Customer Reviews

After the Clockwork Universe

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Long before Korten began writing about 'the Great Transition,' Goerner wrote this beautiful, eloquent, and sweeping study of what she described as the emergence of the Integral Society. Unfortunately, this book was published in britain (american publisher's didn't take it) and has not gotten the circulation it richly deserves. While there are many other books out there looking at this Transition (including Hawken) and it is almost common knowledge in many circles, I still recommend this book because of its theory of social and cultural changes. Unlike Korten, who sees this current epoch as going back 5000 years, she accurately looks at the multiple shifts in world view in the West and how those have taken place in the past 2000 years, and demonstrates the integration, complexification and evolution of these ideas. She also presents a concise yet thorough understanding of systems theory, science of complexity and interdependence, chaos, biological changes, and 'new' scientific world views, etc. Alas, her last few chapters make several statements that are questionable, and it is difficult, without being an expert in the field, to really know how much weight to give her social predictions.

Ms. Goerner has managed to integrate the disparate cultural, scientific and intellectual trends of the late 20th Century into a cohesive and comprehensible whole. One could say that she has transformed chaos into order, at least for this reader. Bravo!