This book was written by Thomas Nagel and published in 2012. He argues that the contemporary approach to evolutionary theory, which characterizes it as a random process, is unable to account for the existence of the mind and consciousness, and is therefore incomplete. Nagel’s argument (which is controversial) is that we need to use different principles to account for the emergence of conscious life, which may be teleological.
When we view evolution from a thermodynamic perspective that includes the maximum power principle, we are in a better position to explain the existence of brains and consciousness. The brain and consciousness enabled human beings to envision and develop more and more powerful machines that have facilitated the nonlinear increase in the exosomatic dissipation of energy. This trend has enabled human beings to overcome the thermodynamic limitations of our bodies and increase our ability to dissipate energy to an unprecedented extent relative to the other animals on this planet.
Nagel’s argument that the contemporary view of evolution is insufficient to explain the existence of the human mind and consciousness is well taken. His suspicion that an additional principle would be needed to explain this that may be “teleological” is consistent with the fact that the maximum power principle entails a thermodynamic teleology—natural systems evolve in a manner that increases their output of useful power. Nagel unwittingly shows us that evidence that supports the maximum power principle is used anytime we think about the issue.
Nagel, Thomas. 2012. Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False. Oxford University Press.