Life Finds a Way

What Evolution Teaches Us About Creativity

By: Andreas Wagner

Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White

Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

How the principles of biological innovation can help us overcome creative challenges in art, business, and science...

In Life Finds a Way, biologist Andreas Wagner reveals the deep symmetry between innovation in biological evolution and human cultural creativity. Rarely is either a linear climb to perfection - instead, "progress" is typically marked by a sequence of peaks, plateaus, and pitfalls. For instance, in Picasso's 40-some iterations of Guernica, we see the same combination of small steps, incessant reshuffling, and large, almost reckless, leaps that characterize the way evolution transformed a dinosaur's grasping claw into a condor's soaring wing. By understanding these principles, we can also better realize our own creative potential to find new solutions to adversity.

Ultimately, Life Finds a Way offers a new framework for the nature of creativity, enabling us to better adapt, grow, and change in art, business, or science - that is, in life.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Andreas Wagner (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Here is the scientific proof for why 'teaching to the test' for standardized testing is hurting our students and jeopardizing our future - and what can be done about it. Creativity is a necessity not a luxury, says Andreas Wagner. In a tour of genetics, scientific breakthroughs and artistic peaks, he draws parallels to the human processes that generate leaps of progress: analogy-making and metaphor, among others. He makes the definitive case for embedding creative thinking in the classroom, if we are to see the survival of the fittest." (Kerry Ruef, founder of The Private Eye Project)

"Andreas Wagner has again cut through to the heart of a vital question. The notion that genomes are set up to explore, through trial and error, in the hope of leaping across the adaptive landscape to new peaks is a fresh concept. Wagner draws out fascinating parallels with the way innovation works in human society." (Matt Ridley, author of The Evolution of Everything and How Innovation Works)

"From molecules to moths to mountains, Andreas Wagner's Life Finds a Way weaves a coherent and compelling narrative about how nature achieves creativity. Not only that, we also learn how to cultivate creativity in our own lives, and - perhaps more importantly - how to avoid smothering it with good intentions." (George Dyson, author of Darwin Among the Machines)

New favorite complexity book!

I have been casually reading books about complexity for a few years now and was instantly excited about this book when it came out. Most pop sci books on complexity deal with biology from the outside looking in. Wagner looks out on the world of complexity from a biological foundation. I finished this book a couple weeks ago and the ideas inside are still actively swimming around in my head. The detailed exploration of landscape thinking in many complex systems has me exploring the idea further to solve everyday problems. I reinterpret situations in terms of landscape thinking as you soon will too.

Unicorns and rainbows!

What an remarkable and riveting book. This is just what I needed to connect some dots...