This was another recommendation from Senthil that had been sitting in my queue since December 2025. I expected the book to focus heavily on AI, using neuro-physiological and neuro-anatomical insights to guide the development of more human-like, self-improving systems. Instead, it delivers a broad evolutionary history of intelligence itself.
Bennett traces how life on Earth gradually evolved the ability to survive and thrive, beginning with social "politics" among early organisms and the manipulation of their environment. What we call cognition, sentience, qualia, and even our (possibly illusory) consciousness emerge as accidental side-effects of traits that simply proved useful for survival and reproduction. Intelligence, in this view, is less a grand design and more a useful byproduct of fitness.
I enjoyed the book a lot. Bennett does a good job addressing counterfactual evidence and the main controversies surrounding his claims. The references to AI and software are present but clearly secondary. When he does touch on artificial intelligence, he frames it as simulations of biological processes on our planet, which may not always be the optimal path for building the systems we actually want.The book is a thoughtful and well-reasoned exploration of how intelligence arose in nature.
5/5 stars.
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