The human swarm : how our societies arise, thrive, and fall

Summary:

The epic story and ultimate big history of how human society evolved from intimate chimp communities into the sprawling civilizations of a world-dominating species. If 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.

Record details

ISBN: 9780465055685
ISBN: 0465055680
ISBN: 9781541617292
ISBN: 1541617290
Physical Description: viii, 468 pages ; 25 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : Basic Books, 2019.
Copyright: ©2018

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 367-448) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Affiliation and recognition. What a society isn't (and what it is) ; What vertebrates get out of being in a society ; On the move ; Individual recognition -- Anonymous societies. Ants and humans, apples and oranges ; The ultimate nationalists ; Anonymous humans -- Hunter-gatherers until recent times. Band societies ; The nomadic life ; Settling down -- The deep history of human anonymous societies. Pant hoots and passwords ; Sensing others ; Stereotypes and stories ; The great chain ; Grand unions ; Putting kin in their place -- Peace and conflict. Is conflict necessary? ; Playing well with others -- The life and death of societies. The lifecycle of societies ; The dynamic "us" ; Inventing foreigners and the death of societies -- Tribes to nations. Turning a village into a conquering society ; Building and breaking a nation -- From captive to neighbor ... to global citizen? The rise of ethnicities ; Divided we stand ; The inevitability of societies -- Conclusion: identities shift and societies shatter -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- References -- Index.