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1 - The Human System

from Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2020

Patrick Manning
Patrick Manning
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
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Summary

This overview of the book introduces the Human System as an open, historical, and adaptive system, formed 70,000 years ago by a founding human community as its members created syntactic language. The system grew to the point where it is now in trouble because of excessive growth and painful social inequality. Analysis relies on Darwinian assumptions of evolutionary growth – biological, cultural, and social – as these processes coevolve with each other and with Gaia, a model of the natural world of living things. The discipline of world history is introduced to provide the framework for the narrative and the underlying analysis: world history combines concepts, data, and perspectives from multiple disciplines in natural and social sciences. It gives special attention to behavior of human groups as well as individuals. The chapter concludes by reviewing the book’s argument, presenting two or three historical and analytical hypotheses for each chapter: these hypotheses are to be documented, tested, and debated in the details of each chapter.

Keywords

DarwinevolutionGaiahypothesesmultidisciplinaritysystemworld history
Type
Chapter
Information
A History of Humanity
The Evolution of the Human System
 , pp. 3 - 16
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • The Human System
  • Patrick Manning, University of Pittsburgh
  • Book: A History of Humanity
  • Online publication: 14 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108784528.002
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  • The Human System
  • Patrick Manning, University of Pittsburgh
  • Book: A History of Humanity
  • Online publication: 14 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108784528.002
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Human System
  • Patrick Manning, University of Pittsburgh
  • Book: A History of Humanity
  • Online publication: 14 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108784528.002
Available formats
×