This isn't my first dance with Howard Bloom's The Lucifer Principle, and as always when revisiting a book, often the biggest change will be in the reader, and how they parse the content years down the road. This time, I picked up the audiobook masterfully narrated by Malcolm Hillgartner, and found myself sufficiently entertained.
Despite the book's provocative title, there's really nothing at all 'evil' per se, but rather an exploration of what we might consider the negative aspects of our mammalian existence as being hardwired into our genes. Despite fancy clothes and a liking for technology, we're not at all that different from our great ape cousins.
Bloom wears his influences on his sleeve, and it's pretty clear from the get go that he's a big fan of Richard Dawkins, and although he's no Nobel-prize-winning scientist, his music publicist background has most certainly given him the gift of the gab – he writes persuasively on a broad range of topics, and he is a keen observer of human nature.
So, while you're not going to be sitting with a strict, non-fiction book, The Lucifer Principle is very much a thought-provoking read. One needn't agree with everything that the man says, but he does raise points about our behaviour that are topical and controversial.
While the idea that we form part of a giant 'superorganism' isn't a new one, Bloom does dig into how individuals function within society – touching on how important it is that we need to feel needed, and be part of the machine, so to speak. And we look at how we've shifted away from replication of genes to replication of memes, in terms of building communities.
If I'm entirely honest, the book is a bit of a hot mess, with a mish-mash of cherry-picked data mixed in with the author's hot takes – but it still makes for compelling reading, whether you think the man is a genius or that he's clearly smoking his socks.
If anything, this is is the sort of book you can use to pick topics for conversation starters at parties if you want to end up with a brawl and broken beer bottles. But that being said, if you take Bloom's writing with a huge dollop of salt, there is a grain of truth underlying much of what he says – but it's advisable for readers to use this as a springboard for further research and formation of their own opinions instead of relying on Bloom's broad, sweeping statements, as entertaining as they are.
I'd bet that Bloom is a great guy to invite over for a social gathering – it's abundantly evident that the man is in possession of a lively mind, even if the conclusions he draws can be a tad bit contentious.
My takeaway is that while this book is filled with interesting anecdotes, it also drives home the truth for me that we, as a species, can do better. We do not have to shackle ourselves to our genetic predispositions and outmoded, outdated societal mores.
