    15

    15

    The perpetual churnings of the waves and the tides are stirred by

    the gravity of the moon.  But what propels the cultural tides of human

    beings?

    What causes a horde of barbaric nomads in the desert wastes of

    the Arab peninsula to suddenly coalesce under the leadership of one

    man and spill across the known world, carving out an empire?  How

    does an invisible idea preached by an ayatollah pull isolated humans

    into surging swells of believers ready to die--or kill--for "truth?"  Why

    does a sect originally committed to turning the other cheek flood the

    world with warriors who literally wade in blood?8    What  makes  a

    country like Victorian England crest in the domination of fully half the

    planet, then ebb like a spent wave from power and prosperity?  What

    undertow is sucking America into that same path today?

    Five simple concepts help explain these human currents.  Each

    section of this book concentrates on one of those concepts... and its

    sometimes startling implications. Together, these concepts are the

    foundation underlying the Lucifer Principle.

    Concept number one: the principle of self-organizing

    systems--replicators--bits of structure that function as mini-factories,

    assembling raw materials, then churning out intricate products.  These

    natural assembly units (genes are one example) crank out their goods so

    cheaply that the end results are appallingly expendable.  Among those

    expendable products are you and me.

    Concept number two: the superorganism.  We are not the rugged

    individuals we would like to be.  We are, instead, disposable parts of a

    being much larger than ourselves.

    Concept number three: the meme--a self-replicating cluster of

    ideas.  Thanks to a handful of biological tricks, these visions become the

    glue that holds together civilizations, giving each culture its distinctive

    shape, making some intolerant of dissent and others open to diversity.

    They are the tools with which we unlock the forces of nature.  Our

    visions bestow the dream of peace. They also turn us into killers.

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