The Extended Self: Architecture, Memes and Minds,Abel, Chris Chr

The Extended SelfArchitecture, Memes and Minds\nAuthor(s): Chris Abel\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Manchester University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Manchester University Press\nISBN-13: 9780719096129, 978-0719096129\nSynopsis\nIn his wide-ranging study of architecture and cultural evolution, Chris Abel argues that, despite progress in sustainable development and design, resistance to changing personal and social identities shaped by a technology-based and energy-hungry culture is impeding efforts to avert drastic climate change. The book traces the roots of that culture to the coevolution of Homo sapiens and technology, from the first use of tools as artificial extensions to the human body, to the motorized cities spreading around the world, whose uncontrolled effects are changing the planet itself.\n\nAdvancing a new concept of the meme, called the technical meme, as the primary agent of cognitive extension and technical embodiment, Abel proposes a theory of the extended self.