So What Does It All Mean - Review

 

Book 4: So What Does It All Mean 

Author: SS O'Connor

Publisher: Otium Press

Publishing Date: 30th March 2023 

Many thanks to the publishing team and Literally PR team for my copy of the book 

Blurb

Why are humans neither 'good' nor 'bad'? How can so much chaos and confusion in the world actually lead to order? Why are we so often wrong when we're asked if the world's getting better?

In this, the last book in The Secrets of Life quartet, SS O'Connor pulls together the threads of genetic and cultural evolution, and then adds to these the conclusions of evolutionary game theory. As he does this, he ends with an intertwined narrative that explains why so many of the phenomena of our existence may not be the mysteries we think they are, but could in fact have the same underlying logic to them.

By examining the great currents at work in our collective story, the role that competition and cooperation have always played in the development of the world, and why each behavioural strategy is rational in what it's attempting to achieve, the book shows that the same cycles of collaboration and destruction have been present since time began.

But while the success of these strategies may ebb and flow, it is their interaction that results in the balance and order we see around us. This current is also the consistent vector of our human history.

Although we may have animal origins, and are also driven by the same need to respond to the profound Laws of Thermodynamics, we have developed our culture to the point where we can now choose to overrule so many of the instructions of our genes.

Why do we do this? What are the problems that arise from our free will? How have we come to realise that self-interest is quite different from selfishness? Why have we become obsessed with the need for fairness and trust in our societies?

And how have these forces resulted in us making the world a better place? Few of us believe this can be the case. But as the evidence of our progress becomes ever clearer, the series concludes by showing us why we are often wrong in our view of each other, and why we're so frequently mistaken in our pessimism about the future.

My thoughts

The blurb gives it great insight into the final book in the series of what to expect for the final instalment. 

It delves a lot further in how we perceive different concepts around and what makes us think and fight for different changes. As time changes and evolves and people change their narrative also. It is a great finally to understand human evolution and different theorists are discussed. Once again really well explained chapters and lots of detail and discussion points that challenged my ways of thinking and start to consider different view points. 

I felt this book was not as intense as the previous which was a good thing but it did pull through some conversations from before. Again this is a great conversational book and would be good for bookclub etc. 

I really like the layout of the book and the chapter sections. 

All 4 books have been amazing to read and have really made me challenge and consider different view points. Although I did know how social media or those around us can greatly influence our decision making. It was really interesting to read different theories and actually how much these influences are making a difference both good and bad for the present decisions and the future.