Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Hodder, Ian

Titel

Where are we heading? : the evolution of humans and things

Ist Teil von

• Foundational questions in science

Ort / Verlag

New Haven : Yale University Press

Erscheinungsjahr

[2018]

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Includes bibliographical references and index
• The question -- The idea of progress -- Does biological evolution provide an answer? -- Humans and things -- Webs of dependency -- The generation of change -- Path dependence and two forms of directionality -- Why the question matters
• "In this engaging exploration, archaeologist Ian Hodder departs from the two prevailing modes of thought about human evolution: the older idea of constant advancement toward a civilized ideal and the newer one of a directionless process of natural selection. Instead, he proposes a theory of human evolution and history based on "entanglement," the ever-increasing mutual dependency between humans and things. Not only do humans become dependent on things, Hodder asserts, but things become dependent on humans, requiring an endless succession of new innovations. It is this mutual dependency that creates the dominant trend in both cultural and genetic evolution. He selects a small number of cases, ranging in significance from the invention of the wheel down to Christmas tree lights, to show how entanglement has created webs of human-thing dependency that encircle the world and limit our responses to global crises."--Provided by publisher