Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Carl Sagan on Human Smarts
Sagan, Carl. The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence. New York: Random House, 1977. Print.
It is perhaps rare for an expert to go outside of his or her field and successfully produce a concise and insightful overview of a dissimilar subject. A Ph.D. in a particular area and a knack for research does not necessarily transfer over lines of academic division smoothly. In his introduction to The Dragons of Eden, Sagan freely confesses his inexpert status in regard to certain aspects of his inquiry, but the lay reader, to whom this work of nonfiction is geared, would hardly notice, so well does Sagan navigate through multiple disciplines in the construction of a uniform argument. Not only is the work replete with cited scholarly sources showcasing the thorough research beneath its surface, but it is also abundant in allusions to mythology, folklore, history, psychiatry, religion, philosophy, art, etc. Sagan is well aware that human intelligence and its gradual evolution is far too complex to relegate to the realms of science alone. It hinges on and conversely influences many other areas of culture and human endeavor. Over the course of this dense yet accessible book, Sagan considers such topics as: brain anatomy; the extrasomatic extensions of human intelligence found in libraries and computers; the potential for language among other species; the function of dreams; the intuitive right hemisphere of the brain vs. the analytical left; how the study of human intelligence informs the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. This is just to name a few of the interesting avenues Sagan explores in mapping out current knowledge of human intelligence. Here arises the greatest pitfall of The Dragons of Eden: it was published in 1977 and is thus undoubtedly outdated. This, however, does not entirely detract from the book. Some of the information presented in it is certainly relevant today, and those portions that have been rendered obsolete are still of interest in the study of human intelligence, which is in its infant stages even at the start of the 21st century. Sagan’s style is clear and easy to follow without any prior study of his subject on the reader’s part, and numerous pictures and diagrams and a glossary help. This is a highly interesting, if outdated, work of nonfiction by the friendliest scientist turned writer to dominate the library’s science shelves.
It is perhaps rare for an expert to go outside of his or her field and successfully produce a concise and insightful overview of a dissimilar subject. A Ph.D. in a particular area and a knack for research does not necessarily transfer over lines of academic division smoothly. In his introduction to The Dragons of Eden, Sagan freely confesses his inexpert status in regard to certain aspects of his inquiry, but the lay reader, to whom this work of nonfiction is geared, would hardly notice, so well does Sagan navigate through multiple disciplines in the construction of a uniform argument. Not only is the work replete with cited scholarly sources showcasing the thorough research beneath its surface, but it is also abundant in allusions to mythology, folklore, history, psychiatry, religion, philosophy, art, etc. Sagan is well aware that human intelligence and its gradual evolution is far too complex to relegate to the realms of science alone. It hinges on and conversely influences many other areas of culture and human endeavor. Over the course of this dense yet accessible book, Sagan considers such topics as: brain anatomy; the extrasomatic extensions of human intelligence found in libraries and computers; the potential for language among other species; the function of dreams; the intuitive right hemisphere of the brain vs. the analytical left; how the study of human intelligence informs the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. This is just to name a few of the interesting avenues Sagan explores in mapping out current knowledge of human intelligence. Here arises the greatest pitfall of The Dragons of Eden: it was published in 1977 and is thus undoubtedly outdated. This, however, does not entirely detract from the book. Some of the information presented in it is certainly relevant today, and those portions that have been rendered obsolete are still of interest in the study of human intelligence, which is in its infant stages even at the start of the 21st century. Sagan’s style is clear and easy to follow without any prior study of his subject on the reader’s part, and numerous pictures and diagrams and a glossary help. This is a highly interesting, if outdated, work of nonfiction by the friendliest scientist turned writer to dominate the library’s science shelves.
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