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Audiobook10 hours
The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this audiobook
A bold new synthesis of paleontology, archaeology, genetics, and anthropology that overturns misconceptions about race, war and peace, and human nature itself, answering an age-old question: What made humans so exceptional among all the species on Earth?
Creativity. It is the secret of what makes humans special, hiding in plain sight. Agustín Fuentes argues that your child's finger painting comes essentially from the same place as creativity in hunting and gathering millions of years ago, and throughout history in making war and peace, in intimate relationships, in shaping the planet, in our communities, and in all of art, religion, and even science. It requires imagination and collaboration. Every poet has her muse; every engineer, an architect; every politician, a constituency. The manner of the collaborations varies widely, but successful collaboration is inseparable from imagination, and it brought us everything from knives and hot meals to iPhones and interstellar spacecraft.
Weaving fascinating stories of our ancient ancestors' creativity, Fuentes finds the patterns that match modern behavior in humans and animals. This key quality has propelled the evolutionary development of our bodies, minds, and cultures, both for good and for bad. It's not the drive to reproduce; nor competition for mates, or resources, or power; nor our propensity for caring for one another that have separated us out from all other creatures.
As Fuentes concludes, to make something lasting and useful today you need to understand the nature of your collaboration with others, what imagination can and can't accomplish, and, finally, just how completely our creativity is responsible for the world we live in. Agustín Fuentes's resounding multimillion-year perspective will inspire readers-and spark all kinds of creativity.
Creativity. It is the secret of what makes humans special, hiding in plain sight. Agustín Fuentes argues that your child's finger painting comes essentially from the same place as creativity in hunting and gathering millions of years ago, and throughout history in making war and peace, in intimate relationships, in shaping the planet, in our communities, and in all of art, religion, and even science. It requires imagination and collaboration. Every poet has her muse; every engineer, an architect; every politician, a constituency. The manner of the collaborations varies widely, but successful collaboration is inseparable from imagination, and it brought us everything from knives and hot meals to iPhones and interstellar spacecraft.
Weaving fascinating stories of our ancient ancestors' creativity, Fuentes finds the patterns that match modern behavior in humans and animals. This key quality has propelled the evolutionary development of our bodies, minds, and cultures, both for good and for bad. It's not the drive to reproduce; nor competition for mates, or resources, or power; nor our propensity for caring for one another that have separated us out from all other creatures.
As Fuentes concludes, to make something lasting and useful today you need to understand the nature of your collaboration with others, what imagination can and can't accomplish, and, finally, just how completely our creativity is responsible for the world we live in. Agustín Fuentes's resounding multimillion-year perspective will inspire readers-and spark all kinds of creativity.
Editor's Note
Light bulb…
Readers of Yuval Noah Harari will be drawn to this inspiring history of humanity that focuses on what has separated humans from the rest of the animals on Earth: creativity. Fuentes convincingly argues that our imaginative powers are essential to our ability to alter our environments and ourselves, and to the incredible achievements that resulted.
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Reviews for The Creative Spark
Rating: 3.777777788888889 out of 5 stars
4/5
18 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5You will not learn much about human origins but a lot about politics and social mores of early 21st century.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent presentation of the key to the uniqueness of the human species: creative collaboration. Written clearly and intelligently for the lay reader interested in the science but not interested in being overwhelmed by the scientific jargon and minutiae, but brings the receipts in the notes for those looking for the detailed scientific arguments. Succinctly and clearly summarizes the ESS (extended evolutionary synthesis) before focusing on the application to the evolution of genus Homo, in particular highlighting the importance of niche construction. Highly recommended for a highly readable summary of current science regarding human evolution with a laser focus on the creativity and cooperation that forms the human niche.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5So repetitive and slow...I lost the interest and never come back... thanks