetic tendencies. This failure is usually coupled with a willingness to romanticize societies of the past, notably horticultural and agrarian systems
Download or read book The Society of Genes written by Itai Yanai and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2016-01-11 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly four decades ago Richard Dawkins published The Selfish Gene, famously reducing humans to “survival machines” whose sole purpose was to preserve “the selfish molecules known as genes.” How these selfish genes work together to construct the organism, however, remained a mystery. Standing atop a wealth of new research, The Society of Genes now provides a vision of how genes cooperate and compete in the struggle for life. Pioneers in the nascent field of systems biology, Itai Yanai and Martin Lercher present a compelling new framework to understand how the human genome evolved and why understanding the interactions among our genes shifts the basic paradigm of modern biology. Contrary to what Dawkins’s popular metaphor seems to imply, the genome is not made of individual genes that focus solely on their own survival. Instead, our genomes comprise a society of genes which, like human societies, is composed of members that form alliances and rivalries. In language accessible to lay readers, The Society of Genes uncovers genetic strategies of cooperation and competition at biological scales ranging from individual cells to entire species. It captures the way the genome works in cancer cells and Neanderthals, in sexual reproduction and the origin of life, always underscoring one critical point: that only by putting the interactions among genes at center stage can we appreciate the logic of life.
Download or read book Blueprint written by Nicholas A. Christakis and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2019-03-26 with total page 493 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A dazzlingly erudite synthesis of history, philosophy, anthropology, genetics, sociology, economics, epidemiology, statistics, and more" (Frank Bruni, The New York Times), Blueprint shows why evolution has placed us on a humane path -- and how we are united by our common humanity. For too long, scientists have focused on the dark side of our biological heritage: our capacity for aggression, cruelty, prejudice, and self-interest. But natural selection has given us a suite of beneficial social features, including our capacity for love, friendship, cooperation, and learning. Beneath all of our inventions -- our tools, farms, machines, cities, nations -- we carry with us innate proclivities to make a good society. In Blueprint, Nicholas A. Christakis introduces the compelling idea that our genes affect not only our bodies and behaviors, but also the ways in which we make societies, ones that are surprisingly similar worldwide. With many vivid examples -- including diverse historical and contemporary cultures, communities formed in the wake of shipwrecks, commune dwellers seeking utopia, online groups thrown together by design or involving artificially intelligent bots, and even the tender and complex social arrangements of elephants and dolphins that so resemble our own -- Christakis shows that, despite a human history replete with violence, we cannot escape our social blueprint for goodness. In a world of increasing political and economic polarization, it's tempting to ignore the positive role of our evolutionary past. But by exploring the ancient roots of goodness in civilization, Blueprint shows that our genes have shaped societies for our welfare and that, in a feedback loop stretching back many thousands of years, societies are still shaping our genes today.
Download or read book Blueprint written by Nicholas A. Christakis and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2019-03-26 with total page 493 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A dazzlingly erudite synthesis of history, philosophy, anthropology, genetics, sociology, economics, epidemiology, statistics, and more" (Frank Bruni, The New York Times), Blueprint shows why evolution has placed us on a humane path -- and how we are united by our common humanity. For too long, scientists have focused on the dark side of our biological heritage: our capacity for aggression, cruelty, prejudice, and self-interest. But natural selection has given us a suite of beneficial social features, including our capacity for love, friendship, cooperation, and learning. Beneath all of our inventions -- our tools, farms, machines, cities, nations -- we carry with us innate proclivities to make a good society. In Blueprint, Nicholas A. Christakis introduces the compelling idea that our genes affect not only our bodies and behaviors, but also the ways in which we make societies, ones that are surprisingly similar worldwide. With many vivid examples -- including diverse historical and contemporary cultures, communities formed in the wake of shipwrecks, commune dwellers seeking utopia, online groups thrown together by design or involving artificially intelligent bots, and even the tender and complex social arrangements of elephants and dolphins that so resemble our own -- Christakis shows that, despite a human history replete with violence, we cannot escape our social blueprint for goodness. In a world of increasing political and economic polarization, it's tempting to ignore the positive role of our evolutionary past. But by exploring the ancient roots of goodness in civilization, Blueprint shows that our genes have shaped societies for our welfare and that, in a feedback loop stretching back many thousands of years, societies are still shaping our genes today.
Download or read book Culture and the Evolutionary Process written by Robert Boyd and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1988-06-15 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do biological, psychological, sociological, and cultural factors combine to change societies over the long run? Boyd and Richerson explore how genetic and cultural factors interact, under the influence of evolutionary forces, to produce the diversity we see in human cultures. Using methods developed by population biologists, they propose a theory of cultural evolution that is an original and fair-minded alternative to the sociobiology debate.
Download or read book The Evolution of Primate Societies written by John C. Mitani and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-10-24 with total page 745 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1987, the University of Chicago Press published Primate Societies, the standard reference in the field of primate behavior for an entire generation of students and scientists. But in the twenty-five years since its publication, new theories and research techniques for studying the Primate order have been developed, debated, and tested, forcing scientists to revise their understanding of our closest living relatives. Intended as a sequel to Primate Societies, The Evolution of Primate Societies compiles thirty-one chapters that review the current state of knowledge regarding the behavior of nonhuman primates. Chapters are written by the leading authorities in the field and organized around four major adaptive problems primates face as they strive to grow, maintain themselves, and reproduce in the wild. The inclusion of chapters on the behavior of humans at the end of each major section represents one particularly novel aspect of the book, and it will remind readers what we can learn about ourselves through research on nonhuman primates. The final section highlights some of the innovative and cutting-edge research designed to reveal the similarities and differences between nonhuman and human primate cognition. The Evolution of Primate Societies will be every bit the landmark publication its predecessor has been.
Download or read book Darwin s Cathedral written by David Sloan Wilson and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-09-16 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the great intellectual battles of modern times is between evolution and religion. Until now, they have been considered completely irreconcilable theories of origin and existence. David Sloan Wilson's Darwin's Cathedral takes the radical step of joining the two, in the process proposing an evolutionary theory of religion that shakes both evolutionary biology and social theory at their foundations. The key, argues Wilson, is to think of society as an organism, an old idea that has received new life based on recent developments in evolutionary biology. If society is an organism, can we then think of morality and religion as biologically and culturally evolved adaptations that enable human groups to function as single units rather than mere collections of individuals? Wilson brings a variety of evidence to bear on this question, from both the biological and social sciences. From Calvinism in sixteenth-century Geneva to Balinese water temples, from hunter-gatherer societies to urban America, Wilson demonstrates how religions have enabled people to achieve by collective action what they never could do alone. He also includes a chapter considering forgiveness from an evolutionary perspective and concludes by discussing how all social organizations, including science, could benefit by incorporating elements of religion. Religious believers often compare their communities to single organisms and even to insect colonies. Astoundingly, Wilson shows that they might be literally correct. Intended for any educated reader, Darwin's Cathedral will change forever the way we view the relations among evolution, religion, and human society.
