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A review by marc129
The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional by Agustín Fuentes
4.0
I admit I am soft on authors that venture into large syntheses, but only if they are based on a really broad point of view ànd on solid (empirical) research. Apparently Agustin Fuentes is such a person. He's an American biological anthropologist associated with Princeton. What particularly charmed me is that he is averse to reductionist approaches: for each domain of human activity he discusses (dexterity, art, sex, religion, …) he has an eye for complexity and context, and he indicates nuances and also gaps in our knowledge.
Of course I am not well versed enough to be able to make a general assessment of this book, but a number of aspects that I do know something about (the evolution from hominids to humans, for instance) allow me to say that this is a very solid, up-to-date book that offers a truly global look at both the uniqueness of humans and their embeddedness in the natural environment. Yes I know, anthropocentrism has ceased to be woke for a long while now, but I think we should certainly dare to face the ways in which our species distinguishes itself – for better and for worse – from others, without proclaiming 'mankind' master of the universe. Fuentes rightly follows the middle ground, here.
In itself, the focus on creativity is not so earth-shattering and unique. As the book shows, behind that notion lies a complex interaction of consciousness, imagination, cognitive abilities, communication skills, cooperation, and so on. As a result, this book offers much more than an investigation into where and how human creativity originated (of course, the question in that formulation is nonsensical).
More in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2386756790
Of course I am not well versed enough to be able to make a general assessment of this book, but a number of aspects that I do know something about (the evolution from hominids to humans, for instance) allow me to say that this is a very solid, up-to-date book that offers a truly global look at both the uniqueness of humans and their embeddedness in the natural environment. Yes I know, anthropocentrism has ceased to be woke for a long while now, but I think we should certainly dare to face the ways in which our species distinguishes itself – for better and for worse – from others, without proclaiming 'mankind' master of the universe. Fuentes rightly follows the middle ground, here.
In itself, the focus on creativity is not so earth-shattering and unique. As the book shows, behind that notion lies a complex interaction of consciousness, imagination, cognitive abilities, communication skills, cooperation, and so on. As a result, this book offers much more than an investigation into where and how human creativity originated (of course, the question in that formulation is nonsensical).
More in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2386756790