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The Meaning of Human Existence  By  cover art

The Meaning of Human Existence

By: Edward O. Wilson
Narrated by: Jonathan Hogan
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Publisher's summary

Searching for meaning in what Nietzsche once called “the rainbow colors” around the outer edges of knowledge and imagination, Edward O. Wilson bridges science and philosophy to create a 21st century treatise on human existence. Once criticized for his over-reliance on genetics, Wilson unfurls here his most expansive and advanced theories on human behavior, recognizing that, even though the human and spider evolved similarly, the poet’s sonnet is wholly different than the spider’s web. Whether attempting to explicate "the Riddle of the Human Species", warning of "the Collapse of Biodiversity", or even creating a plausible "Portrait of E.T.", Wilson does indeed believe that humanity holds a special position in the known universe. Alarmed, however, that we are about to abandon natural selection by redesigning biology and human nature as we wish them, Wilson concludes that advances in science and technology bring us our greatest moral dilemma since God stayed the hand of Abraham. Edward O. Wilson is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading scientists. He is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the author of the best-selling The Social Conquest of Earth and Letters to a Young Scientist.

©2014 Edward O. Wilson (P)2014 Recorded Books

What listeners say about The Meaning of Human Existence

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Pleasant Humble Simple Rationalism

This book has a really pleasant humble tone of simple, non-confrontational, rationalism. He simply treats religion as silly stories that should no longer be believed. He points out humans as having amazingly poorly equipped senses compared with animals. Some religious folks might find Wilson’s unassuming dismissal of religion more annoying than Dawkin’s bellicose tirades.

Largely the purpose of this book seems to be to make a pointed attack on the theory of “inclusive fitness” and, less so, suggest arguments in favor of “multi-level selection” theory. About half the book and an appendix focuses on this debate, while the other half is somewhat wide ranging ideas very loosely tied to the title. Notice this is not your fathers “Meaning of Human Existence”! This is not “meaning” like that endowed by a creator, but instead straightforward meaning like; the meaning of a spider’s web is to catch food. For Wilson our meaning is associated with our culture and our humanities and arts.

I enjoyed the “inclusive fitness” debate, and was mildly interested in the other stories. I really appreciated the unpretentious rationalism. I quite agree with the criticisms of “inclusive fitness” which has always seemed to me a bit more fantasy than science, but I did not find the book quite lived up to the lofty title.

I had just finished “The Human Age” recently, and it was interesting to see the difference in interpretation of that concept between Wilson and Ackerman. Ackerman feels humans need to take full responsibility for the planet now, simply because we must. Wilson seems quite unsettled by this idea, and quite unready for that responsibility.

The narration was very clear and enjoyable.

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32 people found this helpful

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Still don’t know the meaning of my existence

When I saw the title of this book: “The meaning of human existence,” I thought, ok now Wilson has taken water over his head. Still, I thought, Wilson is an excellent writer and even if he cannot tell me the meaning of human existence I will not go away empty handed. Both presumptions turned out to be correct. The book was entertaining, and I learned some new interesting things about ants (Wilson is the world’s foremost expert when it comes to ants). However, I did not become wiser regarding “The meaning of human existence”.

Wilson does tell the reader where we the meaning can’t be found. There is the mandatory religion bashing; Sure, if it were the case that the Bible is true then maybe the meaning of our existence may simply be to serve God. Yet, more and more people begin to see the Bible as well as other religious texts for what they are: Made up stories full of errors and inconsistencies. Religious proponents typically exploit the gaps in our knowledge. When we didn’t know where lightning came from, a God (Thor) was proposed. Now that we do know where lightning comes from, other gaps are exploited. For example, we still don’t know how the first cell arose. It must, therefore, be God… As science advances, it explains more and more of the realm that used to be considered within the expertise of the church. Consequently, the church is on a never-ending endeavour to find smaller and smaller gaps in our knowledge that they can stick their God into

Can science tell us the meaning of human existence? My answer to this question is that while science can tell us how we evolved it does not tell us what the meaning of this evolution is. Indeed, the most honest conclusion may be that there is no meaning to evolution and hence no meaning to our existence. It is like asking what the meaning of a stone falling towards the ground is. The cause is gravity, but what is the meaning? To me, it is a nonsensical question, and I found nothing that made me alter this view in Wilson’s book.

So if you want a well-written book that discussed some old philosophical issues, a little bit of religion and some fascinating animal behavior, then this book is a good pick. But be prepared not to be enlightened.

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Evolutionary Biology and the Big Question

Biology is my religion and Edward O Wilson is my prophet. I have been reading and rereading his work since the 1970s and plan to continue to do so for as long as I am able to read anything. I would feel presumptuous to offer criticism, including praise, to a scientist and author as renowned and respected as Wilson. Let me just say that I recommend this book to anyone with any curiosity about "the big question."

A reader who is not knowledgeable about evolutionary biology may fear that Wilson's erudition will make his writing inaccessible to them. Not so. He writes for anyone who is willing to pay attention. To a reader who wants to increase their understanding of the social implications of evolutionary biology: this may be the only book you need.

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Wonderful Book

I've not read Edward Wilson until now and am kicking myself for it. This book was a wonderful journey that provides a much appreciated objectivity and perspective of our biological roots from the (astonishingly rare) eloquent scientist. I put this book down once while reading and that was to sleep. Highly recommended for ANYONE.

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I've learnt a lot about insects

I’ve labored through over 50% of this book and now I’m done. The author goes on and on about insects! Not that entomology is not a fascinating topic and the behavior of tiny critters can be enthralling. But when I purchase a book on “The Meaning of Human Existence”, I frankly don’t care to spend over 3 hours learning about the minutiae of how insects go about their day, how the author got into an argument with other people fascinated by ants, how little bugs spray their pheromones, the strategies they use to enslave other bugs, etc. Maybe somewhere towards the end, the author ties things together and reveals the grand meaning of our existence, but I doubt it. In my opinion, books by authors like Yuval Noah Harari and Sean Carroll are richer and provide deeper insights into the nature and meaning of humanness.

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A Misnomer of a Title

Would you try another book from Edward O. Wilson and/or Jonathan Hogan?

NO

What could Edward O. Wilson have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Avoid esoteric rants and broad denigration of all who have any difference in opinion.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Natation was straightforward, however: the author/narrator inserts breath pauses in lengthy sentences in ways that sometimes make the statement hard to understand.

What character would you cut from The Meaning of Human Existence?

The author

Any additional comments?

This book/narration is about equal parts valid, factual scientific observation and esoteric rants against the theory of inclusive fitness and almost all other fields of social study. The author appears to assume the listener is intimately familiar with the controversy that apparently surrounds the argument for or against inclusive fitness as a basis of social evolution versus a pure "allele evolutionary" basis for social evolution. Without explanation, he casually uses terms like "chaotic attractor" in his arguments, which well may be meaningful to a person versed in both complexity theory and this debate, but are meaningless to a well educated person like myself. He additionally spends a significant amount of time attempting to disprove the existence of any form of creator or spiritual existence. I found it amusing to hear such a self-ascribed disciple of logic and science spend so much time in an attempt to prove a negative. While I appreciate hearing his reasoning, his adamant certainty that his view, and only his view of existence is valid, and all who may disagree are lazy and self-center, slothful, tribal, and primitive while, only a short time earlier, admitting that he was just as adamant about the validity of whatever he is arguing against in that moment is jarring. If a person is deeply involved in the debate over the validity of inclusive fitness versus allele evolution as the prime cause of evolving social behavior, and wants to hear only the allele side of the argument, then this may be an enjoyable listen. To others, maybe not. There is one thing absolutely true here. This man knows ants. His extension of that knowledge to human existence is, however, questionable.

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Stunning

Because of the grandiose title I expected a certain level of hyperbole. I was wrong. This book is a brilliant summary of what makes humans unique. It's well worth the few hours that it takes to read (or listen to) it.

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  • AJ
  • 03-10-16

Great book

Great book...very thought provoking. .I found myself going back and reading it for a second time.

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Interesring

Good pace, explores a variety of topics (evolution, biology, entomology, alien life) with an open mind. Narrator is engaging while keeping a sober scientific tone.

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Amazing book

Deep thoughts of a genius mind..much more than an overview of scientific philosophy. Reminds me of the book zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance in its treatment of the inseparability of science and arts.

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