Comments by the Author: 

1. Perhaps the title and even the cover of this book do not announce its intent too well, although it does contain the points I wanted to make, in a somewhat jumbled and difficult order.   It treats of communication, again, attempting to discern not only the way the process works, but especially what individual motives mayunderlie the earth-transforming exploits it makes possible.   The central speculative conclusion holds that individual human beings, highly dependent on social interaction for their very survival, act most consistently to promote their social standing, security and influence. Perhaps too recklessly, I tried in this book to introduce the term "Geltung," in a specialized use of a German term, to sum up the proposed motivational objective --what we refer to variously as social standing, respect, esteem, acceptance, influence, and power.

3. Massive human collaborative effort, enabled and guided by efficient communication, grandly changes our habitats and destabilizes the global environment.   The human species, a major agent of geographical change, pursues banal yet dangerous individual motives in doing its work of transformation, and we over look and ignore at great peril the motives of humans hastily remaking the world.

PLW