Ego: The Fall of the Twin Towers and the Rise of an Enlightened Humanity [Hardcover]

Peter Baumann (Author), Michael W. Taft (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 2011 | ISBN-10: 1604075732 | ISBN-13: 978-1604075731

Baumann and Taft skillfully weave eyewitness accounts of 9/11 with insights from evolutionary theory, neuroscientific studies on brain plasticity and emotion, genetics, and other new areas of research. I highly recommend this book to all who are interested in how science can help in understanding both the human capacity for horrific action and the clear reasons for optimism about our collective future.Alfred W. Kaszniak, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Neurology & Psychiatry, University of Arizona Ego: The Fall of the Twin Towers and the Rise of a New Humanity by Peter Baumann and Michael W. Taft is the first book to explore the positive evolutionary potential hidden in one of the most destructive events in history. In their examination of the evolutionary implications of 9/11 and its aftermath, the authors contend we are not falling into the grip of a new dark age at all, rather we are on the verge of a much brighter one as the Darwinian process of natural selection continues to advance humankind.Peter Baumann began his career as a member of the massively successful 1970s band Tangerine Dream and later founded the Private Label record label. Instead of being derailed by early fame and fortune, he asked himself this question in his late forties: "If I have only 10,000 days left on the planet, what will I do with that time?"; Baumann put his resources to work exploring the source of human conflict and suffering with some of the greatest living scientists and students of consciousness, assembling a top-notch interdisciplinary think tank in the process. Michael W. Taft, a long-term student of meditation, psychology, and the history of evolution, brings rigorous research to the subject of human experience. The authors inquiry led them to the roots of human suffering: the ego. That the ego underlies our problems as a species may come as no surprise. But a deeper look into the ego's origin and history is full of unexpected revelations:The modern human is dominated by a Stone Age brain; Energy consumption and the environmental crisis is nothing more than the evolutionary drive to survive gone haywire; Evolution has wired us to be riveted to bad news, bad outcomes, and worst-case scenarios; When beliefs are challenged it triggers a life or death stance in the human nervous system; Emotions are mostly physical, not mental The self we identify with "along with its biases and beliefs" turns out to be an evolutionary tool that made its first appearance some 50,000 years ago during what's called the conceptual revolution, arguably the biggest developmental leap in human history. The emerging ego accompanied our ability to construct complex tools, create art, and redefine social structure. For the first time as a species, we were able to imagine the future, consider the thoughts of others, and picture ourselves in our own minds. The ego is a cognitive trick of natural selection intended to insure the survival of the individual. Baumann and Taft say the problem comes when we take the ego's conceptualization of reality as the truth about who we actually are. The ego has locked humanity in a trap that Albert Einstein identified: A human being is a part of a whole, called by us "universe", a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison.Using the latest research from neuroscience, evolutionary biology, psychology, and paleontology, Baumann and Taft show that modern humanity may be on the verge of an expansion of cognitive abilities akin to the development of the ego. This next step will free the human mind to see beyond the confines of the prison, and open the vast potential of conscious awareness.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Baumann and Taft skillfully weave eyewitness accounts of 9/11 with insights from evolutionary theory, genetics, neuroscientific research on emotion, the compelling new research on neuroplasticity, and other new areas of research. They show how our sense of self, or ego, is both a masterwork of evolution and simultaneously a source of much human suffering. Provides a grounded hope for the continuing evolution of our species." --Alfred W. Kaszniak, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Neurology, & Psychiatry, University of Arizona * Reviewed on May 31, 2011

"If you don't have the patience for long articles on subjects that we will all get plenty of over the next two weeks, I can save you some time; this is a good book, they do a good job. You should buy it. I have often noted that philosophers do a better job of writing about physics than modern physicists do and it may be that people outside biology can see a big picture in evolution differently than biologists. If so, these guys are a great example. It kept me reading, even where I didn't agree." --Hank Campbell, Science 2.0 Reviewed on Aug. 25, 2011

About the Author

Peter Baumann, a former member of the internationally acclaimed band Tangerine Dream and founder of the Private Music record label, is a trustee of the California Institute of Integral Studies, a fellow at the Mind; Life Institute and founder of The Baumann Foundation, a San Francisco-based think-tank dedicated to studying the human condition.

Michael W. Taft is a serious student of evolution and the capacities of the human brain. A professional researcher and writer for more than two decades, Michael is fascinated by what neuroscience, biology, psychology, archeology, and technology can tell us about the human condition. He has been working with the Baumann Foundation for the last several years as a program researcher.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: NE Press (August 28, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1604075732
• ISBN-13: 978-1604075731
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #317,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A BOOK FOR EVERYONE September 13, 2011

By Abigail Ivins

Format:Hardcover

I read this book on a cross country flight and found myself disappointed that my flight was over - I wanted to keep reading. Everyone will be able to relate to this book. It challenges you to really check in on what is important. I found myself very curious as I was reading it. I also found myself releasing any judgments and connecting with all people. I feel validated in my consciousness. Ego is a wonderful read and a tribute to the human race. I am ready to read it again....and again....and again....

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read December 13, 2011

By Joe Sousa (Mokshananda)

Format:Hardcover

With "Ego" (no pun intended), Peter Baumann and Michael Taft have written the most important book in terms of hope for humankind since Steward Brand's "Whole Earth Discipline". Unlike Brand's environmentalism, "Ego" looks at the development of the human psyche and society over evolutionary time and projects where we are going. Simply, it is awash in details that would make anyone interested in evolutionary thinking very happy.

Set in the context of describing the events and egos that went into making 9/11 happen, "Ego" tracks the minds and emotions of the players on both sides of that historical event, the bad and the good guys, as it were. The authors interweave the details of 9/11 skillfully. However, we are never left hanging in that story for too long. Baumann and Taft quickly relate the 9/11 story to the evolutionary impulse that went to making it happen. As such, the book's theme develops. This theme sees present day human beings as being a complex mix of the past-living-in-the-present and a future-emerging-into-that-present. Graphically, the represent this mix as three, large, overlapping waves spanning the 250,000 years of human collective development, named the pre-conceptual, the conceptual, and the post-conceptual phases of development (the latter of which is presently emerging). These waves, at least the first two, are now navigated by most human beings over a course of an individual lifetime. We essentially go from being `body beings' of early childhood to being `conceptual beings' as development continues.

What the authors posit is that collective human evolution follows a similar pattern but over the course of hundred of thousands of years. In other words, collectively we weren't always egoistical/conceptual beings froth with I-me-mine-our appetites, largely because the concept of a self, and the identification with that self, is a recent invention in the last 50,000 years.

And what became as a way of being 50,000 years ago can go as an exclusive way of being too, they maintain, and is beginning to go. And this is the hope. What gave us 9/11, the bio-circuitry of millions of years of evolution plus that recent invention of the ego, can and is beginning to be transcended. "Post-personal orientation, by definition, includes conceptual and sensory awareness [the conceptual and the pre-conceptual], but it goes beyond both." The post-personal (or the post-conceptual) orientation is the place of "conscious awareness", a place that is aware of both body and mind and circumstance, but is beyond body and mind and circumstance, and therefore not subject to the compulsions of ego that give us things like 9/11. This third wave is in it infancy. The likes of Jesus and Buddha in their esoteric forms are its pioneers. You may know someone around you that looks beyond religion, science, dogma and mind. They're around. Find them. This book "Ego" is a great contribution. Thanks to Messrs. Baumann and Taft.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic! December 8, 2011

By J. Merritt

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Unfortunately I haven't finished reading the book yet, since I'm a slow reader and tend to read 5 books at once. But this book so far is very fascinating and enlightening! The authors have really looked into what makes us human, and it's a compelling read!