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On the Origin of Tepees: The Evolution of Ideas
Why do some ideas spread, while others die off? Does human culture have its very own “survival of the fittest”? And if so, does that explain why our species is so different from the rest of life on Earth? Throughout history, we humans have prided ourselves on our capacity to have ideas, but perhaps this pride is misplaced. Perhaps ideas have us . After all, ideas do appear to have a life of their own. And it is they, not us, that benefit most when they are spread. Many biologists have already come to the opinion that our genes are selfish entities, tricking us into helping them to reproduce. Is it the same with our ideas? Jonnie Hughes, a science writer and documentary filmmaker, investigates the evolution of ideas in order to find out. Adopting the role of a cultural Charles Darwin, Hughes heads off, with his brother in tow, across the Midwest to observe firsthand the natural history of ideas—the patterns of their variation, inheritance, and selection in the cultural landscape. In place of Darwin’s oceanic islands, Hughes visits the “mind islands” of Native American tribes. Instead of finches, Hughes searches for signs of natural selection among the tepees. With a knack for finding the humor in the quirks of the American cultural landscape, Hughes takes us on a tour from the Mall of America in Minneapolis to what he calls the “maul” of America—Custer’s last stand—stopping at road-sides and discoursing on sandwiches, the shape of cowboy hats, the evolution of barn roofs, the wording of jokes, the wearing of moustaches, and, of course, the telling features from tepees of different tribes. Original, witty, and engaging, On the Origin of Tepees offers a fresh way of understanding both our ideas and ourselves.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published August 9, 2011
24 people are currently reading
498 people want to read
About the author
Jonnie Hughes
6 books15 followersJonnie Hughes is an award-winning writer and documentary filmmaker specialising in science. He has written regularly for Geographic Magazine, BBC Wildlife Magazine, The Guardian and The Times. His films have aired on National Geographic, Discovery, the BBC and Channel 5. He has won awards from the Association of British Science Writers and the Wellcome Trust for his science writing, a BBC Radio One Award for factual radio and the American Genesis Award for Best Popular Television Documentary. He lives near Bristol, England.
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August 15, 2011
Well I would say that wouldn't I.
January 3, 2023
أنتجت الحياة بعض الكائنات الحية الغريبة بشكل لا يمكن تصوره، لكن جنسنا البشري، الإنسان العاقل، «الإنسان الحكيم» هو الأكثر غرابة . نحن الكائن الوحيد الذي يتحدث. نحن الكائن الوحيد الذي يسير في وضع مستقيم . نحن الكائن الوحيد الذي يبكي كعلامة على الحزن. لدينا حنجرة أسفل أعناقنا بحيث يمكننا في الواقع قتل أنفسنا في وقت العشاء عن طريق الاختناق بقطعة من الطعام. نحن كائنات اجتماعية تعيش في مجموعات يتراوح عدد أفرادها بين من 1 إلى 35.6 مليون.
حتى بين الرئيسيات، أقرب أقاربنا، نحن الأكثر غرابة. نحن الرئيسيات العارية الوحيدة. نحن إلى حد بعيد أسمن الرئيسيات ؛ لدينا عشرة أضعاف الخلايا الدهنية أكثر من أي من أقاربنا. نحن الرئيسيات الأكثر دهنية وعرقاً . (لا يصاب الشمبانزي بحب الشباب). نحن الرئيسيات الوحيدة التي تعيش بنجاح في المناطق الأكثر برودة في العالم.
ثم هناك هذا الرأس الهائل. رؤوسنا كبيرة لدرجة أننا ولدنا قبل الأوان حتى نتمكن من الخروج من أمهاتنا بأمان. كما هو الحال، فإن موت الأمهات والرضع أثناء الولادة أعلى بكثير في جنسنا البشري منه في أي نوع آخر
إذا وصلنا إلى العالم الخارجي، كحديثي الولادة، فإن رؤوسنا تبلغ ربع طول أجسامنا وثلث كتلتنا. بينما يمكن لابن عمنا الشمبانزي أن يرفع رأسه بسعادة في غضون أسبوعين من ولادته، يجب على الطفل البشري الانتظار عشرين أسبوعًا قبل أن تصبح رقبته قوية بما يكفي لرفع رأسه الضخم في الهواء.
رؤوسنا كبيرة جدًا لأن أدمغتنا كبيرة جدًا، أكثر من ثلاثة أضعاف حجم أدمغة الحيوانات الأخرى. هناك مائة مليار خلية عصبية، وتوصيلات الخلايا العصبية أكثر من أن نحصيها . من حيث تكنولوجيا المعلومات، كل منا لديه 16.800 جيجا هرتز من طاقة المعالجة، و 1 مليون جيجا بايت من الذاكرة، ومنافذ لما يصل إلى واحد وعشرين استشعارًا.
يمكن وصف الأمر بهذه الطريقة : الحيوانات لديها آلات حاسبة صغيرة في جماجمها، بينما لدينا أجهزة كمبيوتر عملاقة.
.
Jonnie Hughes
On the Origin of Tepees
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
حتى بين الرئيسيات، أقرب أقاربنا، نحن الأكثر غرابة. نحن الرئيسيات العارية الوحيدة. نحن إلى حد بعيد أسمن الرئيسيات ؛ لدينا عشرة أضعاف الخلايا الدهنية أكثر من أي من أقاربنا. نحن الرئيسيات الأكثر دهنية وعرقاً . (لا يصاب الشمبانزي بحب الشباب). نحن الرئيسيات الوحيدة التي تعيش بنجاح في المناطق الأكثر برودة في العالم.
ثم هناك هذا الرأس الهائل. رؤوسنا كبيرة لدرجة أننا ولدنا قبل الأوان حتى نتمكن من الخروج من أمهاتنا بأمان. كما هو الحال، فإن موت الأمهات والرضع أثناء الولادة أعلى بكثير في جنسنا البشري منه في أي نوع آخر
إذا وصلنا إلى العالم الخارجي، كحديثي الولادة، فإن رؤوسنا تبلغ ربع طول أجسامنا وثلث كتلتنا. بينما يمكن لابن عمنا الشمبانزي أن يرفع رأسه بسعادة في غضون أسبوعين من ولادته، يجب على الطفل البشري الانتظار عشرين أسبوعًا قبل أن تصبح رقبته قوية بما يكفي لرفع رأسه الضخم في الهواء.
رؤوسنا كبيرة جدًا لأن أدمغتنا كبيرة جدًا، أكثر من ثلاثة أضعاف حجم أدمغة الحيوانات الأخرى. هناك مائة مليار خلية عصبية، وتوصيلات الخلايا العصبية أكثر من أن نحصيها . من حيث تكنولوجيا المعلومات، كل منا لديه 16.800 جيجا هرتز من طاقة المعالجة، و 1 مليون جيجا بايت من الذاكرة، ومنافذ لما يصل إلى واحد وعشرين استشعارًا.
يمكن وصف الأمر بهذه الطريقة : الحيوانات لديها آلات حاسبة صغيرة في جماجمها، بينما لدينا أجهزة كمبيوتر عملاقة.
.
Jonnie Hughes
On the Origin of Tepees
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
October 14, 2011
This book is a magical road trip through evolution, both genetic and meme-ic. A wacky lunch date with Hunter S. Thompson and Carl Linnaeus. DNA-wise, we stopped evolving about 2 million years ago. This explains both my exhusbands. But what have humans been up to since then? I'm not going to tell you because you will thoroughly enjoy finding out for yourself. Our heads are as big as it's reasonable to get, given how they have to arrive in the world, so humans have been busy, busy doing other things. Some of it behind our own backs. Hughes gives us the contractual arrangements we have made to get to where we are today, having had most of our gene-frenzied needs met. I took the book back to the library today, and the librarian said, "how was this? I'm intrigued." I said "don't even reshelf it. Check it out yourself. You'll have a really good time, learn a lot and be sorry to have to let it go."
October 29, 2011
Science writer Jonnie Hughes sets out on a trip across Middle America and Canada with his brother to explore the evolution of the tepee (how long did it take him to figure out a subject that would sound like ‘species’, I wonder?). Along with the travelogue and his discoveries about the tepee (and cowboy hats and a few other things), he explains to us the theories of evolution and natural selection among living things, and the idea of memes. Not memes as in internet quizzes or cat pictures, but memes as in perpetuated, spreading, ideas. Memes are like genes, but instead of spreading biologically, they spread psychologically. They change through time- parts that don’t work get dropped; new things that make the idea better are included. The tepee is a meme; it has changed through time to meet conditions, and has spread to different people.
It’s an interesting book; Hughes is humorous and is good at breaking concepts down. That ideas evolve through time and space can’t be doubted, but at times Hughes writes about memes as if they are living things that exist independently of human minds, that they have a drive to survive of their own. I found that a bit… odd. Likewise, he writes of genes as if they have an actual wish to survive and so drive evolution purposely. While I’m pretty certain he does this as a writing technique, rather than truly thinking that ideas are living things with a will to live and spread, I found it a bit disturbing.
Despite this one oddity, I really recommend this book. He explains how speciation occurs in both animals and in languages in an extremely clear way; his story of how the cowboy hat evolved to fit the new environment of the west – and how it’s now stopped evolving, much as humans have- is wonderful. Hughes has a great future as a writer of science for the layman.
It’s an interesting book; Hughes is humorous and is good at breaking concepts down. That ideas evolve through time and space can’t be doubted, but at times Hughes writes about memes as if they are living things that exist independently of human minds, that they have a drive to survive of their own. I found that a bit… odd. Likewise, he writes of genes as if they have an actual wish to survive and so drive evolution purposely. While I’m pretty certain he does this as a writing technique, rather than truly thinking that ideas are living things with a will to live and spread, I found it a bit disturbing.
Despite this one oddity, I really recommend this book. He explains how speciation occurs in both animals and in languages in an extremely clear way; his story of how the cowboy hat evolved to fit the new environment of the west – and how it’s now stopped evolving, much as humans have- is wonderful. Hughes has a great future as a writer of science for the layman.
August 3, 2020
genetic and meme are both evolving human beings ....endorsing R.Dawkins' meme idea.
怪物们
镜片起雾
我们都是通过不同的有色眼镜来看待这个世界的。很多人并没有意识到这一点（即使那些意识到的人也不愿意承认），但我们的确都是透过被我们记忆中的各种思想染色的镜片来观察这个世界的—只有通过我们有意无意地储存在脑子里的上百万个思想观念，我们才能不断地将我们所体验的世界赋予意义。没有人不是戴着有色眼镜来看世界的，因为没有哪个人的头脑里空无一物。而我们是有权选择不同的有色眼镜的。这里有一架子无序摆放的眼镜，包括弗洛伊德学说、自由主义学说、佛教禅宗、环保主义者学说，还有马克思主义学说。我们可以任意选择。如果乐意的话还可以选择不止一种。
从历史上来说，我倾向于选择，最早在1858年，伴随查尔斯·达尔文的《物种起源》一书出现的视角。据说当时一出版就引起了很大的轰动。书里的世界是无神且无意义的。要适应这些观点需要很长一段时间，即使适应了，他们也并不喜欢这种观点。无论如何，达尔文的视角持续地影响着后人。他们研究并改进这些观点，现如今，对于很多西方世界成长的人来说，达尔文进化论已经是习以为常的了。自从记事开始，我就一直戴着这副有色眼镜。我喜欢这种观点。在我看来，无神而无意义的世界仍然迷人而美好，可能正是因为它是无神而无意义的。当然我会这么说，因为我戴着达尔文的有色眼镜。不过，我也能看出达尔文的有色眼镜并不完美。虽然对地球上的其他生命的作用一目了然，当透过这种视角研究我们人类时，奇怪的事情发生了，这些镜片起了雾气，看不清了。这副眼镜无法再敏锐地反映出人类的状况。透过它们，无论你多努力看，智人都显得有点模糊。
第4章
草原上的入口
车停在泥泞的悬崖边，背后就是奈夫里弗，我们在35度的高温下烤着，望向一片开阔刚割过的草地。阳光炫目，不过我们还是很容易找到了草地里一处密集的碗状的图案，大约有40个，每个直径都有9米或更多。这是早期的木架土屋留下的凹痕，这些木架土屋是美洲原住民夏天的居所，他们直到19世纪中期仍住在这个山谷中。这些木架土屋是由其中三个和平相处的部落共同建造的，有曼丹族、希多特萨族和阿里卡拉族。根据其族人的口述史，他们的祖先起源于东部的林地中，在约500年前沿着河道一路向西，一直到密苏里州北部的大平原地带，那里的河谷已经不再生长树木。于是他们定居下来，坚守着他们的阵地的边缘，而四周被大平原所围绕。
他们在东部的时候学会了耕种，这是从最早开始在美洲土地上耕种的墨西哥的阿兹特克人那里学会的，这三个部落的人会种植玉米、豆子、南瓜、向日葵、烟草。他们把种植园选在了东边土壤比较肥沃的平原上。这块土地很宝贵，需要精心保护。好在一小块土地上产量不错，就不用非要守住狩猎祖先那片广袤的领地，而丰收的作物自然扩大了人口。每个村子都变得人丁兴旺。
随着耕种技术在部落间的普及，东部逐渐壮大起来，战事不断，其中三个部落纷纷选择沿着河道往西部寻求安宁。河流不仅带他们到了西部，还到达了北部。他们最后在密苏里州的北部相遇了。
新的居所非常考验他们的生存技能。这片土地稀疏，且很难通行。由于夏天很短又难预测，因此也难有好的收成。部落找到了另一项重要的技能：垂钓。冰河里有许多肥美的鱼，部落的人将卷绕的柳树板放在河床上，用拴在杨树苗上的生虫的肉做诱饵，在沙洲上设下陷阱。经验丰富的老人一边哼着钓鱼的歌，一边抽着烟草，直到树苗沙沙作响，他们知道有鱼上钩，晚饭有着落了。
光有鱼可不够。部落不得不在山谷之外探索更广阔、未开发的世界。头一次走出山谷之外肯定是很忐忑的，毕竟那里一望无际却又毫无生机，但努力是值得的。他们发现如果知道地点和时机，平原上会一下子出现成群的北美野牛，那可是最棒的肉。
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怪物们
镜片起雾
我们都是通过不同的有色眼镜来看待这个世界的。很多人并没有意识到这一点（即使那些意识到的人也不愿意承认），但我们的确都是透过被我们记忆中的各种思想染色的镜片来观察这个世界的—只有通过我们有意无意地储存在脑子里的上百万个思想观念，我们才能不断地将我们所体验的世界赋予意义。没有人不是戴着有色眼镜来看世界的，因为没有哪个人的头脑里空无一物。而我们是有权选择不同的有色眼镜的。这里有一架子无序摆放的眼镜，包括弗洛伊德学说、自由主义学说、佛教禅宗、环保主义者学说，还有马克思主义学说。我们可以任意选择。如果乐意的话还可以选择不止一种。
从历史上来说，我倾向于选择，最早在1858年，伴随查尔斯·达尔文的《物种起源》一书出现的视角。据说当时一出版就引起了很大的轰动。书里的世界是无神且无意义的。要适应这些观点需要很长一段时间，即使适应了，他们也并不喜欢这种观点。无论如何，达尔文的视角持续地影响着后人。他们研究并改进这些观点，现如今，对于很多西方世界成长的人来说，达尔文进化论已经是习以为常的了。自从记事开始，我就一直戴着这副有色眼镜。我喜欢这种观点。在我看来，无神而无意义的世界仍然迷人而美好，可能正是因为它是无神而无意义的。当然我会这么说，因为我戴着达尔文的有色眼镜。不过，我也能看出达尔文的有色眼镜并不完美。虽然对地球上的其他生命的作用一目了然，当透过这种视角研究我们人类时，奇怪的事情发生了，这些镜片起了雾气，看不清了。这副眼镜无法再敏锐地反映出人类的状况。透过它们，无论你多努力看，智人都显得有点模糊。
第4章
草原上的入口
车停在泥泞的悬崖边，背后就是奈夫里弗，我们在35度的高温下烤着，望向一片开阔刚割过的草地。阳光炫目，不过我们还是很容易找到了草地里一处密集的碗状的图案，大约有40个，每个直径都有9米或更多。这是早期的木架土屋留下的凹痕，这些木架土屋是美洲原住民夏天的居所，他们直到19世纪中期仍住在这个山谷中。这些木架土屋是由其中三个和平相处的部落共同建造的，有曼丹族、希多特萨族和阿里卡拉族。根据其族人的口述史，他们的祖先起源于东部的林地中，在约500年前沿着河道一路向西，一直到密苏里州北部的大平原地带，那里的河谷已经不再生长树木。于是他们定居下来，坚守着他们的阵地的边缘，而四周被大平原所围绕。
他们在东部的时候学会了耕种，这是从最早开始在美洲土地上耕种的墨西哥的阿兹特克人那里学会的，这三个部落的人会种植玉米、豆子、南瓜、向日葵、烟草。他们把种植园选在了东边土壤比较肥沃的平原上。这块土地很宝贵，需要精心保护。好在一小块土地上产量不错，就不用非要守住狩猎祖先那片广袤的领地，而丰收的作物自然扩大了人口。每个村子都变得人丁兴旺。
随着耕种技术在部落间的普及，东部逐渐壮大起来，战事不断，其中三个部落纷纷选择沿着河道往西部寻求安宁。河流不仅带他们到了西部，还到达了北部。他们最后在密苏里州的北部相遇了。
新的居所非常考验他们的生存技能。这片土地稀疏，且很难通行。由于夏天很短又难预测，因此也难有好的收成。部落找到了另一项重要的技能：垂钓。冰河里有许多肥美的鱼，部落的人将卷绕的柳树板放在河床上，用拴在杨树苗上的生虫的肉做诱饵，在沙洲上设下陷阱。经验丰富的老人一边哼着钓鱼的歌，一边抽着烟草，直到树苗沙沙作响，他们知道有鱼上钩，晚饭有着落了。
光有鱼可不够。部落不得不在山谷之外探索更广阔、未开发的世界。头一次走出山谷之外肯定是很忐忑的，毕竟那里一望无际却又毫无生机，但努力是值得的。他们发现如果知道地点和时机，平原上会一下子出现成群的北美野牛，那可是最棒的肉。
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中信书店 （微信公众号认证）
August 14, 2017
I didn't get the rhyming pun of the title until halfway through the book. A first class pun, it scans the same as the original, is relevant to the topic and is humorously unexpected.
Hughes uses the range of teepee types (number of poles, smoke flaps, etc.) to explore the final difference that makes man the dominant species on Earth - the use and transmission of ideas. Up until we could communicate ways of doing stuff we were subject to the normal Darwinian evolution where it was the environment barriers that inspired species change. With memes in our heads (so to speak) we broke through that and now it was us breaking down the barriers.
Hughes travels around the Great Plains and takes us through the history of evolution and memes by analyzing why teepees were first made and then how that affected the various tribes. It turns out that teepees were only needed when the tribes got horses and could follow buffalo around the plains. Until then there was no need for a provisional camp as they weren't really going to far on foot. But why all the different designs of teepees? Hughes uses that as a great chalkboard to trace out how the evolution of ideas seems to mimic Darwinian evolution.
As you might expect with a punning title, there is a lot of understated humor in the book. I could see that it might get bothersome to some people. The style is in the Sarah Vowell school of non-fiction to give you an idea.
Hughes uses the range of teepee types (number of poles, smoke flaps, etc.) to explore the final difference that makes man the dominant species on Earth - the use and transmission of ideas. Up until we could communicate ways of doing stuff we were subject to the normal Darwinian evolution where it was the environment barriers that inspired species change. With memes in our heads (so to speak) we broke through that and now it was us breaking down the barriers.
Hughes travels around the Great Plains and takes us through the history of evolution and memes by analyzing why teepees were first made and then how that affected the various tribes. It turns out that teepees were only needed when the tribes got horses and could follow buffalo around the plains. Until then there was no need for a provisional camp as they weren't really going to far on foot. But why all the different designs of teepees? Hughes uses that as a great chalkboard to trace out how the evolution of ideas seems to mimic Darwinian evolution.
As you might expect with a punning title, there is a lot of understated humor in the book. I could see that it might get bothersome to some people. The style is in the Sarah Vowell school of non-fiction to give you an idea.
July 5, 2018
Weird. Entertaining, informative but weird. A combo of a travelogue, a history of Native Americans and a description of memes. If you don’t know what a meme is then this is probably a good place to start. If you do then I don’t know that this book will add much to your knowledge but you will learn about tepees.
June 23, 2021
Enjoyable exploration of the evolution of ideas contextualised through the authors journey through North America in search of the titular origin of the tepee idea. I thoroughly enjoyed this book throughout and came away much better informed about the history of North American culture (pre and post European settlement).
April 29, 2019
This book is changing the way I think. Mind blown.
November 18, 2019
Interesting but not attention-holding. It took me months to read this.
September 8, 2025
Brilliant, sophisticated exposition of the meme concept. A truly outstanding work of popular science. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
September 20, 2015
This is a book on memes that doesn't use the word 'meme' until more than 200 pages in, up until that point using other words like 'idea' and 'noosphere' (the world of ideas, analogous to the biosphere or atmosphere). The author is trying to determine if the idea of ideas as replicating, reproducing, surviving entities that can evolve, is itself an idea that has merit. To his credit, he does so not only by looking in broad strokes at how ideas work and are transmitted, but also by taking a very deep dive into the history of a particular idea: the tepee.
It may be that tepees were attractive to the author as a subject for study in part because, being from the U.K., they are even a little more exotic for him than for Americans. It also gives him a reason to take a trip to the U.S., and we are treated to a Brit's-eye view of places like the Mall of America (one of his stops at the beginning, near to where forest-dwelling Native American tribes first emerged into the Great Plains), the small towns of I-90 in the northern Great Plains, and ultimately the festivities at a Crow Fair in Montana (Crow as in the still-surviving tribe of Native Americans).
I won't attempt to summarize the many chapters' full of information about how the idea of the tepee came to be, how it varied, how it spread. It's not that it wasn't interesting, it's just that, by its very nature, it's not subject to summarizing; the very reason that it's a useful example is that there are a lot of details, historical and technological, to provide more concrete examples on how ideas are born, get transmitted from one mind to another, occasionally mutate, and then either die out or don't.
What Hughes is trying to address is whether or not the comparison of memes to genes is a fruitful one. For example, if ideas tend to come forth, fully developed (or nearly so) from the mind of the inventor, like Athena bursting from the brow of Zeus, then one could question whether or not there's much to be gained from comparing them to the relatively incremental, one-change-at-a-time development of new species. Hughes' conclusion (which I tend to agree with), is that ideas don't tend to happen like this. Most of Edison's inventions were, in truth, just incremental improvements on the inventions of those before him, but it was good P.R. (and good for patent applications) to pretend that they were ideas that had started with him. Almost without exception, the evolution of ideas happens by many incremental advances: Friendster, then Livejournal, then MySpace, then Facebook, and while it may only be Mark Zuckerberg who gets the billions, that doesn't mean that the idea (in this case, social networking via the web) started with him.
More problematic, for me, is Hughes' blithe assertions (on more than one occasion) that evolution via ideas has (for humans) replaced evolution via genetic change. He is not the first champion of the meme's-eye view to think this, but I would have to say I think the evidence is stacking up against it (The 10,000 Year Explosion" by Cochran and Harpending is one good survey of this topic). Not only is the gene's-eye view still shaping how we change as a species, but it may be accelerating in recent times.
This doesn't keep Hughes' account from being both well written (if you like stories along the "very British guy interacting with small town Americans" sort), and thought provoking. Much of our current law on Intellectual Property, for example, is based on theories about where ideas come from, and how they happen, that are fundamentally untrue. Looking closer at the reality could help us to write better ones. Plus, knowing more about how innovation truly comes to pass is probably helpful in making an environment where more of it can happen, or at least avoiding accidentally killing it, in the same way that knowing about genetic evolution can help to understand how antibiotic-resistant microbes come to be. Evolution, for all its detractors, is relatively well and widely understood, even though there is still more to know. Memetic evolution is something we have only recently begun to think of as a topic that needs to be understood. Hughes does a great job of getting us thinking about it.
It may be that tepees were attractive to the author as a subject for study in part because, being from the U.K., they are even a little more exotic for him than for Americans. It also gives him a reason to take a trip to the U.S., and we are treated to a Brit's-eye view of places like the Mall of America (one of his stops at the beginning, near to where forest-dwelling Native American tribes first emerged into the Great Plains), the small towns of I-90 in the northern Great Plains, and ultimately the festivities at a Crow Fair in Montana (Crow as in the still-surviving tribe of Native Americans).
I won't attempt to summarize the many chapters' full of information about how the idea of the tepee came to be, how it varied, how it spread. It's not that it wasn't interesting, it's just that, by its very nature, it's not subject to summarizing; the very reason that it's a useful example is that there are a lot of details, historical and technological, to provide more concrete examples on how ideas are born, get transmitted from one mind to another, occasionally mutate, and then either die out or don't.
What Hughes is trying to address is whether or not the comparison of memes to genes is a fruitful one. For example, if ideas tend to come forth, fully developed (or nearly so) from the mind of the inventor, like Athena bursting from the brow of Zeus, then one could question whether or not there's much to be gained from comparing them to the relatively incremental, one-change-at-a-time development of new species. Hughes' conclusion (which I tend to agree with), is that ideas don't tend to happen like this. Most of Edison's inventions were, in truth, just incremental improvements on the inventions of those before him, but it was good P.R. (and good for patent applications) to pretend that they were ideas that had started with him. Almost without exception, the evolution of ideas happens by many incremental advances: Friendster, then Livejournal, then MySpace, then Facebook, and while it may only be Mark Zuckerberg who gets the billions, that doesn't mean that the idea (in this case, social networking via the web) started with him.
More problematic, for me, is Hughes' blithe assertions (on more than one occasion) that evolution via ideas has (for humans) replaced evolution via genetic change. He is not the first champion of the meme's-eye view to think this, but I would have to say I think the evidence is stacking up against it (The 10,000 Year Explosion" by Cochran and Harpending is one good survey of this topic). Not only is the gene's-eye view still shaping how we change as a species, but it may be accelerating in recent times.
This doesn't keep Hughes' account from being both well written (if you like stories along the "very British guy interacting with small town Americans" sort), and thought provoking. Much of our current law on Intellectual Property, for example, is based on theories about where ideas come from, and how they happen, that are fundamentally untrue. Looking closer at the reality could help us to write better ones. Plus, knowing more about how innovation truly comes to pass is probably helpful in making an environment where more of it can happen, or at least avoiding accidentally killing it, in the same way that knowing about genetic evolution can help to understand how antibiotic-resistant microbes come to be. Evolution, for all its detractors, is relatively well and widely understood, even though there is still more to know. Memetic evolution is something we have only recently begun to think of as a topic that needs to be understood. Hughes does a great job of getting us thinking about it.
August 14, 2011
This got a starred review in Publishers weekly:
Hughes, an award-winning science writer and documentary maker, explores how big ideas begin, evolve, and converge--and whether culture, like biology, follows any Darwinian dictates of natural selection--in this detective story–cum–road trip memoir. Hughes and his brother, Adam, trek across America in their Chrysler in order to trace the evolution of tepees used by the Plains Indians--that "marvel of human ingenuity... the difference between life and death." Along the way, Hughes maps out the genealogies of other cultural artifacts of Americana--the gambrel-roof barn, bourbon whiskey, regional pronunciations and jokes, why Scandinavian immigrants took to the American Midwest, and the invention of the cowboy hat. Taking his cue from Darwin, Hughes intersperses his technical discussions of genetics and biology with sketches--of tepees and such oddities of the animal kingdom as naked mole rats, hammerhead fruit bats, oarfish--and snapshots from the road that keep the reading brisk, personal, and pleasurable. This ambitious book braids together studies in biology, psychology, history, linguistics, geology, and philosophy into an impressively succinct and readable taxonomy of human culture. (Aug.)
Hughes, an award-winning science writer and documentary maker, explores how big ideas begin, evolve, and converge--and whether culture, like biology, follows any Darwinian dictates of natural selection--in this detective story–cum–road trip memoir. Hughes and his brother, Adam, trek across America in their Chrysler in order to trace the evolution of tepees used by the Plains Indians--that "marvel of human ingenuity... the difference between life and death." Along the way, Hughes maps out the genealogies of other cultural artifacts of Americana--the gambrel-roof barn, bourbon whiskey, regional pronunciations and jokes, why Scandinavian immigrants took to the American Midwest, and the invention of the cowboy hat. Taking his cue from Darwin, Hughes intersperses his technical discussions of genetics and biology with sketches--of tepees and such oddities of the animal kingdom as naked mole rats, hammerhead fruit bats, oarfish--and snapshots from the road that keep the reading brisk, personal, and pleasurable. This ambitious book braids together studies in biology, psychology, history, linguistics, geology, and philosophy into an impressively succinct and readable taxonomy of human culture. (Aug.)
December 5, 2012
This was disappointing.
Until quite late in the book it seemed that Hughes was describing the spread and evolution of ideas in a fresh and interesting way. His style is irritating at times, but he is clear in what he wants to say. And I was thinking that he had a better account of this than the "memes" theory, which seems to mean everything and nothing. But the Hughes comes to memes, which his own theories are apparently meant to justify and explain. And I stopped believing.
Until quite late in the book it seemed that Hughes was describing the spread and evolution of ideas in a fresh and interesting way. His style is irritating at times, but he is clear in what he wants to say. And I was thinking that he had a better account of this than the "memes" theory, which seems to mean everything and nothing. But the Hughes comes to memes, which his own theories are apparently meant to justify and explain. And I stopped believing.
August 31, 2013
A thinking book... a lesson in biology and culture and something more esoteric and somewhat magical.
Do ideas come from an individual or a culture? Do they develop and mutate like genes?
Bonus features: the Mall of America (my home town!) and Montana and Alberta, which I just visited. I learned why there was a sign to "Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump" on the road from Banff to Glacier.
Looking forward to more by Jonnie Hughes!
Do ideas come from an individual or a culture? Do they develop and mutate like genes?
Bonus features: the Mall of America (my home town!) and Montana and Alberta, which I just visited. I learned why there was a sign to "Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump" on the road from Banff to Glacier.
Looking forward to more by Jonnie Hughes!
September 30, 2013
Part travel writing, part anthropology, part philosophy of culture. Like all of my favourite books, this one is hard to pigeon-hole but easy to recommend. Jonnie Hughes writes unpretentiously and the book takes many pleasantly surprising turns.
If you're curious to see a meme-based theory in action, or if you're just looking to learn a little about the native cultures that have variously inhabited the Great American Plains, this book will deliver on both counts.
If you're curious to see a meme-based theory in action, or if you're just looking to learn a little about the native cultures that have variously inhabited the Great American Plains, this book will deliver on both counts.
January 30, 2016
I deducted one star because I wish it could've been longer. Hahaha! Hughes's work combines travel writing, cultural mapping and philosophy, even delving into anthropology and biology to trace the migration, the divide, and the growth of selected living beings to situate his point. While the author focused on North and (a bit) of South American landscape, he was able to discuss several assumptions of how our "mall culture" came to be, springing from the once barren and frigid landscape.
December 6, 2015
This may be a candidate for a common book - an interesting discussion of evolution, both in the biological and cultural sense, focusing on North America, tepees (and yes, the title does play of the Origin of Species), genes, memes, and the noosphere.
As I had just finished E.O. Wilson's Diversity of Species, some small parts of the book sounded very familiar, but then of course that would make perfect sense in a book about how ideas slowly develop from one person to the next.
As I had just finished E.O. Wilson's Diversity of Species, some small parts of the book sounded very familiar, but then of course that would make perfect sense in a book about how ideas slowly develop from one person to the next.
February 3, 2017
Half way through the book before it dawned on me that the title was a play on words based on Origin of Species. All about evolution of culture and ideas and he takes a trip round US. Had a quiz question at Xmas about how many Indian tribes you could name and even though in middle of book that goes on about them I still couldn't remember any. Wouldn't recommend not flowing enough. Intro best bit.
December 4, 2011
I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads. I thought this book looked very interesting.....but I have tried several times to read the book and I really just can't get into it.....I don't think it is fair for me to "rate" the book at this point. Thanks Goodreads.
November 5, 2011
The central idea in this book is that ideas (memes) are subject to Darwinian evolution (natural selection) and, having hijacked our ancestors, are the reason we are so different from all other life on earth. Read the rest of my review: http://bit.ly/ZGaWyN
December 9, 2011
Nice enjoyable read about the theory of memes and how they are a second replicator in addition to genes. Extremely accessible -- I definitely recommend it if you are interested in evolution. Which you should be!
September 9, 2013
A clear and concise summary of how cultural evolution parallels biological evolution, and how they have fed off of each other in human development. And yet I always feel I'm missing one last piece. The complexity of life and of culture continue to strike me as just beyond logical.
September 30, 2011
this book is incredible! it uses darwin to explain culture and memes, it's the science of trends. i enjoyed every page, everyone should read this book!!!!
October 25, 2011
Social evolution for laymen. Highly readable and introduces me to a lot of concepts unfamiliar to me. plenty of sources to pursue if you're so inclined.
January 20, 2013
All sorts of interesting little historical/cultural tidbits. It is an easy read centered around discovering the origin of an idea (tepee) and how culture has evolved.
December 17, 2012
Although the title is a horrible pun, the book is a thought provoking examination of the transmission of ideas. Will go back and reread it periodically.
August 27, 2019
This book started for me on page 239. Fortunately, it ended soon after.
September 28, 2014
Would love to hear the author in person. Fascinating analysis of people, ideas...actually everything. Just reading it made my head spin.
January 23, 2015
Very engaging and readable.
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