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Introduction

The author of this book is an intellectual, originally trained in

science, who decided to avoid the limitations of an academic career.

Instead of conducting laboratory experiments and competing for federal

grant dollars, he put his interest in mass human behavior to work by

playing a key role in the careers of rock stars such as Michael Jackson

and John Cougar Mellencamp.  Meanwhile, he continued to read widely

and do what all scientists, as intellectuals, should do; attempt to

understand and explain the nature of the world around him. His

experience "at the center of our culture's myth-making machinery" may

have taught him more about human nature than a university career.

Perhaps we should regard him as an anthropologist who has spent

many years observing a strange tribe--us.

In the course of his inquiry, Howard Bloom became convinced that

evolution could explain the fundamentals of human nature and the

broad sweep of human history.  He is not alone.  It is no longer heretical

to study our own species as one of evolution's creations, and many

books are appearing on the subject.  However, The Lucifer Principle does

not merely report on the rapid developments that are taking place

within academia.  Howard Bloom has his own vision of evolution and

human nature that many scientific authorities would dispute.  He is a

heretic among former heretics.

The bone of contention is the organismic nature of human society.

Thomas Hobbes and many others of his time regarded individuals as the

cells and organs of a giant social organism--a Leviathan--"which is but

an artificial man, though of greater stature and strength than the natural,

for whose protection and defence it was intended."  Today this idea is

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Introduction

The author of this book is an intellectual, originally trained in

science, who decided to avoid the limitations of an academic career.

Instead of conducting laboratory experiments and competing for federal

grant dollars, he put his interest in mass human behavior to work by

playing a key role in the careers of rock stars such as Michael Jackson

and John Cougar Mellencamp.  Meanwhile, he continued to read widely

and do what all scientists, as intellectuals, should do; attempt to

understand and explain the nature of the world around him. His

experience "at the center of our culture's myth-making machinery" may

have taught him more about human nature than a university career.

Perhaps we should regard him as an anthropologist who has spent

many years observing a strange tribe--us.

In the course of his inquiry, Howard Bloom became convinced that

evolution could explain the fundamentals of human nature and the

broad sweep of human history.  He is not alone.  It is no longer heretical

to study our own species as one of evolution's creations, and many

books are appearing on the subject.  However, The Lucifer Principle does

not merely report on the rapid developments that are taking place

within academia.  Howard Bloom has his own vision of evolution and

human nature that many scientific authorities would dispute.  He is a

heretic among former heretics.

The bone of contention is the organismic nature of human society.

Thomas Hobbes and many others of his time regarded individuals as the

cells and organs of a giant social organism--a Leviathan--"which is but

an artificial man, though of greater stature and strength than the natural,

for whose protection and defence it was intended."  Today this idea is