The Invention of Tomorrow: A Natural History of Foresight

Psychology researchers Suddendorf (The Gap), Redshaw, and Bulley deliver a stimulating if occasionally muddled volume on the human capacity for foresight. The authors detail scientific studies, including their own, to argue that powers of prediction are an essential part of human development and explain why humans have achieved species dominance. Humans, the authors suggest, differ from other animals in their ability to teach, which requires “anticipating what a pupil needs to grasp,” and innovate, which involves “recognizing the future utility of solutions.” These skills enable the species to be in a constant state of improvement, the authors contend, describing how written language emerged out of the rise of agriculture in Sumer. Suddendorf, Redshaw, and Bulley compare human abilities with animal research findings that reveal some crows can anticipate what tools they’ll need to operate a special food dispenser and that chimpanzees can think about physical problems (e.g., how to retrieve food dropped near their enclosure) even when not directly observing them. However, the authors struggle to make clear the boundaries between human and animal intelligence, striving to delineate a more rigid separation than their evidence suggests. The material on human innovation is more convincing and offers some meaty ideas sure to captivate popular science readers. Fans of Steven Pinker will want to check this out. (Sept.)