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

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.