This book analyzes the differences between Eastern and Western ways of thinking, explaining their origins in the historical and social background of each culture. It explores how these differences affect behavior and thinking in modern society. I first tried to infer the meaning of the title The Geography of Thought. Before reading the book, the word “map” in the title made me think of a...
This article explains the selfish behavior of living things and the evolutionary process from a gene-centered perspective, based on Richard Dawkins’ argument in The Selfish Gene that life exists for the self-replication of genes. While I criticize the assumptions and logical limitations of gene-centered evolutionary theory, I praise it for providing a new way of understanding the behavior...
In Le Hasard et la Nécessité, Jacques Monod argues for a worldview based on scientific knowledge that acknowledges that humans are the product of chance. He believes that the contradiction between scientific progress and materialist values is the source of modern anxiety, and that humans must overcome their existential crisis by rejecting materialism and adopting a socialist ideal based on...
Le Hasard et la Nécessité by Jacques Monod is a philosophical account of the life sciences, particularly molecular biology, and explores whether the boundary between the artificial and the natural can be logically categorized. The author attempts to distinguish between the two concepts through criteria such as regularity, repetition, and rationality, but through various counterexamples, he shows...
Richard Nisbet’s The Geography of Thought analyzes the differences in mindsets between East and West and the possibility that these differences could lead to the formation of a new third culture through the fusion of different cultures. However, there is also a risk of losing one’s own culture in the process. The book I read this time is The Geography of Thought by Richard...
This review of The Case Against Perfection explores the ethical issues surrounding advances in genetic engineering and the design of children, and whether parents’ decision to genetically enhance their children is simply an expression of desire or a necessary choice for their children’s health and education. The positive possibilities of genetic engineering are discussed alongside...
Is the direction in which plants and animals in the natural world are evolving always progressive? Examine the opposing arguments of Dawkins and Gould to see if the increasing complexity of life can be interpreted as progress. Are plants and animals in the natural world evolving in a progressive direction? In the past, we have assumed that body structures and brains have evolved over time...
Advances in biotechnology raise the possibility that it could change the nature and social structure of Homo sapiens. There is growing concern about whether this will be beneficial to humanity or whether it will lead to the extinction of Homo sapiens. Manhattan, New York City, 2012, is being invaded by aliens from outer space. The Avengers – Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and...
In Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari warns that data religion could threaten humanism, but he argues that the dominance of non-organic algorithms over humans doesn’t necessarily lead to negative consequences, and that it has the potential to strengthen the human ego. Yuval Noah Harari concludes the book with a discussion of data religion in his book Homo Deus. According to Datacology, as...
In The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins introduces the concept of “memes” to explain human cultural evolution apart from genes. Memes are cultural replicators-ideas, beliefs, behaviors, etc.-that spread to people through imitation and, like genes, aim to survive and replicate themselves. Meme theory is scientifically and socially important as a tool for understanding how human culture and values...