Adopting the part of a cultural Darwin, science writer and filmmaker Jonnie Hughes goes on a road trip through the exotic American Midwest to observe the natural history of ideas. As he dissects the variation and inheritance of odd bits of culture, he tours the supersized Mall of America and investigates the invention of the cowboy hat. He considers the fashion for low-riding jeans and moustaches, the average 28.99 words in good jokes, the myriad ways to tie shoelaces, why Coke wins the cola wars only when you can see the label, and, naturally, the distinctive features of various tepees. Original, witty, and engaging, On the Origin of Tepees will change how you view your ideas and the world.
On the Origin of Tepees
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""On the Origin of Tepees" is not your usual sort of book. Jonnie Hughes, a British TV and radio science guy, is like a carnival barker on serious weed. He is like Carl Sagan without segues, Jacques Cousteau without the hat, "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" without the kingdom ... Wait, wait, I've got it: "On the Origin of Tepees" reminds me of a mind-blowing book I was given in first grade. It was called "Animals Do the Strangest Things", and it called into question pretty much everything I'd been told so far (at 6) "vis-a-vis" evolution; namely that people were in charge of animals, people were smarter than animals, people were more inventive than animals and, of course, people were funnier and nicer than animals (none of which turned out to be true). Hughes wants us to understand the world differently; to understand the evolution of ideas and how those ideas shape the choices we make (individually and as a species) and our cultural evolution. He has chosen to do this in what he considers a surreal landscape -- America. Now don't get huffy: This is not Baudrillard exclaiming over the American materialist wasteland, or even de Tocqueville marveling in his paternal way over our fabulous optimism; this guy is totally comfortable (maybe too comfortable) with the idea that, grand theories aside, we are not in control of our evolution, any more than the hammerheaded fruit bat, the oarfish, or the naked mole rat. We need new goggles with which to see ourselves and through which to fully appreciate Darwin's work. Hughes has got some."--"Los Angeles Review of Books"
‘extremely interesting… an entertaining and provocative cocktail’ JEAB journal
‘extremely interesting… an entertaining and provocative cocktail’ JEAB journal
About the Author
Jonnie Hughes is a filmmaker in the BBC Natural History Unit and Head of Development for BBC Earth. His documentaries have been shown on the BBC, Discovery, and National Geographic Channel. He studied ecology and evolution at the University of Leeds. He lives in Bristol and this is his first book.
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Format:Kindle Edition
I really enjoyed this book. It is a fantastic introduction to cultural evolution and is convincing as well in its appropriate and clever analogies. Even if you have read the Meme Machine or other classics in the field I still think you will enjoy it, and if you haven't then it really is the perfect introduction to memes and how and why memetics is an important theory (like Darwin's theory, it is almost impossible to argue against it in some form). The journey the author made through america and canada was clearly planned well and lays out the story of explanation very well. I wish I could write a popular science book of this clarity, which - as this one does - is so easy and enjoyable to read.
By molespit
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed reading this book. A year after I finished my anthropology degree it was nice to pick up a book that told a story while dealing with some interesting theories for the evolution of man and culture. It doesn't bog you down in citations and scholars so is perfect for the amateur.
My brain is now buzzing with a load of new memes vying for design space.
My brain is now buzzing with a load of new memes vying for design space.
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