The evolution of everything : how new ideas emerge / Matt Ridley.

Includes index.

Evolution of the Universe.--Evolution of Morality.--Evolution of Life.--Evolution of Genes.--Evolution of Culture.--Evolution of the Economy.--Evolution of Technology.--Evolution of the Mind.--Evolution of Personality.--Evolution of Education.--Evolution of Population.--Evolution of Leadership.--Evolution of Government.--Evolution of Religion.--Evolution of Money.--Evolution of the Internet.

This book is about bottom-up order and its enemy, the top-down twitch--the endless fascination human beings have for design rather than evolution, for direction rather than emergence. Drawing on anecdotes from science, economics, history, politics and philosophy, the author demolishes conventional assumptions that major scientific and social imperatives are dictated by those on high, whether in government, business, academia, or morality. Patterns emerge, trends evolve. Although we neglect, defy and ignore them, trends shape the world. The growth of technology, the sanitation-driven health revolution, the quadrupling of farm yields so that more land can be released for nature--these were largely emergent phenomena, as were the Internet, the mobile phone revolution, and the rise of Asia. He demolishes the arguments for design and effectively makes the case for evolution in the universe, morality, genes, the economy, culture, technology, the mind, personality, population, education, history, government, God, money, and the future.