The Human Swarm

Informationen zum Autor Mark W. Moffett is a biologist and research associate at the Smithsonian, and a visiting scholar in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He has also authored four books. Called a "daring eco-adventurer" by Margaret Atwood, his writing has appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing and he has been a regular guest on The Colbert Report, Conan, NPR's Fresh Air, and CBS Sunday Morning. Klappentext The epic story, ultimate big history, and "remarkable intellectual achievement" (Quarterly Review of Biology) describing how human society evolved from intimate chimp communities into the sprawling civilizations of a world-dominating speciesIf a chimpanzee ventures into the territory of a different group, it will almost certainly be killed. But a New Yorker can fly to Los Angeles--or Borneo--with very little fear. Psychologists have done little to explain this: for years, they have held that our biology puts a hard upper limit--about 150 people--on the size of our social groups. But human societies are in fact vastly larger. How do we manage--by and large--to get along with each other?In this paradigm-shattering book, biologist Mark W. Moffett draws on findings in psychology, sociology and anthropology to explain the social adaptations that bind societies. He explores how the tension between identity and anonymity defines how societies develop, function, and fail. Surpassing Guns, Germs, and Steel and Sapiens, The Human Swarm reveals how mankind created sprawling civilizations of unrivaled complexity--and what it will take to sustain them.The epic story of how humans evolved from intimate chimp communities into a world-dominating species Zusammenfassung Since the dawn of man! we humans have been comparing ourselves to the rest of the animal kingdom in order to define what makes our societies unique. Modern science points to chimpanzees as the closest comparison. Yet! while we have much in common with our fellow primates! there's a huge difference that separates our species: the size of our societies! and the fluidity with which we move among them. Chimpanzees live in small communities! with limited interactions within groups and frequent aggression between them. Humans! on the other hand! can live relatively harmoniously in groups with millions and even billions of other members! with intricate divisions of labor; massive intergroup trade! travel! and exchange; and cultures capable of sending robots to Pluto. In The Human Swarm ! biologist Mark Moffett flips our preconception on its head with a radical new argument: if we really want to understand ourselves! it's time to compare ourselves to ants. It's a stunning idea that grows from a simple premise: like a large colony of ants! humans are capable of cooperating with (or just peaceably ignoring) most of the others they come across! whether they know them or not. Moffett embarks on both an intellectual and a physical adventure across the globe to make the case that! while chimps may be our closest genetic cousins! it is truly the ants that are our spirit animals. Much as ants rely on simple smells to recognize who is safe to be around (or who is to be attacked)! humans identify others by accent! gesture! even clothing. And although we form tight groups of friends! or talk about the ties that bind! most of those cues do nothing more than indicate the presence of an acceptably anonymous other. Moffett argues that it's the ability to treat each other not as individuals! but as a collection of anonymous! but sufficiently recognizable! others! that has allowed us to expand beyond the limits of our primate heritage and evolve into largely anonymous communities. And it's only through recognizing this key difference that we can better understand the depths of human nature: from the sky-high potential of international cooperation to the ruthless and brutal seeds of war. Like

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