Unnatural Selection: Why the Geeks Will Inherit the Earth (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781628724356)

Unnatural Selection is the first book to examine the rise of the "technocentric being"--or geek--who personifies a distinct new phase in human evolution. People considered geeks often have behavioral or genetic traits that were previously considered detrimental. But the new environment of the Anthropocene period--the Age of Man--has created a kind of digital greenhouse that actually favors their traits, enabling many non-neurotypical people to bloom. They resonate with the technological Zeitgeist in a way that turns their weaknesses into strengths. Think of Mark Zuckerberg versus the towering, Olympics-bound Winklevoss twins in the movie Social Network.

Roeder suggests that the rise of the geek is not so much the product of Darwinian "natural selection" as of man-made--or unnatural--selection. He explains why geeks have become so phenomenally successful in such a short time and why the process will further accelerate, driven by breakthroughs in genetic engineering, neuropharmacology, and artificial intelligence. His book offers a fascinating synthesis of the latest trends in these fields and predicts a twenty-first century "cognitive arms race" in which new technology will enable everyone to become more intelligent and "geek-like."

Author: Mark Roeder
ISBN-10: 1628724358
ISBN-13: 9781628724356
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
Language: English
Published: 10/01/2014
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.70w x 1.20d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 09/22/2014
Library Journal 11/01/2014 pg. 107