Customer Reviews

Pro Evolution: Guideline for an Age of Joy

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

For some strange reason this book just appeared in my mail box, so I decided to read and review it. The book claims to reveal how people and society should conduct themselves for the good of everyone and everything, which is a very noble goal of course. The late author had this theory that there is a cosmic force that guides the evolution of the universe and living things towards producing intelligent life so that the cosmic force can have a mind. The author calls living things, "energy forms" and has a whole vocabulary of made up terms that he uses in place of the regular words that the rest of us use. Special made up terminology is a classic mark of a crank (nut). The author while well meaning, his theory is clearly half-baked, poorly though out and entirely unworkable. The book contains quite a bit of nonsense, such as;

"Healing through thought . . . The patient forms a clear, vivid image of certain recovery, which firmly "imprints", or "forms", the corresponding regulating structures. And these in turn automatically effect a cure; they make the idea, the mental picture, real."

Perhaps the author should have formed a more vivid image of writing a better book.

"Hunting ritual; Before a hunt; the pygmies draw an antelope in the sand . . . Shoot an arrow at it. . . . And come home with an antelope . . .an arrow in the same place as in the drawing. . . . the image-regulating structure are imprinted which "trigger" the actual shooting of the antelope."

Sounds like the secret to the perfect golf game, just draw a small circle on the ground and toss a golf ball into it, like maybe this is how Tiger Woods does it.

"People who think and act in anti-evo ways are inadequately conscious - the result either of deficient intellectual capacity or of never having been enlightened about the energy unity and its evolution."

The author is apparently naive enough to believe that if you simply explained his theory to the convicts in the local prison they would all suddenly reform and become model citizens.

"the effect of thoughts on plants has been scientifically investigated for several decades"

As a gardener I just haven`t been able to get this one to work, if it did certain weeds would have suddenly dropped dead, while the weeds are always seeming to grow better than my plants, may this one works in reverse. That could explain my gardening results.

"When laws and orders are not heeded by mentally healthy people with normal intelligence, the these laws or orders are either anti-evo or have been insufficiently explained."

The author has apparently never driven a car in rush hour and just how hard does he think it is to explain a speed limit? On the other hand, sub-normal intelligence would explain much of the driving skills observed on the roads these days.

The whole thrust of the book can be summed up by the following quote from it.

"If a person thinks and acts in a pro-evo way, if his behavior is life-promoting . . .a harmonic "field" arise in him, producing a feeling of joy"

Pro-Evo sounds like if was written by a moron who liked science fiction who was trying to write his own version of The Sermon on the Mound. Imbued with the same depth of wisdom found in Bill's & Ted's words of "Be excellent to each other!" Pro-Evo apparently is intended as a moral life guide for dimwitted atheists or free thinkers who felt education was too confining. While questions such as "What is the purpose of our lives?" do have real answers(Ecclesiastes 12:13), they are just not found in Pro-Evo.

I got this book unsolicited in the mail. It's actually kind of quality material for a free book I never asked for and am unsure where it came from. The content of the book itself is crap, but markedly better than much new age or religious material. The book is a combination of two things. The pro-evo core concept and the worldview and opinions of the author as supposedly supported by the pro-evo concept. The book is largely about the stuff this nutter believed and his opinions on things. The core element is the pro-evo claim. And there's where the real problems lay. The concept itself is meaningless ephemera even from an incredulous standpoint.

He claims that cosmic evolution exists (note he is a denier of biological evolution) for reasons that are pointlessly absurd. He says that biological evolution or "chance evolution" would create a universe of hodgepodge natural laws, forms (of energy), and even mathematical concepts (according to him the fact that the golden ratio is the same on Earth as it would be in, say, the Andromeda galaxy is evidence for his claim of cosmic evolution. Neglecting the fact that nobody ever measured the golden ratio on anywhere other than Earth and it's a mathematical property that is unable to change in any universe, this also creates a false dichotomy between a straw man of biological evolution (a very perverted strawman) and his cosmic evolution claim.

So having used this pathetic argument to support his universal cosmic evolution claims he goes on to claim that everything that works in favor of "evolution" is good and will bring you joy. And everything that works against evolution is bad and will make you sad. How do we know what is pro-evolution (pro-evo) and anti-evolution (anti-evo)? Well pro-evo things are those that are "right, good, sensible, and valuable." Ignoring that these things are not the product of our sense of rightness, goodness, sensibility and values. So his claim boils down to, do what is sensible and good and you'll live a happy life. Though, without establishing what these things are in any way, we are left to our own devices with and without this book. So it's the ethical equivalent of "buy low, sell high". It sounds good on paper but you can't really do such a thing unless you know what is low and what is high before the fact. No light is shed on such issues as figuring out what is good or sensible.

He uses his silly argument to advocate pro-evolution thinking and doing, and doesn't really give you an idea of what such thinking is except that it's valuable and good. Then he proceeds to list off his opinions about various things while suggesting they are pro-evo. It's pro-evo to oppose abortion with exceptions for the life of the mother. It's pro-evo to be pro-evo with regard to laws and the interpretation of those laws. And sure, it's clear from pro-evo thinking that in the future we'll stop dying when dying becomes less evo because we've been so pro-evo with our minds, and don't worry about the coming death of humanity because AI will stop it because that's so pro-evo. And who cares about God so long as we're pro-evo (he advocates agnosticism in this sense).

It's somebody's opinions couched in a silly patina of new-aged nonsense and terrible argumentation. Suffice it to say the entire book is pretty much: "Here's what the universe want's you to do: good things. You know what some good things are: X, Y, Z."

Let me summarize this book for you: Try to do good, avoid doing bad.

"Good" is not well-defined, although it IS labeled: pro-evo, short for pro-evolution. (This is not Darwin's evolution, it's a much more cosmic evolution of the universe.) Oddly, the book does seem to have a preference for vegetarianism, and also for people and groups that don't talk too much (?).

The message of this book is not offensive or harmful, but it sure is bland and boring. There are probably thousands of pop tunes that convey the same message in 3 minutes -- and they rhyme, and you can whistle them when you're feeling blue, too.

This book showed up in my mail today - I have some insight into how it got here because the particular misspelling of my name shows that this came from a Publisher's Mailing House mailing list.

I looked it over and read a few pages; probably more effort than it was worth. If you're looking for a "new age fantasy" sort of book then this is for you. Otherwise, it's just more dumpster food.

Somebody spent a lot of money printing all those books and sending them to so many people - this world would be a much better place if that effort went into feeding and housing the less fortunate.

If nothing else, it provided a "WTF?" moment for me today.

I got this hunk of junk in the mail yesterday, shrink wrapped, addressed to me, with no return address. It appears to be a mish-mash of pseudo science, eastern and western religions and new age mysticism. Flipping through the book, it appears to be put out by a cult, but mostly appears harmless. What I found impressive, and others have noted, is the quality of the material used in the book. Whomever sent out the book must have spent a pretty penny on the printing - the paper is of good quality and has a cover that is as good as any mass market paperback. My recommendation is not to throw the book away. Instead you should recycle it so that the paper can be put to some sort of useful purpose.

Like many other people, I received this in the mail without warning. When I first saw it, I thought it was a cult recruitment manual. Regardless, I started reading it in very small chunks. If you take your time and THINK while you are reading this book you can change the way you think about everyday life. I'll admit that some of the sections weren't all that valuable, but overall it's worth reading. I think most of the negative reviews of the book stem from the book suggesting that God doesn't have to exist to have a good life.

I wouldn't pay money for it, but if it shows up in your mailbox, give it a read!

I would love to know what mailing list I ended up on to receive this junk. I sat and read through it while waiting in the Dr.'s office. I have a couple of friends that are part of the humanist movement and this ties neatly into that wave of thinking. A serious waste of time, paper and money to mass mail.

I received this book free in the mail. I think that is exactly how much it is worth: someone should pay for you to read it. In my case, some foundation paid for it.

The science is half-baked. The message is the age old, "Gee wouldn't it be nice to be nice to each other for a change..." mixed in with a quasi Star Wars "Force" guiding the evolution of the universe.

Bottom line: not bad for a nutter.

PS> In another review, someone disparaged Athiesm and Free Thought. For the record, I am a Jewish born, Catholic educated Athiest who has never found education to confining. On the contrary, I found that the confinement of ideas required by religion to be a stumbling block in attaining knowledge...

Pretty much a waste of paper. Generic new age babble with lots of fancy ways of saying really simple stuff. None of it justified, just ramblings and ridiculous claims. Lots of "words" in "quotes" to make them seem "special." Faced with the true reality of life, its joys, it's struggles, its real heartbreak and tragedy, fluff like this rings ridiculously hollow. It may provide a semblance of comfort, but it lacks the real lifeblood and meaningfulness of a real religion or even the stark courage and defiance of atheism. Pretty much anyone could spout out stuff like this. Why should I believe this any more than the crap the weird college student I know make up, or the stuff that crazy guy on the street was saying. Just because it's in a book doesn't mean much. Anyone can get a book published, especially if they pay for it themselves. I studied philosophy at the graduate level at one of the best schools in the world, and this wouldn't have even made a joke syllabus. Not even worth opening. Please, if you're looking for guidance and thoughtful insight, there are thousands of years worth of great writing and thinkers out there. Don't settle for this pathetic substitute for genuine thought.

I, too, received this book as an unsolicited mailing. I read it through because I was amazed that someone had taken a lot of time writing down their misguided personal philosophy on "how to do it right".
The book's theme is like a bad science fiction story that proposes that we submit to a wise committee of enlightened smart guys who "will do what is best for us." This is a version of Utilitarian philosophy that I find distasteful and totally impractical. A much more worthy book is "Justice - What's the Right Thing to Do?" by Micheal Sandel. You will learn more for your time!