In a book sure to stir argument for years to come, Robert
Wright challen+ges the conventional view that biological evolution
and human history are aimless. Ingeniously employing game theory -
the logic of ''zero-sum'' and ''non-zero-sum'' games - Wright isolates
the impetus behind life''s basic direction: the impetus that, via
biological evolution, created complex, intelligent animals, and
then via cultural evolution, pushed the human species towards
deeper and vaster social complexity. In this view, the coming of
today''s independent global society was ''in the cards'' - not quite
inevitable, but, as Wright puts it, ''so probable as to inspire
wonder''. In a narrative of breathtaking scope and erudition, yet
pungent wit, Wright takes on some of the past century''s most
prominent thinkers, including Isaiah Berlin, Karl Popper, Stephen
Jay Gould, and Richard Dawkins. Wright argues that a coolly
specific appraisal of humanity''s three-billion-year past can give
new spiritual meaning to the present and even offer political
guidance for the future. This book will change the way people think
about the human prospect.