Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think: How Humans Learned to See the Future--and Shape It
"Byron Reese gets to the heart of what makes humans different from all others." —Midwest Book Review

What makes the human mind so unique? And how did we get this way?

This fascinating tale explores the three leaps in our history that made us what we are—and will change how you think about our future.

Look around. Clearly, we humans are radically different from the other creatures on this planet. But why? Where are the Bronze Age beavers? The Iron Age iguanas? In Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think, Byron Reese argues that we owe our special status to our ability to imagine the future and recall the past, escaping the perpetual present that all other living creatures are trapped in.

Envisioning human history as the development of a societal superorganism he names Agora, Reese shows us how this escape enabled us to share knowledge on an unprecedented scale, and predict—and eventually master—the future.

Thoughtful, witty, and compulsively readable, Reese unravels our history as an intelligent species in three acts:

  • Act I: Ancient humans undergo “the awakening,” developing the cognitive ability to mentally time-travel using language

  • Act II: In 17th century France, the mathematical framework known as 'probability theory' is born—a science for seeing into the future that we used to build the modern world

  • Act III: Beginning with the invention of the computer chip, humanity creates machines to gaze into the future with even more precision, overcoming the limits of our brains

    A fresh new look at the history and destiny of humanity, readers will come away from Stories, Dice, and Rocks that Think with a new understanding of what they are—not just another animal, but a creature with a mastery of time itself.
  • 1140950477
    Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think: How Humans Learned to See the Future--and Shape It
    "Byron Reese gets to the heart of what makes humans different from all others." —Midwest Book Review

    What makes the human mind so unique? And how did we get this way?

    This fascinating tale explores the three leaps in our history that made us what we are—and will change how you think about our future.

    Look around. Clearly, we humans are radically different from the other creatures on this planet. But why? Where are the Bronze Age beavers? The Iron Age iguanas? In Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think, Byron Reese argues that we owe our special status to our ability to imagine the future and recall the past, escaping the perpetual present that all other living creatures are trapped in.

    Envisioning human history as the development of a societal superorganism he names Agora, Reese shows us how this escape enabled us to share knowledge on an unprecedented scale, and predict—and eventually master—the future.

    Thoughtful, witty, and compulsively readable, Reese unravels our history as an intelligent species in three acts:

  • Act I: Ancient humans undergo “the awakening,” developing the cognitive ability to mentally time-travel using language

  • Act II: In 17th century France, the mathematical framework known as 'probability theory' is born—a science for seeing into the future that we used to build the modern world

  • Act III: Beginning with the invention of the computer chip, humanity creates machines to gaze into the future with even more precision, overcoming the limits of our brains

    A fresh new look at the history and destiny of humanity, readers will come away from Stories, Dice, and Rocks that Think with a new understanding of what they are—not just another animal, but a creature with a mastery of time itself.
  • 14.99 In Stock
    Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think: How Humans Learned to See the Future--and Shape It

    Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think: How Humans Learned to See the Future--and Shape It

    by Byron Reese
    Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think: How Humans Learned to See the Future--and Shape It

    Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think: How Humans Learned to See the Future--and Shape It

    by Byron Reese

    eBook

    $14.99 

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    Overview

    "Byron Reese gets to the heart of what makes humans different from all others." —Midwest Book Review

    What makes the human mind so unique? And how did we get this way?

    This fascinating tale explores the three leaps in our history that made us what we are—and will change how you think about our future.

    Look around. Clearly, we humans are radically different from the other creatures on this planet. But why? Where are the Bronze Age beavers? The Iron Age iguanas? In Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think, Byron Reese argues that we owe our special status to our ability to imagine the future and recall the past, escaping the perpetual present that all other living creatures are trapped in.

    Envisioning human history as the development of a societal superorganism he names Agora, Reese shows us how this escape enabled us to share knowledge on an unprecedented scale, and predict—and eventually master—the future.

    Thoughtful, witty, and compulsively readable, Reese unravels our history as an intelligent species in three acts:

  • Act I: Ancient humans undergo “the awakening,” developing the cognitive ability to mentally time-travel using language

  • Act II: In 17th century France, the mathematical framework known as 'probability theory' is born—a science for seeing into the future that we used to build the modern world

  • Act III: Beginning with the invention of the computer chip, humanity creates machines to gaze into the future with even more precision, overcoming the limits of our brains

    A fresh new look at the history and destiny of humanity, readers will come away from Stories, Dice, and Rocks that Think with a new understanding of what they are—not just another animal, but a creature with a mastery of time itself.

  • Product Details

    ISBN-13: 9781637741351
    Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
    Publication date: 08/23/2022
    Sold by: SIMON & SCHUSTER
    Format: eBook
    Pages: 304
    File size: 582 KB

    About the Author

    Byron Reese is an Austin-based entrepreneur with a quarter-century of experience building and running technology companies. A recognized authority on AI who holds a number of technology patents, Byron is a futurist with a strong conviction that technology will help bring about a new golden age of humanity. He gives talks around the world about how technology is changing work, education, and culture. He is the author of four books on technology; his previous title The Fourth Age was described by the New York Times as “entertaining and engaging.”

    Bloomberg Businessweek credits Reese with having “quietly pioneered a new breed of media company.” The Financial Times reported that he “is typical of the new wave of internet entrepreneurs out to turn the economics of the media industry on its head.” He and his work have been featured in hundreds of news outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Entrepreneur, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, and NPR.

    Byron Reese is an Austin-based entrepreneur with a quarter-century of experience building and running technology companies. A recognized authority on AI who holds a number of technology patents, Byron is a futurist with a strong conviction that technology will help bring about a new golden age of humanity. He gives talks around the world about how technology is changing work, education, and culture. He is the author of four books on technology; his previous title The Fourth Age was described by the New York Times as “entertaining and engaging.”

    Bloomberg Businessweek credits Reese with having “quietly pioneered a new breed of media company.” The Financial Times reported that he “is typical of the new wave of internet entrepreneurs out to turn the economics of the media industry on its head.” He and his work have been featured in hundreds of news outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Entrepreneur, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, and NPR.

    Table of Contents

    Introduction 1

    Act I Stories

    Two Million Years Ago 7

    Becoming Us 11

    The Awakening 21

    That Voice in Your Head 27

    The Origin of Language 31

    Spoken Language 37

    Nonhuman Languages 45

    How Did the Awakening Happen? 55

    The Stories We Tell Ourselves 65

    What Makes a Story? 69

    Told Stories 87

    Why Tell Stories? 95

    The Timeline of Tales 97

    Archetypal Stories 109

    The Twenty Purposes of Told Stories 117

    In Closing 135

    Act II Dice

    The Foreseeable Future 139

    The Problem of Points 151

    What Did We Know Prior to 1654? 159

    Why Not Earlier? 167

    A Numerical Reality 171

    Determinism's Limit 175

    Randomness's Miracle 179

    Probabilistic Thinking 185

    Many Possible Futures 191

    Probability Explodes onto the World 195

    Death and Taxes 199

    Laws 205

    Data 213

    Is That Normal? 219

    Eugenics 225

    The Next Big Thing 231

    Act III Rocks that Think

    Progress 239

    Behold the Wonder! 245

    AI 101 251

    Digital Mirror 259

    The Fears 265

    The Far Future 275

    Epilogue 279

    Acknowledgments 281

    Index 283

    What People are Saying About This

    From the Publisher

    "From storytelling and heritage passed down between generations to examples of synchronicity in action and its development and influence on belief systems and human predictions and interpretations of the world, Byron Reese gets to the heart of what makes humans different from all others."
    Midwest Book Review

    "We found the book insightful, thought provoking and well worth reading. You will come away smarter . . . Definitely one for the cooler autumn evenings to read."
    —Irish Tech News 

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