Quanology: Evolution & You

by John Khoury

See the world around you in a whole new way with John Khoury's thought-provoking new book, Quanology.

A unified theory of human living, the concept of Quanology represents the next evolutionary step in achieving what humans would consider "the good life." And while it's currently popular to view nature and technology as two fundamentally opposed concepts, Quanology approaches each as complementary to the other.

So what does this mean for you and your life?

It means that applying the principles of Quanology to your life can dramatically increase your sense of purpose, well-being, and fulfillment.

Based on the idea of evolution and natural selection, which Khoury proves still rules over us today, Quanology emphasizes the idea that nature is not a force separate from us. Humans are nature, so when we choose to study and embrace it, we are actually studying and embracing our own selves. This key insight is the starting point from which we can learn to live better, more realized lives.

Khoury manages to take a technical, sometimes heavy subject and present it in a light and approachable manner that will leave readers with a renewed sense of purpose as they tackle life's challenges.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Self Help, Science, Philosophy

314 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2015

Reviews

[Charbel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: Thank you to the author for sending me a copy of his book.

Quanology is a state of mind that involves accepting two fundamental concepts: 1) We are the products of hundreds of millions of years of evolution, and 2) that makes us a part of nature. As someone who has studied evolution extensively, who is familiar with its different attributes, I recognize the importance of this natural force in our daily life. Evidently, I had unknowingly been applying the principles of Quanology in my personal life. But for people who haven't spent countless hours aching over textbooks studying the unifying theory of biology, it's hard to integrate the beauty of evolution into everyday life. For example, I have met many who cannot accept that we just "come from monkeys"( despite me explaining that we don't actually come from monkeys, but that instead we share a common ancestor with other apes), and many others who understand evolution as a concept but fail to grasp not only its possibility, buts its probability, despite the overwhelming evidence out there. Understandably my solution had always been to offer more science; now, however, I will simply refer them to this book.

Quanology is not a science book; it's more of self-help book that shows you how to improve your life through accepting a central scientific fact. It's like a discussion about what we can learn from evolution on a personal level. It's a fun smooth read; very laid back but incredibly informative. Above all, it's a book that needed to be written, and I congratulate Khoury for taking the initiative.
So if you're interested in evolution, but you don't want to get caught up in all the technical terms and you want something that you can relate to, then I recommend reading this book.

[Ariel Jensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A self-help book from the perspective of reason and scientific exploration.

“Quanology is a look at life through the eyes of evolution”

I initially looked forward to reading this book as I had already read several reviews that it was a easily understandable look at how evolution plays a part in our lives today. However, before the end of the first chapter I was ready to put the book down and walk away. Since I have yet to start and never finish a book, I wanted to keep an open mind till the very end (and it was quite the struggle).

I’ll start with the content of this book but it is not the only thing I found an issue with.

I don’t at all appreciate books that outright dismiss belief in God (or any belief system for that matter) as idiotic. As the author states in the first chapter, religious beliefs are “usually wrong and based on bullshit” and “a detachment from the truth.” Evolution and faith are not 2 sides of an argument. I entirely agree that science is not a belief system which is why I can read research, accept evolution, and still claim faith in a God. Books like this have an undertone of years of built up anger and hate towards religion. It’s simply not necessary in a book that seeks to simplify evolution for the layman/ woman to criticize religion. And while he generalizes it to all religion, he is clearly specifying Christianity, most likely because that’s what he has had experience with (not that he is picking on only that religion). I would have been offended and annoyed had this been about any religion or deity so please don’t think its simply because it hit a personal nerve. Had he said Allah, Adonai, devas, Ganesha, or even Oden or Zeus.

Beyond the religious aspect, this book claims to be a work of science but at no point is research cited. Even for a book to be accessible to the simplest minded person, if you are going to say its all about science then do the scientifically appropriate thing at cite your work. When I read (or write) research or a book claiming a backing of science, I expect citations and when there is none, I can only assume its because they are stating an opinion or, at the very least, there isn’t any research to back up their statements. This is probably the point that most effected my feeling and rating for this book.

Finally, while the easy going nature of the writing style was fine, overall I found it boring and repetitive. In the beginning the author kept stating his intentions for the book but, after the first few times, I was tempted to skip ahead to where he would actually start talking about those very things. There are occasional times in which humor seeps into the simplifying definition of a term but that may be one of the only redeeming qualities of this book.

I didn’t particularly enjoy this book at all and I would only recommend this to you if you are already firm in your stance on evolution and just as easily dismiss all religions as ludicrous. If you are not at least open to the idea, this book is definitely not for you, will most likely offend you, and you’ll want to put it down long before the end.

Please note: I read this book online at paperbackreviewer.com for free in return for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed here are my own.

[Δx Δp ≥ ½ ħ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seen in the light of evolution, biology is, perhaps, intellectually the most satisfying and inspiring science. Without that light it becomes a pile of sundry facts -- some of them interesting or curious but making no meaningful picture as a whole.

—Theodosius Dobzhansky, Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution

This book reminds me of Dobzhansky’s brilliant classic essay, Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution (1973)*. Dobzhansky clearly and beautifully stated that evolution is not only just a scientific theory that applied in biology field, but also a ‘light’ that give us new insights of our life meaning and its place in universe. It implied to not only scientific method but also philosophical method to understand our life’s meaning. You can interpret it as physical or spiritual perspective. No matter what your belief is, atheism or religion, evolution will give you an elegant way to look at life.

First of all, Evolution is not just a ‘theory’, but it’s a fact, an undeniable fact. Charles Darwin did not only showed us how evolution works, but also proved that evolution is the only possibility how nature and life works. Zillions of evidences have been proved that we, human, evolved as life itself evolved. Evolution also proved that we are just one of millions species as ‘product’ of evolution. We are not at the top of ‘ladder of evolution’; we are just like other animals or lichens. Humans are not special compared to flies or even bacteria.

The only real difference between human and other organisms is human able to think and reason. Thus, reason has to be what we have to use to evolve further. We have to use what sets us apart from other animals. What we have to do with other animals? What is our purpose in this life? And of course, the most challenging question since our ancestors saw sky at night for ‘first’ time millions years ago in Africa, who we are? The book tried to answer these questions in provoking way. There is no supernatural power that control and force the life; it’s simply just natural selection. What we are, where we come from, and where we are going to, are some of classic questions that are tried to answer in this book.

As I said before, evolution is the most elegant way to understand and to answer those questions. And I think that evolution perspective is a pure interpretation from scientific facts, it’s not based on your belief. Thus, acceptance this vision doesn’t mean we need to become an atheist or Christian or secularist. Dobzhansky, whose his quote I wrote above, was an Catholic although he was an evolutionist—perhaps the greatest evolutionist in our time. This issue seems failed to be caught by the author, I think. You can accept evolution and religion at the same time. For those people, religion is not a rigid and outdate thing. It can be changed and interpreted with times without lose its meaning.

Yes I know, we’re faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, pogroms, crime, slavery, assassinations, gruesome punishments, child abuse, deadly quarrels, genocide, and terrorism, but blame all of them to religion is just too naive. The author doesn’t allow for variances in thought, beliefs, or practices. He seems to ignore the many positive aspects of religion.

Another point that I want to point out is the content of the book. For a book which is claimed as based on scientific facts (in this case evolution), this book is poor of facts, data, references, foot notes, or any related items so that we cannot crosscheck his arguments. Are they based on scientific facts or just pure his ideas/interpretations. To enjoy this book, you should understand, at least, evolution knowledge at basic level. You will not find (or a few) any descriptions or terms of evolution related. There is no ‘gene’, ‘mutation’, ‘gene-drifting’, ‘heredity’, or any terms in science meaning.

I mean, this book is good for you who familiar with evolution concept and idea. But, we also know, evolution is the most misunderstanding science all time. Many people (especially the fundamentalists) think that evolution is a fraud and blasphemy science. This wrong perception caused by many books of evolution was looked as atheism propaganda instead of science concept that can be applied in major aspects. For example, Richard Dawkins’s books are considered as good popular science books because he wrote his argument based on a solid science explanation. For people who have lack understanding of evolution, Quanology seems like only another atheism propaganda.

However, whoever you are, if you are open-minded person, you can enjoy this book very much like me. This book has a beautiful way for noticing and explaining of evolution to understand our existence and way of life. Khoury offers up a post-enlightenment vision of what an open-minded approach to evolution might look like; evolution (and science generally) is not just a bunch of experiment or observation data. It can offer, to its believers and humanity, how we understand our life and its existence.

Khoury writes confidently, intelligently, and well. His arguments are sound. Using evolution, the authors elucidate mechanisms by which human intra-and-inter-relationships—a form of competition and working together in which one individual benefits at the cost of another—arises through natural selection. It is a bit more philosophy than biology but I would recommend this book if you are interested in this stuff. Equally thought-provoking as it is informative. Maybe, you will see life in a new way!

And ah, Khoury is very funny guy! He has a great sense of humor. Have you ever imagined if Zach Galifianakis writes God Delusion? It must be Quanology. I have a lot of LOL-moments while reading the book.

* You can read the entire essay here


This review also published in my blog

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an immensely readable look at evolution, how it applies to humans, how it still applies today and more importantly how it affects the decisions we make on a day to day basis (whether we realise it or not) in our quest for the Quan (watch Jerry Maguire if you're not familiar with this). Khoury starts by explaining what evolution is all about and how Nature has cunningly designed genes and their on-going survival to drive everything including those things that we see as being outside of nature like technology, love, war etc. While this may sound a little dry and boring Khoury manages to inject the whole lot with a good bit of humour and put it all in terms that we can all understand with some rather excellent examples scattered throughout.

Following that he then shows how evolution and gene survival affects us today and how, in understanding these drivers better, we can live better more fulfilling lives (not happier but more fulfilling, big difference which I will leave to John to explain) by understanding why we do what we do and making the little changes that make the big and proper differences. This is not a self help book but a living with yourself and Nature guide that is more practical, realistic and in tune with what we really need. Not to mention the fact that it doesn't push you in one direction but gives you the tools to do what is right by you not society (although these are often the same thing, or at least similar).

All of which is supported brilliantly by the website (Quanology) and blog (Quanology Blog).

[Dawn Stowell · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Quan a life that gets more than it gives,” John Khury. This may seem like a quirky ad tag based on reverse or contrary psychology. However, Khoury gives his all in one go in his offering of Quanology, that looks closely at what 'getting,' really means. Getting implies survivability. Survivability in Khoury's position means genetic cooperation and memetic adaptation to technology and the eventual hybridization of the two.

In more than just his ‘guy at the bar tone,’ where he uses colloquial language with a fair amount of 'f' bombs placed to strategically go-off at the right moment, and spiced with small interjections of sexual reference to enliven his drier material, John Khury presents a fascinating, complex yet generalist over view of human evolution based on the unlikely combination of technological determinism and evolutionary psychology in easily read layman's terms.

Khoury sees that the driving force behind humankind’s adaptations has been propelled by behavioral instincts in conjunction with the creation of technology and that this increases chances of long-term genetic viability, and Khoury gives a brave argument for the balance between nurture and nature being controlled by selectionism, biologically and culturally (genes and memes). However, he falls heavily in favour of technology as the prime mover, (whom I would anthropomorphise and characterize as a demented, master clock-maker with Borg as its descendents). Khoury perceives a universe as best seen as ‘slightly unequal’ and biased towards cosmological dissipation and applies this as a general rule to many systems on earth. (Khoury implies that because every thing in the universe is going to end anyway, and that as an individual one might as well maximize one's experience and pass along that which you have bettered for the sake of increased maximization of viability of the longevity of your genes.)

Quanology is a speculative foray through several frameworks, that attempts to synthesize many ideas. His two biggest concepts are the evolutionary “sweet spot” and the evolutionary “loophole,” both ideas are intriguing but could be furthered by more development and research. A few other big ideas are much more well represented as they run throughout Quanology: GPR; Genetic Proliferation Rate, GPS; Genetic Proliferation Strategy and GPP; Genetic Proliferation Potential.

Khoury, obviously knows a little about a lot, and some things more than others. Yet he falls short in his attempt to integrate his knowledge base and at time contradicts himself. Khoury looks at so many ideas that he is bound to bump into some contradictions of his own making, from: evolutionary psychology, technological determinism, physics, math, economics, cognitive psychology to Jung, to name some of the topics discussed as being interrelated.

He adds towards the end of the book, a very different approach with an interesting dimension of, “How To” increase one’s chances at adaptation. This move from quasi-theoretical to a practical ending is appropriate after exposure to so many ideas. It has a much tighter focus.

What Quanology did not provide were scientific findings, instead Khoury gives readers some very interesting concepts to pursue in his proposed new field of Quanology. Khoury attempts consilience yet doesn’t reach it in presenting, 'a theory of every thing,' and for that Khoury must be given full credit for his effort.

For making me really think hard about the foundations of my own belief system, and world views, despite my antipathy towards technological determinism (Yes, according to Khury, you will become part robot) and for the brilliant introduction of his GPR, GPS and GPP concepts, along with his ideas of human epoch marking terminology of the evolutionary ‘sweet spot,’ and the evolutionary ‘loophole,’ I found this is an amazing book.

Again I reiterate, Khoury gives readers speculative theory, all theories start out in this way, however he tries to advance the ideas of epigenetics into a techgenetics, and does not quite make the quantum leap. Perhaps, someone or some people might develop some of his ideas further. It does hold some promise of being one, practical, possibly verifiable unifying theory of humankind.

Quanology allows a person to step outside of their time-constricted views and see a little farther back and a little farther ahead. Khoury seems to be a man before his time, and with a little more time, and consolidation of thought, time may catch up with him yet.

For disclosure purposes, I received an ARC directly from John Khoury and in the spirit of reciprocity I said that I would submit a review.

[NH_ELT · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about evolution has never been that much understandable,easy-reading and enjoyable.the book is written in an emphatic,convincing,smart and humorous way.there is good dose of information.Its thought-provaking.The book is mainly about how human behaviors are related to evolution and how to achieve the best of ourselves considering relationships,jobs,and social life.

In detail (Spoiler alert),
At quanology part,Its stated that conscious doesnt differ us from animals at all,because we still have animal instincts which rule our lives.For example,we are programmed to reproduce just like animals.I agree with these ideas.Technology is helpful for human evolution.i have never thought that because ı used to think it has bad effects,it makes humans lazy.In fact,technlogy is our friend and our resource to improve ourselves.

At evolution part,being gene-ish is very interesting.Doing something what our genes want,makes us gene-ish.The idea of sweet spot is fascinating.People stopped evolving during the sweet spot.I would like to see this era.There is some similarities with these primitives and modern human-beings.

At technology part,Its written that Its hard be a living creature in the world.Its hard for everyone.However,Old generations did a lot of things to ease our lives.So,we should create something and justify our presence to the universe.Its said that Men are tend to have multiple partners because its how men used to do in the sweet spot.They want to pass their genes more and imrove ther genetic proliferation.Its a kind of drive.That explains very well men behaviours.Im just curious about why it turned out to be forbidden in modern society with time.I guess,Its because It would lead more diseases,troubles and over-population which governments never want.Its an adaptation to modern life.

Beliefs make people connected.People without belief would feel lost and empty.We want to share our thoughts,identity.Its true when we consider million users of social network sites like facebook.I agree that school doesnt mean education,education takes a lifetime.

At personal development part,Its interesting that we dont actually seek for happiness.Its our conscious that makes us believe so.We just want to be fulfilled.Givers are more fulfilled.Also,hard working will be rewarded by nature.Its stated that gradual change is the best.So that it wont be traumatic.

Overall,I think,this book helped me to have better understanding of human nature.It changed my thoughts on a lot of topics.I think,It helped me to have higher genetic proliferation rate.It improved my value.I definitely recommend you to read it.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first thought after finishing this book was "XYZ has to read this", where XYZ can be substituted with a number of my friends, who would all benefit from reading it.

It is science for the layman, dealing with biology and psychology on a level that is understandable by anyone, and clearly that is the point. The author had indeed stumbled upon something valuable here, and I am glad that I was able to understand it as well. What he is trying to say is perfectly clear and logical, and it makes a lot of sense.

I really enjoyed the openness of the style. It makes you feel like you are listening to someone you knew since a long time and he just found the secret to life and he wants to share it with you so badly that you cannot do anything else but to sit there and listen in wonder.

It inspired a lot of "aha" moments, when something I struggled to understand before now became quite clear, because it was shown in a different perspective. It inspired a lot of "hmmm" moments as well, which actually make me want to take the author up on that lunch he refers to at the end of the book.

The text has a very good flow, the chapters follow a nice order, starting with the big picture and slowly bringing it down to the level of the individual.

For me, it inspired some very interesting ideas, some new ways to look at things, and left me with a feeling of ambition to try harder to get most out of my life and gave me motivation to work harder towards my own goals.

It is definitely a mood booster, even if it contains parts that talk about the darker shades of humanity. But even so, that is also part of life and it is there for a reason, and this book helps us see it and see how we can work to create a better, nicer future.

All in all, this book is definitely worth your time, and I would recommend it to anybody and everybody. And I probably will take it off the shelf a couple more times in the future as well :)

[Evija · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I read the essay from the author about the same topic and I fell in love with that. At that point I knew that I will read the whole book as well. And I did.

I liked the book. I liked the fresh look and theory about the evolution and the reasons behind our behavior. You may believe it or not, agree with the author or not but the reasoning behind the theory was very sound. At the same time the writing style was entertaining and at times worth a good laugh. One I may say - the author has a good sense of humor. For those reasons you will find this book interesting and at the same time packed with facts worth to know and ideas worth considering. On the other hand if you are truly conservatively religious, don't touch the book. One may need an open mind to read this stuff.

I liked the concept that you have to steer downstream to be rewarded as I always thought myself that sometimes it is harder to go upstream than to let it go and let it happen. If it feels good, you have to do it, which is not as selfish as some might think. Nature just wants us to do things, and it made those things feel good (sex including). If you are having a consistently tough life, the reason might be that you are not flowing in the right direction.

Of course there are more ideas about love, hate, mercy, doing drugs etc worth considering. It makes sense. So if you want to widen your perspective, go for the book and you will not be disappointed.

The reason I didn't give 5 stars to the book was that at times it seemed a little too long and started to repeat itself. At times I was like - okay, I got it, I liked it, give me something more to think about. Other than that it was really cool.

I received a copy of this book for free from librarything giveaway

[Martine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: Thank you John for sending me a copy of this book :)

I love these "Evolution & You" books (stealing the term from you John). I truly believe they're the future as the population is moving away from religion and starts seeking meaning elsewhere. I feel like I'm reading history in the making, reading these different authors' being at the forefront of establishing an approach to consolidating evolution and finding meaning.

Despite my enthusiasm, I might be the wrong audience for these kinda books. As mentioned on my profile I'm dyslexic so I don't do any light reading. Every book is subject to close scrutiny, a bit like watching a movie in slow-motion. I also studied evolution as a BSc and I don't like self-help books.
Negative biases aside, the book involves a lot of explanations on how evolution works, the history etc. John's writing is packed with enthusiasm for the subject. Sadly the enthusiasm becomes less contagious when you've already studied the concepts at university. It's a bit of a downer when the author goes "Can you believe it?!" and your response is "...yes." That might be the end of my review. The book was written in such a way that the eye-opening amazing concepts of evolution and how you can live with it was kinda it. As someone that already knew a lot about biology and wasn't all that interested in the meaning of life, I didn't get that much out of it.

In the book's defence I did feel a bit like my dad trying to read Jane Austen. Quite obviously not the right audience, but I can see how someone else might enjoy it. If there is a sequel that's written for those who already know biology I can picture myself giving it a go.

[Tallulah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm very torn with this book...in some parts it's a 4-5 star insightful read that would open the eyes of many, many people, in others it's downright wrong (the comment about what depression is near the end was particularly dangerous).

My disclaimer with it as well (besides the fact John gave me a copy, which seems to be something I should let people know, and also thank you) is that the writing is often simply not to my taste (which is all my problem and not the author's). I generally don't like self-help books, and at times I found it a bit too casual, sometimes even condescending - though I appreciate this would make what he was saying - quite big, complicated concepts - really accessible, which I definitely give John credit for. It's just not for me.

My other issue was that while I understand this book is essentially a self-help book, a huge part of it is really science-based - describing evolution, psychology, how it all interrelates and how it affects us - ...but without any actual science backing it up. John seems to only reference happenings in his own life, his own observances and some books he's read. At some points I'd be like, well that's interesting, I hadn't thought of it like that before, I guess I kinda agree with it...but I can imagine all the psychologists having a field day with that statement!

Honestly, if John wasn't literally putting into words what I had always instinctually thought about humanity and how we fit into the world, I would almost dismiss it.

A good read if you're always on the search to improve yourself via self help books, and are interested in a view on the world you may not yet have encountered.

[Ira Therebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am usually not a big fan of self help books, but I was curious to read how the author will implement the idea of evolution into how to deal with the everyday life.

I can say that I liked it. The author has a a great humor and writes the book so it is very easy to read and also makes one laugh from time to time.

One thing that I was thinking of is that many people don't understand evolution. On the internet one often sees those "science douchebags" who think they are highly intellectual and use the idea of evolution to support their bigoted ideas, even though they don't completely grasp it and maybe just read the theory in a few sentences. The author is definitely not one of them. But since it is not a science book, I felt many of them would misuse the message when reading the chapter on men and women.

What I liked a lot was bringing the idea of evolution to the topics such as Technology, Drugs and other parts of our lives that we often don't associate with evolution. It gives one a great opportunity to think about the world from a different side.

The final chapter which summarizes all the ideas in a self help manner on how to live your life thinking about evolution was very good. As I said I am not a fan of self help books, but this one is especially original and actually interesting to read.

[Tom Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is like a synthesis of 'The Selfish Gene' and 'The Red Queen', both of which had a huge impact on me in my formative years. The author is seemingly trying to make sense of the human (or perhaps just his own) condition in the light of scientific knowledge about our origins and the way we have come to be constructed through evolution. And this is exactly what I was looking for in the other two books when I was a teenager. However, it falls somewhat short of its goal. This is perhaps not altogether surprising given the quality of the works mentioned, but it has two main flaws which make it difficult to take seriously: the vernacular style and bad language detract from the often good arguments; and sometimes when we are referred back to scientific explanations, they are found somewhat wanting (thinking here particularly of the description of entropy). So I'm afraid I would reach for Dawkins and Ridley over this.

[Laura Praamstra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book and a theory about that one big question: How do I get the most out of life?

Let's be honest about this: about 80% of the time life just seems so fucking pointless. But it isn't. By learning about evolution and our natural instincts (well, I knew about them of course), I came to understand myself and the world around me so much better.

Although this evolutionary stuff gets technical sometimes, the author leads you step-by-step through the theory.

'Quanology' is a very accessible read and the author is a funny, funny guy.

[Ken Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is wonderful. It is easy to read. I found the humor sound and very engaging. I admire the easy-to-understand analogies and metaphors. I would recommend this book to those people who don't have a strong background in science but are curious; curious about how science looks at life. This book explains objectivity with great humor. Good job John.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads win review. Another book I did write about, not on my page. Greta book about the evolution of man.