Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life

Think about life as we know it.
Now think about a book that can convincingly explain it as an algorithm and... well, nothing more!
Now imagine the same book capable to thrill, amuse and inspire the reader about science, human values, ethics, consciousness, artificial intelligence and more; This is 'Darwin's dangeorus idea' : quite simply a fundamental book about the sheer beauty, simplicity, reach and mind-blowing implications of the theory of evolution by Darwin. It is firmly in my all time top ten book list.

To fully grasp Dennett's arguments in "Darwin's Dangerous Idea", lots of preparatory reading is required on various authors and topics including, but not limited to: Stephen Jay Gould whom the author targets his most scathing criticisms of, Gould's colleague, Richard Lewontin, American linguist and philosopher, Noam Chomsky, mathematical physicist, Roger Penrose, cognitive scientist, Jerry Fodor, adaptationism and gradualism, reductionism, saltationism, memetics etc. Dennett spends little time in introducing the reader to the works of these authors and their ideas, and instead, debunks anything and everything that attempts to weaken Darwin's natural selection theory.

In a heated and publicized exchange resulting largely from Dennett's attack on Gould with an entire chapter of "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" devoted to discrediting him, Gould, who is considered the foremost authority on espousing the views on evolution called Dennett a "Darwinian Fundamentalist" who has reduced biological and cultural evolution to a largely mindless algorithmic process.

Dennett introduces two new metaphors of cranes and skyhooks which he uses repeatedly in his arguments. Cranes are the lifting mechanisms facilitating the design of organisms. They are grounded and explainable. Skyhooks are imaginary, unsupported and supposedly capable of advancing organisms in leaps and bounds in unexplainable ways. Dennett morphs some of the ideas of his detractors into skyhooks, and because skyhooks cannot exist, they have to be either falsehoods or reduced to cranes.

The subtitle of "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" is "Evolution and the Meanings of Life", but throughout the 500 plus pages, Dennett dabbles in hostile territory, unapologetically attacking critics of natural selection as the primary engine of evolution. Perhaps this book should have been divided into two parts; one titled "Evolution and the Meanings of Life", and the other, "Duel of the Titans."

While Dennett comes off, at times, sounding pompous and headstrong, that may simply be because he is, in my opinion, correct about certain aspects of the human mind's ability to cope with conflicting beliefs. My personal religious beliefs aside, I do feel that, at a point, religion and evolutionary science do come into direct conflict. Some of Dennett's thoughts and ideas, in conjunction with Dawkins's ideas, can run a little wayward of what I would call science, but simply because the ideas are blended with speculation and opinion. For further reading on the evolutionary perspective of religious thought, I would recommend Scott Atran and Pascal Boyer. Again, I really enjoyed the book, my personal disagreements notwithstanding.

This is not an easy read. It's rocky, at times pedantic, somewhat oblique, and about as picky as a book on logic. Dennett has difficulty keeping the reader engaged in his point, as his examples tend to be somewhat obscure at times, and his verbosity often masks the clarity of his vision. I sometimes had to turn back to the beginning of the chapter to remind myself what he was trying to say. Luckily, he seems to understand this, and provides summary statements after each chapter -- good thing, because without these navigational aids, he can be difficult to follow.

However, what Dennett has achieved here will stand the test of time because it is USEFUL. He is able to look at all the objections to the theory of evolution by natural selection and take them apart logically, scientifically, and heuristically. These objections are not limited to the religious variety, but also include scientific backlashes to Darwin like those of Gould, Chomsky, and Kaufmann. In other words, if you want to understand the breadth and depth of Darwin's theory, this is a masterwork.

What it lacks is, unfortunately, what the back cover promises: a look at Darwinism in the light of ethics, morality, and culture. Sure, Dennett devotes a (delicious) chapter to the topic, invoking Nietzsche and Hobbes, and there are scattered sections in the book that are like mind candy for the intellectually thirsty reader. It's a good thing those brilliant sections are scattered randomly throughout the book, because they may be the only thing that keeps the general reader interested.

Unless you're a biologist or anthropologist, you may want to read something shorter and more to the point. This book is for scholars who want exactitude. And to those scholars, I say read this book as quickly as possible, because it's VERY hard to come back to after putting down for a week or so.

This book is a philosophical work rather than straight science, the author does an excellent job of looking at all the various species of darwinian theories and their mutations, from scientific,to pop culture to philosophical,and subjecting them to a harsh environment of critical thought and logic, so selecting out the fittest for survival at the end of the book.I may be a bit biased as I have come to the same conclusions as the author,that there is only one true version of natural selection that works with no god or intelligent design, nor any adaption via senses, or experience of any organism, it is pure random mutation followed by the environment killing off what is not the best,strongest or most efficient. It is certainly not the sort of touchy-feely stuff some people seem to seek to explain things, its cold and harsh,cruel and unforgiving, although the author keeps it less harsh that my own view of it, and rightly states in a way,that just because it is harsh,doesnt change the reality of how we feel it and percieve it, love is still love no matter its mechanical, survival,or other basis. If you feel that describing something like life or love in a cold hard scientific way will change your view of it ,ruin it for you, if you are that open to suggestion, dont read this book. If you want a great philosophical arguement to open your mind and cut through the B.S. and sugar coating,if you think in a scientific way, and yes it can be quite a harsh and cold look at things, then this book is an excellent read. The author has done an enormous amount of research and distilled it into one volume, and some of the arguements or view points will be unknown to most people,and quite useless in a way, but seeing so many view points is always good for anyone who likes to think deeply and be challenged. I didnt learn alot from this book that I hadnt already figured out for myself using common sense,yet really enjoyed it for its excellent arguements and insights, its enjoyable for the philosophical side even if you have no interest in the subject matter. Also highly recommended is the authors book on consciousness, although its fairly hard going as the concepts are alot harder to grasp than evolutions mechanisms.