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    Vi Agra Falls
    Vi Agra Falls
    Vi Agra Falls
    Audiobook9 hours

    Vi Agra Falls

    Written by Mary Daheim

    Narrated by Cynthia Darlow

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    USA Today best-selling author Mary Daheim's juicy mysteries are quickly climbing every fan's list of favorites. This madcap romp features Judith McMonigle Flynn, amateur sleuth and proprietress of Hillside Manor-an historic suburban inn that plays host to more than its fair share of murder and mayhem. Kirkus Reviews calls the series "absolutely intoxicating."
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateFeb 14, 2014
    ISBN9781490620268
    Author

    Mary Daheim

    Mary Richardson Daheim is a Seattle native with a communications degree from the University of Washington. Realizing at an early age that getting published in books with real covers might elude her for years, she worked on daily newspapers and in public relations to help avoid her creditors. She lives in her hometown in a century-old house not unlike Hillside Manor, except for the body count. Daheim is also the author of the Alpine mystery series.

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    Reviews for Vi Agra Falls

    4.5/5

    17 ratings16 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Prize-winning biologist Edward O. Wilson grapples with philosophical and anthropological questions, examining what makes human beings different from all other species and how we got to where we are today. He also discusses the dilemma of technology and abandoning natural selection. This is a brilliant piece of writing with some overlap with his prior book, The Social Conquest of Earth.
    • 3/5
      Interesting, but somewhat repetitive and disjointed. I really think you only need the first and last chapter to understand his themes.
    • 3/5
      In this series of essays, Edward O. Wilson sounds (at least to me) like an angry optimist. Humanity is impressive. We are the only species on Earth that can attempt to understand itself from anything resembling an objective perspective. We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. The forces that shaped us have left us prone to a wide range of traits that may not be conducive to our continued survival, and considering how many obstacles we have already overcome, how many times we have narrowly avoided extinction, that, I think, would be a shame and a terrible waste of potential. This is not exactly how he says it, but it is the message I'm getting from what he has said. I agree and I share his concerns.

      The reason I've subjectively rated this a 3 stars (I liked it) as opposed to four stars (I REALLY like it) is that it does carry an angry almost frustrated tone. I liked it because I agree with his observations and conclusions. It's not likely to convince anyone who does not.
    • 3/5
      An interesting perspective on the typically philosophical idea/question of "why are we here? what does life mean? what is our purpose" by a biology scientist. Although biased (obviously) due to that, he does make a few fair points about combining the sciences and the humanities.

      Ultimately though I think the book is pretty thin and there's not a whole lot "there", and its just a little meat with a lot of filler to try and beef it up. Some good points that get drowned out or kind of go nowhere and peter out. Still worth a check-out and read though for any people particularly interested in answering the age-old question of "what is our purpose?" (spoiler: there is no answer).
    • 2/5
      This book should have been titled "The Condition of Human Existence." There is nothing here about meaning, or how it might be created. This is just a biologist reminding everyone again that evolution by natural selection is scientifically factual, and creation myths and folktales are not. Here and there, he flits back and forth between insisting that the sciences and the humanities need each other, but then extolling the sciences as superior. Well, okay.The sciences are undoubtedly superior for describing and classifying the phenomena that we experience, including ourselves. But recognizing the evolutionary bases of the human condition says nothing about the meaning of our existence—it only clears away the authority of mythological accounts that are rooted in supernatural revelation. (And his discussion of those accounts, while appropriately dismissive, is still irritatingly simplistic.) Remaining open is the question of whether, given the condition of the human species as a product of natural selection, anything resembling meaning or purpose is possible, and, if so, how we might discover or create it. Wilson has nothing to say on that question, and fails even to acknowledge that it might be asked.He does suggest an interesting idea, which is that "individual selection favors what we call sin and group selection favors virtue" (p. 179), but it's not clear how that ought to affect the question of meaning. Undoubtedly, we humans experience a troubling conflict between our individuality and our need for social support, but that is a condition of our existence, not its meaning.If you are looking for another restatement that, yes, evolution by natural selection really does have more explanatory power than supernaturalist creation myths for establishing the conditions of human existence, then this is a decent little book. But it offers nothing further, particularly if you are excited by the title and the prospect of tackling the problem of meaning. And for those who are not already persuaded of our evolutionary nature, I doubt this book will shift your view; he's preaching to the choir.
    • 5/5
      Prize-winning biologist Edward O. Wilson grapples with philosophical and anthropological questions, examining what makes human beings different from all other species and how we got to where we are today. He also discusses the dilemma of technology and abandoning natural selection. This is a brilliant piece of writing with some overlap with his prior book, The Social Conquest of Earth. SRH
    • 4/5
      The title of the book is a very daunting mission. Wilson uses science, not religion or myth to explain humans got to where we are now. He explores our needs to be a part of a tribe or groups. He examines the role of religion and alludes to some of the evils it has created (wars, violence etc). His chapter of what ET may be like was interesting though he doubts there will ever be any contact if there are other life forms like us on other planets. He is skeptical about that possibility.

      I found some of the book to be above my head. Science and biology books and topics are not part of my normal reading fare. But I get his essential point. There is no after life, there are no second chances---this is it!
    • 5/5
      “The Meaning of Human Existence,” by Edward O. Wilson, is an extraordinary book: audacious, illuminating, and in the end, oddly comforting. How could it not be with a subject and title so outrageously brazen? Written by one of the most honored and preeminent living biologist, and at the pinnacle of his life, this is an exceptionally personal book. It is a synthesis and distillation of all the big who-are-we ideas he’s put together from a lifetime of scientific research and personal experience. You might call it a highly personal philosophical anthropology. But more accurately, it’s a scientific creation narrative about how we came to be what we are, what makes us special in the cosmos, and how we can use that specialness to improve our future.I downloaded this book the day it was published and devoured it over the course of the next two days. Now, a few days later, I am still basking in the satisfying glow and deep comfort of that extraordinary experience. The book pleased me not because it offered any major new scientific concepts or ideas. In fact, I found I was already quiet familiar with nearly all of the science presented in the book. If you’ve read Wilson’s other bestselling books and you’re reasonably well-read in the fields of prehistory, evolutionary biology, cultural anthropology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and comparative religions, then you, also, will find little new here. What was beautiful and remarkable was how the author was able to weave these many big concepts together to form a stunning tapestry of truth, a new science-based creation narrative. In this book, Wilson recounts his personal scientific take on the epic journey of human evolution. Wilson focuses that journey heavily on his recent groundbreaking thesis about the importance of human eusociality (see his “The Social Conquest of Earth”). The book also touches briefly on the latest scientific knowledge concerning instinct, the biology of religion, free will, and consciousness. As an important side note—yet given a whole chapter of its own—the author makes it clear that in the greater scheme of things, it is “microbes that rule the Galaxy.” For me, the most entertaining and enlightening chapter was the one entitled, “Portrait of E. T.” In that chapter, the author speculates—based on scientific theory—about the characteristics he would expect from any “human-grade aliens on Earth-like planets.” He gives us eight characteristics; taken together, they form a startling and eye-opening portrait, one significantly different from that we currently see in most science fiction.Finally, the book celebrates the dual importance of the humanities in addition to the sciences as the joint hallmarks of human achievement. He makes a point that if intelligent aliens were ever to contact earth, they would probably be far less interested in our science than our arts and humanities. After all, if they were to contact us, it is obvious that we would have little knowledge about science that they would not already know. It is our amazing accumulation of cultural heritage that would fascinate and thrill them. In closing, it would be an enormous oversight if I failed to note what a sublime pleasure it always is to read Wilson’s clear, thoughtful, eloquent and exquisite prose. I will be deeply saddened if this turns out to be his last book.
    • 5/5
      This is a two hundred page book that is chock full of information and food for thought about how the human race came to be and what put our species into the dominant position that it is. Wilson ponders the possibility of life on other planets and has some interesting theories about what they would be like if extraterrestrials do exist. A principal theme is that humans are one of the few species that work together for the good of the group rather than solely for the self interest of the individual and sees this as very unique. He is an unabashed proponent of evolution. This book WILL make you think.
    • 4/5
      What is the place and status of humans in our world? Wilson thinks we are here only by an evolutionary accident and that we aren't as "special" as we would like think we are. We are governed by myths and the need to be accepted by others. There is a lot here to process and think about. This is an interesting read that will make you question your assumptions. Only the open-minded need apply!
    • 5/5
      Douglas Adams said, "The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42." :-)

      Of course the writing of Douglas Adams and Edward O. Wilson are worlds apart in intent. I found this book interesting and informative, though it necessitates careful reading to appreciate all that E. O. Wilson says. I believe this book should be read by all that are interested in our futures. If you have read Richard Dawkins, it would behove you to also read this book to get a more balanced appreciation of the progress of evolutionary science.

      In the following, I include paraphrasing of passages from the book to give you and inkling of what to expect, hopefully whetting your interest. To me, his writing is well organized, and is neither overly concise, nor rambling. Unless you have some familiarity with evolutionary biology though, you may need a dictionary or Wikipedia at hand.

      As the lead in to this book states, history makes little sense without prehistory, and prehistory makes little sense without biology. Knowledge of prehistory and biology is increasing rapidly, bringing into focus how humanity originated and why a species like our own exists on this planet.

      In setting the tone of the book, he explains that the ordinary usage the word "meaning" implies intention, intention implies design, and design implies a designer. There is a second, broader way the word "meaning" is used though, and a very different worldview is implied. It is that the accidents of history, not the intentions of a designer, are the source of meaning. In this broader use of the word "meaning" there is no advance design, but instead overlapping networks of physical cause and effect. During organic evolution, for example, the origin of one adaptation by natural selection makes the origin of certain other adaptations more likely. This concept of meaning, insofar as it illuminates humanity and the rest of life, is the worldview of science.

      The French writer Jean Bruller (pen name Vercors) was on the right track when, in his 1952 novel You Shall Know Them, he declared, "All of man’s troubles have arisen from the fact that we do not know what we are and do not agree on what we want to be." Human nature is the ensemble of hereditary regularities in mental development that bias cultural evolution in one direction as opposed to others and thus connect genes to culture in the brain of every person.

      One important point I was happy to see, is his explanation of the fauna and flora of any ecosystem being far more than collections of species (which we don't know near the whole of). Ecosystems are complex systems of interactions, where the extinction of any species under certain conditions could have a profound impact on the whole, and ultimately ourselves. Extinction rates are 100 to 1,000 times higher than before the global spread of humanity, and will increase with human induced climate change.

      To my amusement, in one chapter he even delves into the inanity of our imaginative science fiction, but I doubt that will change our subjective alternate reality longings. One faulty perception is that of those who believe humanity can emigrate to another planet after using up this one. Those whose imagination ignores that two living worlds, ours and another, are in all probability radically different in origin, molecular machinery, and the endless pathways of evolution that produced the life-forms thereon. Thus the ecosystems and species of an alien world would be wholly incompatible with our own and the result would be a biological train wreck. H. G. Wells was at least on the right tract back in the 1890s with The War of the Worlds.

      Another chapter dissects religion, and how it fosters much of the animosity in the world. The Founding Fathers of the United States understood the risk of tribal religious conflict very well, but we have regressed since to the point of the consequences we see today.

      In yet another chapter he delves into what we think of as Free Will. Did you know that half of the twenty thousand to twenty-five thousand genes of the entire human genetic code participate in one manner or other in the prescription of the brain-mind system, and this amount of commitment has resulted from one of the most rapid evolutionary changes known in any advanced organ system of the biosphere. Philosophers have labored off and on for over two thousand years to explain consciousness (their job). Innocent of biology, however, they have for the most part understandably gotten nowhere.

      One thing he focuses on at various points of this writing is recombining the humanities and science, as began in the Enlightenment (17th and 18th centuries), but faltered in the 19th century Romantic transition (feelings through creative art). For the next two centuries and to the present day, science and the humanities went their own ways. This to me, the eclipsing of objective thinking in the broader populace with subjective perspectives, yet how can we have one without the other? The greatest contribution that science can make to the humanities is to demonstrate how bizarre we are as a species, and why, but understanding that as yet takes more fortitude and forthrightness than we seem to be able to muster in too many. The meaning of human existence cannot be explained until “just is” (Romanticism) is replaced with “just is, because” (Enlightenment). Only then can we begin to understand and compensate for our self-destructive proclivities. It was only after eons of time, during which millions of species had come and gone, that one of the lineages, the direct antecedents of Homo sapiens, won the grand lottery of evolution. The payout was civilization based on symbolic language, and culture, and from these a gargantuan power to extract the nonrenewable resources of the planet—while cheerfully exterminating our fellow species.

      All of the points he focuses on lead to a final section and chapter entitled "A Human Future," which I found well examined.
    • 5/5
      In this crossover of philosophy and science, Wilson says to humanity, Know thyself, and thou shalt survive. Know that some of your behaviours are inborn, your propensity for religion is hard-wired albeit irrational, know that the Earth is the only habitable planet for you. The behaviours that guide you come in part from the natural selection that worked on the individual and in part from group selection. Those that we came to see as vices come from an individual's fight for survival; those that we see as virtues: altruism and compassion, for example, from group selection. Selfish members win within groups, but groups of altruists best groups of selfish members. Otherwise, the future is bleak. There is an overwhelming chance we as a species will not survive.Overall, after a somewhat pompous and preachy beginning, we have an eloquent treatise dealing with our place in the universe and the meaning of our existence. The meaning, which Wilson defines in most humanistic and atheistic terms. He argues that we are a product of natural laws and evolution and there are no deities to take care of us, or second comings. This is it. Wilson condemns religion very strongly, yet, unlike Dawkins, he manages to do it without offending anyone. He makes religious leaders responsible for keeping humans in tribal mindset, which in turn keeps us locked in the type of mentality that prevents global peace and conservation efforts. We need the second enlightenment, he argues- we need to realize that not everybody thinks the same way, and that there may be subtle genetic causes for it. He also argues that we need both science and humanities to come together again to brace with the meaning of our existence.Nothing very new overall, a continuation of much disputed by some advocacy for the multilevel theory of natural selection that selects both for the individual and the group traits that Wilson discussed in detail in his The Social Conquest of the Earth. I would definitely recommend it even if only for its unsentimental humanistic message, but I also find it quite thought provoking on other levels.
    • 5/5
      Elegantly reasoned and eloquently articulated.
    • 4/5
      Science can show us the meaning of our existence, not religion.
      The humanities can help us understand ourselves.
      We need to overcome our hardwired primitive way of responding to problems.
      We are ultimately responsible for the fate of humankind; no god will come and save us.

      Many examples to illustrate biological and sociological adaptations to survival stress.
      Note to self: See my notes in folder "Books" on my computer.
    • 5/5
      I'll very happily read just about anything E.O. Wilson publishes, and this latest book is no exception. While there isn't all that much new or groundbreaking here if you're familiar with Wilson's previous works, The Meaning of Human Existence does compress some of his recent arguments (from The Social Conquest of Earth and several other pieces) into a short and very readable format. Wilson continues to stress some of his major contentions: that dogmatic religion is doing more harm than good to human society, that we need to accept and take steps to reverse the damage we as a species are doing to the planet, and that science and the humanities have a great deal to say to each other and that practitioners of both would be better served by a more profound understanding of the other.
    • 5/5
      In this superb book, Wilson attempts to trace the evolution of life, determine why we are the only species that possesses consciousness and predict the future of human development. On top of that, he draws conclusions regarding the likelihood of sentient life elsewhere in the universe and the morphological form that life would take. That’s quite an undertaking but masterfully done.Yet, this book is not for everyone. Wilson is firmly committed to examining The Meaning of Human Existence in the context of the immense body of scientific evidence amassed across the decades. Readers looking for a science fiction approach will find little of interest here. Aliens can’t visit Earth in faster than light machines, communicate via telepathy, or transport themselves instantly from one physical location to another. Those inflexibly committed to a religious point of view may find the solid, dispassionate analysis of scientific data to be irritating or upsetting. Wilson concludes that “Humanity arose as an accident of evolution.” (p174). “We are not predestined to reach any goal, nor are we answerable to any power but our own. Only wisdom based on self-understanding, not piety, will save us.”Still, even those who are unwilling to reexamining their belief system may be interested in some of Wilson’s conclusions. Take Wilson’s effort to explain what sentient life-forms on far-flung galaxies will look like. In morphology, somewhat similar to us. I found that answer to be somewhat surprising but carefully reasoned and plausible. I’ll not say “convincing” because I’ll still hold out the possibility of a more exotic form. Here’s another interesting question. What provides a useful “model” of the human body? Answer: An ant colony. Okay, that’s as close to a spoiler as I’m going to come. You’re going to have to read the book to find the rationale underlying the answers to these and other interesting questions addressed by Wilson.In contrast to the above, Wilson effort to unite science and the humanities is not convincing. In truth, the topic receives scant attention, emerging primarily at the end when he attempts to prognosticate the future of humanity. However, anyone interested in a thoughtful consideration of the meaning of human existence will find an interesting, dispassionate, review based that pulls in knowledge from disparate fields.