Rating: 
Summary: As shallow as it can get.
Review: The author is surprisingly shallow. Although the initial idea is good (selfish genes & memes and society as a super organism) the examples, parallels, and the whole arguments are weak and unsubstantial when he came down to the facts.
It's hardly a work of a professional.
Rating:
Summary: Best avoid
Review: The Lucifer principle is a particulary dishonest and odious effort to discredit entire peoples and cultures as intrinsically evil. The arguments employed are artificial and pseudo-scientific, but what can one expect from a writer who lists among achievements management of Kiss rockstar Gene Simmons. In targetting certain cultures, especially the Arab-islamic one, the author reveals his own ethnic bias. Bloom adresses himself to the average American, the best and most innocent of people of course, but therefore also gullible and easily misled, so they are warned that they must have no mercy in dealing with these evil peoples. In Abu Ghraib prison we see that this advice did not fall on deaf ears. There we have Blooms proof of the innocence of the Americans and their determination eradicate evil people. In sum, avoid this piece of hate literature.
Rating: 
Summary: An astonishing foray into the forces that shape history
Review: The Lucifer Principle is absolutely must reading for anyone who wants to understand racism, violence and war. Bloom has made a remarkable contribution to both cultural anthropology and politics. Military leaders, politicians, police and educators should be required to read The Lucifer Principle as a matter of survival training.This book also provides a highly salutary alternative to the ghastly public psycho/social philosophy that has been concocted by the American academic community over the past 75 years. Our modern social sciences do not adequately address either the issue of male violence or the problem that a viceless educational climate creates for young people. Bloom has sketched out the basis for a social philosophy that takes into account our genetic proclivities and limitations. Any society that does not address the genetic and memetic issues that Bloom brings up is doomed to repeat history--endlessly.
Rating: 
Summary: Food For Thought
Review: This is a book that attempts to explain several animal behaviors by grouping a large quantity of things, with the purpose of discovering certain trends. And trends it sees. First of all, Mr. Bloom appears to perceive the human species as merely a beast that is driven by biological processes, such as instinct and genes. And to make things worse, these "instincts," he claims, are exacerbated by social genes, or memes. What I take exception to is the fact that Mr. Bloom seems to think that memes only have a negative effect on us, in that they reinforce our primal urges for violence and our biological need to go up the "pecking order." He fails to see that there are "good" memes which are also affecting our behavior, and these memes, such as globalization and internationalism, though modern, have a far-reaching impact on each and every one of us on the planet. The Internet might also become some kind of meme machine, which might facilitate the spread of ideas. Second, Mr. Bloom makes the mistake of comparing different periods of history, in which he sees very little difference, if any. But times they change, and even if we are, as a species, rather inclined to repeating our mistakes (our biology makes us that way), some elements - context, geography - are different, and have an effect on the outcome of things; such differences make comparison with different epochs a rather futile, although not entirely useless, activity. Europe in the fourteenth century was not what it is today, period. Third, his impression that the United States is in a state of torpor and declining rapidly fails to see the whole, changing picture. True, the U.S. welfare system is ailing; true, it does not fare too well in education; true, there is poverty, iniquity and a general decline in intellectualism; and true, it lacks strong leaders, but saying that the U.S. has given up, or fallen down the "pecking order" of the world, simply because it now sees itself as declining is fatuous. Mr. Bloom claims that Korea and Vietnam were signs of America's decline, and he puts great emphasis on military commitment as an indication of a nation's "awareness" or greatness. But he fails to mention the Gulf War, in which the U.S. demonstrated great willingness, along with the fact that - and this is maintained by many intellectuals - without a strong participation of the U.S., NATO would not be a coherent, hard-hitting organization. Without the U.S., it is very difficult to believe that NATO would have intervened in Kosovo, and besides NATO (and the U.N., to a certain extent), no single organization (certainly not the OCSE) or government would have dared go it alone. So the U.S. is still quite active militarily, and anyone who looks at the military resources that were committed to Allied Force will see that the U.S. provided much more than its share, both quantitatively and qualitatively. (Field troops is a different story, though.) Furthermore, the U.S. is not falling behind nations such as Japan and Germany economically. At least, not in all fields. In fact, Japan is in dire need of restructuring its antiquated, institutionalized business approach (see Foreign Affairs, July/August 2000), and until it does so, the land of the rising sun is not going to be a threat to the West, which has embraced market economy. Bloom never mentions successful (and still influential) companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Celera, or other high-tech firms. Again, his claims that the U.S. is lagging behind, or has abandoned certain fields, is not entirely false, but globalization has obviated the need to excel in every field. The superorganism of which he speaks is perhaps taking a new form... Pluralism (which he hints at in the end), and the decline in the pertinence of the nation-state as such, which were brought about, in part, by globalization, are clear indications that things, on the meme level, are changing drastically. Bloom ends on a somewhat more positive note, but again he seems to overlook the fact that changes there have been, especially at the NGO level, as well as within the U.N. and other internationalist bodies. Notwithstanding my disagreements (on certain points) with the author, this book remains important because is forces us to think, to disagree, even. In an era of overspecialization, a book such as The Lucifer Principle, which is more general, or consilient, is a refreshing treat. Editorial note: Contrary to what the book claims, Bill Clinton was NOT elected in 1982.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing; really most intriguing.
Review: This is an intriguing read full of profound, albeit occasionally hyperbolic, insights guaranteed to stimulate argument and conversation. "The Lucifer Principle is a complex of natural rules, each working together to weave a fabric that sometimes frightens and appalls us...Nature does not abhor evil; she embraces it. She uses it to build. With it, she moves the human world to greater heights of organization, intricacy, and power...[F]rom our best qualities come our worst. From our urge to pull together comes our tendency to tear each other apart. From our devotion to a higher good comes our propensity to the foulest atrocities. From our commitment to ideals comes our excuse to hate...[E]vil is woven into our most basic biological fabric." (2-3) The primal moving force of evolution is not individual selection, but rather group competition. (5-6) "The individual is a cell in the social superorganism." (56) Obviously, this is outside the mainstream of conventional thought, but Bloom supports his thesis well. He takes us on a psychological tour of the human species. Along the way he reaches throughout history as well as throughout the animal kingdom for examples and corollaries. Many are unexpected and some challenge popular understanding (achieving group dominance via aggression and infanticide among chimpanzees, for example). Bloom identifies five concepts that "are the foundation underlying the Lucifer Principle." (10) Paraphrasing, these are:
·Self-organizing systems - Bits of structure, such as genes, that function as minifactories that crank out their goods so cheaply that the end results are appallingly expendable. Among those expendable products are you and me.
·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 - a larger social organism. This can be a nation, an ethnic group, an ideology, and so on.
·The meme - A self-replicating cluster of ideas that become the glue that holds together these superorganisms, giving each its distinctive culture.
·The neural net - The group mind whose eccentric mode of operation manipulates our emotions and turns us into components of a massive learning machine.
·The pecking order - The key to despotism, this helps explain why the danger of barbarians is real and why the assumptions of our foreign policies are often wrong. "Superorganism, ideas, and the pecking order - these are the primary forces behind much of human creativity and earthly good. They are the holy trinity of the Lucifer Principle." (326) His is not an abstract anthropological survey. Bloom intends it to have sound application in the interactions of groups (i.e., superorganism). In particular, he is writing for the United States today. He says we have peaked as a nation and are on the decline. Like all empires that came before, we will not stay on top of the pecking order indefinitely. I agree with this eventuality (we are, after all, part of history's sweep), but I believe the US is still ascending. Events in the past several decades belay his pessimism. Our first 100ish years were our childhood and adolescence. We began to mature in the 1900s. As the 20th century opened we began flexing our international muscles. We subsequently prevailed over the Great Depression, two World Wars, and the Cold War. Along the way we developed the strongest economy and technological base in history, and made, and continue to make, successful inroads towards overcoming racial discrimination and other social ills. By the end of the century we had become the strongest superpower the world has ever known (including Rome) and the destination of choice for the majority of immigrants worldwide. This is hardly the beginnings of a fall from grace. Our time will eventually pass, to be sure, but unless we are swallowed up in a demographic or holocaustic storm near-term, we are a long way from losing our preeminence. America's destiny notwithstanding, Bloom's arguments help explain what makes the world go around. For example, he gives insight as to why our allies in Europe and elsewhere want our protection yet often work at cross-purposes seemingly to ensure that our power is curbed. He aptly applies human attributes to these supraliminal processes as a way to explain them. Of immediate relevance for us today, Bloom decries Islamic fundamentalism. He sees a fundamental schism between dar al-Islam and the West. "Today's Islam is the perfect example of a meme grown ravenous...where violence is elevated to a virtue." (228 and 234) Given the Lucifer Principle, this schism will be overcome, if at all, only by great sacrifice on both sides. Seeing parallels wit Rome, 19th century China, and the British Empire, he is pessimistic about our ability to prevail in this struggle. However, he wrote this book before our War on Terror began. Accepting that we are still in the early rounds of this fight, it would be interesting to learn how, if at all, his pessimism has changed. (I wonder if perhaps key members of the current Bush Administration read this book before 9/11, took his pessimism to heart, and factored it into their formulation of post-9/11 strategy.) In the end Bloom is wrestling with such ageless, fundamental questions as: Why is there pain and suffering in life? Why do people die in battle? Why do people give their lives for others? His answer is that it is nature's way of stimulating growth, development, and evolution. Evil is the flipside of goodness. It is the combustible that brings efficiency and mechanical advantage to humanity's growth engine. It is a critical component of that which inspires us to greatness and to struggle toward our collective destiny. Without evil we wouldn't attain it. This book is an intellectual journey through humanness, opening the door to new ways of looking at our species, our role, and our purpose. It will stimulate endless rounds of thought and conversation. Four stars, and a rousing "Bravo!" for Howard Bloom.
Rating: 
Summary: Great read
Review: Violence is not only common to our species, but in all species as well. Mr. Bloom does a great job of covering a wide range of topics concerning aggressive behavior. This book is a great place to start your research.
Rating:
Summary: The Lucifer Principal: The new Bible!!
Review: What are some of these reviewers going on about? Trying to crush a meme perhaps? This book is truly brilliant. It's the new Bible. In fact I would replace those Gideon Bibles that lurk in bedside draws in hotel rooms with this blinding stonker. 'The Lucifer Principal' is the truth. Go buy...
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