We are in the midst of the most dramatic cultural shift in three hundred years. This book explains why a great change is simmering in all facets of our civilization, from economics and politics to science and spirituality. Our inherited concept of a machine world - the clockwork universe - is giving way and the vision of a web world is rising to take its place. The author weaves current realities and new scientific insights into a fascinating vision of history and science progressing through upheavals and rebirths up to the present day. Humankind, too, is bound into the patterns and processes of this web world, and Goerner describes the already visible signs of an emerging Integral Society in which head, heart and soul need no longer to be at odds.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'This is a landmark book. Dr Goerner gently builds up a truly revolutionary, and truly practical, picture of the transformation that humanity now choose to take, and must take if it is to flourish or even survive. Nothing detracts from the magnitude of the achievement of this powerful and readable book.' -- Chris Clarke, Network, April 2000
About the Author
Dr Sally Goerner is based in Research Triangle, North Carolina. She has advanced degrees in computer science, psychology and nonlinear dynamics, and now lectures, writes and provides consultancy advice to international organisations.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A guide for the perplexed modern,
By
This review is from: After the Clockwork Universe (Paperback)
If the modern world seems confusing read this book. This book helps me keep perspective when I see the turmoil of world events. It is a guide to the major intellectual and social transitons happening all around us. Most of us can see that our particular part of the world is in trouble -- look at any profession or social institution and the cracks in the foundation are evident. Sally Goerner's thesis is that we are undergoing the biggest social transformation since at least the middle ages and probably since the beginning of known history. The driving force behind the transition from medieval to modern was the development of a new mathematics, physics and astronomy which fundamentally changed how people saw the place of man in the cosmos. These intelectual tools eventually led to the development of the industrial society in which we now live. In the past 30 years there has been similarly powerful new developments in mathematics and all other sciences which Sally calls web dynamics. You may have heard of chaos theory which is one aspect of a much larger way of understanding complex systems which develop out of the operation of many forces. This new understanding is changing the old competitive, isolated, reductionist and individualistic social structures in favor of an understanding of the world based on complex, self-organizing systems which evolve cooperatively as well as competitively. It has implications for every aspect of social, poilitcal and intellectual life from physics and biology to medicine and education. This book helps us see the much larger patterns which are often obscured in the choas of world affairs and gives some hope and direction for making a positive difference in the outcome.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A guide for the perplexed modern,
By
This review is from: After the Clockwork Universe (Paperback)
If the modern world seems confusing read this book. This book helps me keep perspective when I see the turmoil of world events. It is a guide to the major intellectual and social transitons happening all around us. Most of us can see that our particular part of the world is in trouble -- look at any profession or social institution and the cracks in the foundation are evident. Sally Goerner's thesis is that we are undergoing the biggest social transformation since at least the middle ages and probably since the beginning of known history. The driving force behind the transition from medieval to modern was the development of a new mathematics, physics and astronomy which fundamentally changed how people saw the place of man in the cosmos. These intelectual tools eventually led to the development of the industrial society in which we now live. In the past 30 years there has been similarly powerful new developments in mathematics and all other sciences which Sally calls web dynamics. You may have heard of chaos theory which is one aspect of a much larger way of understanding complex systems which develop out of the operation of many forces. This new understanding is changing the old competitive, isolated, reductionist and individualistic social structures in favor of an understanding of the world based on complex, self-organizing systems which evolve cooperatively as well as competitively. It has implications for every aspect of social, poilitcal and intellectual life from physics and biology to medicine and education. This book helps us see the much larger patterns which are often obscured in the choas of world affairs and gives some hope and direction for making a positive difference in the outcome.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Intricate Web of the Universe,
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This review is from: After the Clockwork Universe (Paperback)
This is an astonishing and truly revolutionary book.
Dr. Goerner builds a practical picture of the transformation that we must choose to take if we are to flourish or even survive. Her basic concept begins with the now familiar concept that civilizations undergo periodic "Big Changes," that involve changes in the way that they view the world. Not just how the intellectual elite sees things, but rather the general population. She thinks, and I am sure that she is correct, that we are on the cusp of one of these "Big Changes," which will involve the replacement of the Newtownian ("Clockwork") view of the universe, with a "Web" view, that sees the universe as a series of intricate interconnections. This "Web thinking" has been around for a while, but has so far not really taken root, because it has not always been expressed very clearly, many people have failed to see it's relevance to everyday life and it was not linked to any deeply felt, motivating vision. This book is an important step in rectifying those previous failings. She introduces a helpful term: "Intricacy," which she defines as "the order which arises from interweaving." My only disagreement is with her use of the word "Energy," of systems, when I think it would be more accurate to use the term "Information." Highly recommended.
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