Where are we heading? : the evolution of humans and things / Ian Hodder.

By:

Hodder, Ian

Series: Foundational questions in sciencePublisher: New Haven : Yale University Press ; [West Conshohocken, PA] : Templeton Press, [2018]Copyright date: ©2018Description: xvi, 179 pages : illustrations ; 22 cmContent type:

text

Media type:

unmediated

Carrier type:

volume

ISBN:

9780300204094

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

306 23

LOC classification:

GN406 .H633 2018

Contents:

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.

Summary: "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.

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Shelving location	Call number	Copy number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Book	NMC Library	Stacks	GN406 .H633 2018 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	1	Available		33039001456150

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Previous								Next
Previous	GN388 .W58 2016 Why forage? : hunters and gatherers in the twenty-first century /	GN397.5 .A674 2012 Applying anthropology in the global village /	GN406 .F65 2016 From curlers to chainsaws : women and their machines /	GN406 .H633 2018 Where are we heading? : the evolution of humans and things /	GN406 .L46 2010 The story of stuff : the impact of overconsumption on the planet, our communities, and our health--and how we can make it better /	GN407 .C37 2017 No one eats alone : food as a social enterprise /	GN407 .C76 2013 Eating culture : an anthropological guide to food /	Next

Includes bibliographical references (pages 149-167) and index.

"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.

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