The Fiction Engine (Paperback)
Language: English
Published by Samuel M. Goldstein, 2026
- Softcover
- New
Seller: Grand Eagle Retail, Bensenville, IL, U.S.A.Grand Eagle Retail
AbeBooks seller since October 12, 2005
Condition: New
£ 21.85
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Paperback. What if the most powerful forces in the world; money, nations, laws, human rights don't actually exist?Not as a philosophical riddle. As a literal, verifiable, history-changing fact.A river spirit and a mortgage-backed security have more in common than you think. Both are inter-subjective realities, things that exist only because enough people agree they do. Neither is made of atoms. Neither can be touched or weighed. And yet both have determined, with absolute authority, who lives and who starves, who goes to war and who stays home, who is a person before the law and who is property. The Fiction Engine is a sweeping, provocative history of the one adaptation that made Homo sapiens the undisputed master of the planet, not tools, not fire, not superior intelligence, but the uniquely human capacity to believe in things together. And to build entire civilizations out of those beliefs.Across four gripping parts, Samuel M. Goldstein dismantles the comfortable stories we tell about human progress: - The Agricultural Revolution was not a triumph, it was history's most consequential trap, and wheat was the one who set it.- Money is not an economic tool, it is a social technology of trust so powerful that Roman and Carthaginian merchants traded through the very wars their armies were fighting.- Religion never died, it secularized. Humanism, with its sacred texts, its temples, and its inquisition, is a faith that simply won't admit what it is.-The Scientific Revolution's most radical idea was not a discovery about the universe. It was a discovery about knowledge itself, the audacious decision to institutionalize ignorance.- Artificial intelligence and genetic engineering are not just technological challenges. They are the first serious threat to the category -the human being on which every inter-subjective framework civilization has ever built is based. Goldstein moves with the narrative confidence of Yuval Noah Harari and the analytical precision of Jared Diamond, drawing on evolutionary biology, cognitive science, economic history, and philosophy to tell the story of what we are, how we got here, and what we may be about to become.Along the way, he asks the question that underlies every chapter: If the realities that govern our world are fictions we invented together, what does that mean for the fictions we are inventing now? The Fiction Engine is for readers who want their assumptions challenged, their history reframed, and their understanding of the present permanently disrupted. It is for anyone who has ever wondered why we cooperate, why we fight, and why -alone among the animals - we cannot stop believing in things that aren't there. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…
Seller Inventory # 9798235019461
- Title
- The Fiction Engine (Paperback)
- Author
- Samuel M. Goldstein
- Publisher
- Samuel M. Goldstein
- Publication year
- 2026
- Condition
- new
- Binding
- Paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 13
- 9798235019461
What if the most powerful forces in the world; money, nations, laws, human rights don't actually exist?
Not as a philosophical riddle. As a literal, verifiable, history-changing fact.
A river spirit and a mortgage-backed security have more in common than you think. Both are inter-subjective realities, things that exist only because enough people agree they do. Neither is made of atoms. Neither can be touched or weighed. And yet both have determined, with absolute authority, who lives and who starves, who goes to war and who stays home, who is a person before the law and who is property.
The Fiction Engine is a sweeping, provocative history of the one adaptation that made Homo sapiens the undisputed master of the planet, not tools, not fire, not superior intelligence, but the uniquely human capacity to believe in things together. And to build entire civilizations out of those beliefs.
Across four gripping parts, Samuel M. Goldstein dismantles the comfortable stories we tell about human progress:
• The Agricultural Revolution was not a triumph, it was history's most consequential trap, and wheat was the one who set it.
• Money is not an economic tool, it is a social technology of trust so powerful that Roman and Carthaginian merchants traded through the very wars their armies were fighting.
• Religion never died, it secularized. Humanism, with its sacred texts, its temples, and its inquisition, is a faith that simply won't admit what it is.
•The Scientific Revolution's most radical idea was not a discovery about the universe. It was a discovery about knowledge itself, the audacious decision to institutionalize ignorance.
• Artificial intelligence and genetic engineering are not just technological challenges. They are the first serious threat to the category -the human being on which every inter-subjective framework civilization has ever built is based.
Goldstein moves with the narrative confidence of Yuval Noah Harari and the analytical precision of Jared Diamond, drawing on evolutionary biology, cognitive science, economic history, and philosophy to tell the story of what we are, how we got here, and what we may be about to become.
Along the way, he asks the question that underlies every chapter: If the realities that govern our world are fictions we invented together, what does that mean for the fictions we are inventing now?
The Fiction Engine is for readers who want their assumptions challenged, their history reframed, and their understanding of the present permanently disrupted. It is for anyone who has ever wondered why we cooperate, why we fight, and why -alone among the animals - we cannot stop believing in things that aren't there.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Grand Eagle Retail
Bensenville, IL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since October 12, 2005
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 6 to 14 business days | 6 to 16 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 0.00 | £ 0.00 |
Payment methods
Seller's business information
APOLLO ONLINE CORP.
605 Geddes Street
Wilmington, DE U.S.A. 19805
Terms of sale
We guarantee the condition of every book as it¿s described on the Abebooks web sites. If you¿ve changed
your mind about a book that you¿ve ordered, please use the Ask bookseller a question link to contact us
and we¿ll respond within 2 business days.
Books ship from California and Michigan.
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Grand Eagle Retail, Bensenville, Illinois, U.S.A., without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.
Shipping terms
Orders usually ship within 2 business days. All books within the US ship free of charge. Delivery is 4-14 business days anywhere in the United States.
Books ship from California and Michigan.
If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required.