Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think, Byron Reese
Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think, Byron Reese
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Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think
How Humans Learned to See the Future–and Shape It

Author: Byron Reese

Narrator: Stephen Bel Davies

Unabridged: 9 hr 45 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/13/2022


Synopsis

What makes the human mind so unique? And how did we get this way?

This fascinating tale explores the three leaps in our history that made us what we are—and will change how you think about our future.

Look around. Clearly, we humans are radically different from the other creatures on this planet. But why? Where are the Bronze Age beavers? The Iron Age iguanas? In Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think, Byron Reese argues that we owe our special status to our ability to imagine the future and recall the past, escaping the perpetual present that all other living creatures are trapped in.

Envisioning human history as the development of a societal superorganism he names Agora, Reese shows us how this escape enabled us to share knowledge on an unprecedented scale, and predict—and eventually master—the future.

Thoughtful and witty, this must-listen book unravels our history as an intelligent species in three acts. A fresh new look at the history and destiny of humanity, listeners will come away from Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think with a new understanding of what they are—not just another animal, but a creature with a mastery of time itself.

About Byron Reese

Byron Reese is the CEO and publisher of the technology research company Gigaom, and the founder of several high-tech companies. He has spent the better part of his life exploring the interplay of technology with human history. Reese has obtained or has pending patents in disciplines as varied as crowdsourcing, content creation, and psychographics. The websites he has launched, which cover the intersection of technology, business, science, and history, have together received over a billion visitors. He is the author of the acclaimed book, Infinite Progress. He lives in Austin, Texas.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Reading_ on June 28, 2022

Just the book for non-fiction readers like me who do not want to pick up a very "serious" non-fiction book but also want to read a fun, informative one. And this is the one for me. For the life of me, I couldn't finish up read Sapiens, but this one grabbed my attention right from the very first page......more

Goodreads review by Steve on June 26, 2022

I loved this book. The writing is conversational with some cute wording and puns, making this a fun read. The story-telling is great and the section on statistics is well explained with very little math. The footnotes are also well worth reading. I also loved the pop culture references. It helps cre......more

Goodreads review by Joel on September 02, 2024

"What does it mean to be present, when we are constantly predicting the future based on what we have faced in the past?" Man this guy knows how to tell a story. I've never read non-fiction that is so easy to enjoy, rather than it be a challenge. What an amazing book, it really made me think about wha......more

Goodreads review by Andrea on August 16, 2022

In this book, the author shows how the ability to imagine the future helped human society to transform the world. Storytelling, probability theory, and computers have helped us escape the limitations of our individual minds. It's a fascinating, informative, and entertaining read. Thanks, NetGalley,......more