Summary: Why did women lose their facial hair during evolution? Where did the notion of god(s) come from? Why did self-awareness arise in the torso before migrating behind the eyes? What transition sparked the feud between science and religion? All of these questions have simple and logical answers, which are entertainingly revealed in the form of two amusement park attractions.
Review: A relatively short, but still an intriguing and powerful way to look at human development.
I will admit to being thrown off by the book being told through a Disney ride. I honestly think it could have been told without the Disney ride aspect. It didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story. I just found it odd. An incredible amount of time is covered in this book and while they are large gaps of time, most of the important time periods and moments in time are dealt with.
I personally think that our history does lend itself to the idea of a journey into enlightenment and growth (which is how I saw it), but not perfectly due to some civilizations going much farther than others, some reverting back to an earlier form, and some going farther and then reverting. Despite that, I found the stages of human evolution very logical although some of the concepts I didn’t agree with or saw no evidence for. The book is definitely worth a read though. The philosophic and religious implications make it worth reading.
Rating:
Recommendation: I would recommend this book to those interested in philosophy, the history of religion, or the evolution of human culture.
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