Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
The Dragons of Eden
Sagan's 1977 Pulitzer-winning study of human cognitive evolution
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | The Dragons of Eden (Mid) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Finite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Partial |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Partial |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | None |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Reason |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Variable |
| Information · Granularity | Discrete |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
The Dragons of Eden
The cosmic-evolutionary time-scale of human cognitive development; the 1977 contemporary scientific moment.
Space
The Dragons of Eden
The biological-evolutionary setting of human cognition.
Matter
The Dragons of Eden
The embodied human cognitive systems and their evolutionary predecessors.
Observer
The Dragons of Eden
The cognitive-evolutionary scientist as proper-naturalist subject.
Energy
The Dragons of Eden
The biological-cognitive energies of evolutionary development.
Information
The Dragons of Eden
The cognitive-scientific-evolutionary content of the synthesis.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The Dragons of Eden has been variously assessed — defenders see major popular-scientific synthesis, the triune-brain hypothesis it relies on has been substantially revised by subsequent neuroscience.