For me, Dawkins had a similar effect but on a different topic. I'm younger than pg, so maybe I grew up with the idea that we are just another species on its way.
What I did get snapped into was understanding 2 things about evolution by natural selection:
1) It is an abstract principle. It exists very comfortably outside of genetics or even biology in a very similar way to numbers existing outside of apples and oranges.
2) It is creation. That is, it has abilities so similar to what we call creativity that it can very plausibly be called creativity.
Just defining and demonstrating memes along with his description of some classroom experiment drawing boats brought those two things home. After that, I got why biologists are so in love with evolution.
Biology happens to utilise this powerful principle. Happens to. There may be many such powerful principles out there without a flagship product. Undiscovered.
More recommendations of books that can change our thinking, please...
In the tradition of Darwin and Dawkins, I heartily recommend Steven Pinker's The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature. Pinker's always worth reading, and for me this is his best. Broader and deeper than his more linguistic work.
Following along the Dawkins theme from the essay: Dennett (Freedom Evolves, or others) takes the implications very far. I suppose there's nothing that will cause a little mental revolution, but it's definitely "consciousness raising".
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More recommendations of books that can change our thinking, please...
For me, Dawkins had a similar effect but on a different topic. I'm younger than pg, so maybe I grew up with the idea that we are just another species on its way.
What I did get snapped into was understanding 2 things about evolution by natural selection:
1) It is an abstract principle. It exists very comfortably outside of genetics or even biology in a very similar way to numbers existing outside of apples and oranges.
2) It is creation. That is, it has abilities so similar to what we call creativity that it can very plausibly be called creativity.
Just defining and demonstrating memes along with his description of some classroom experiment drawing boats brought those two things home. After that, I got why biologists are so in love with evolution.
Biology happens to utilise this powerful principle. Happens to. There may be many such powerful principles out there without a flagship product. Undiscovered.
More recommendations of books that can change our thinking, please...
In the tradition of Darwin and Dawkins, I heartily recommend Steven Pinker's The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature. Pinker's always worth reading, and for me this is his best. Broader and deeper than his more linguistic work.
When I was 17 years old I read "Beyond Good and Evil", by Nietzsche.
( http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4363 )
That book truly changed the way I lived and the way I thought.
I thought his Genealogy of Morality was better executed in deconstructing our ideas of right and wrong.
Following along the Dawkins theme from the essay: Dennett (Freedom Evolves, or others) takes the implications very far. I suppose there's nothing that will cause a little mental revolution, but it's definitely "consciousness raising".