Paradigm wars notes
Paradigm wars: Worldviews for a New Age
Mark Woodhouse.
http://www.markwoodhouse.com/00_index.html
Chapter 1 World Views in Transition
Mentions M. Ferguson,
Patricia
Aburdene and John Naisbitt
authors of Megatrends 2000, ß-----when pub?
and historian John White.
Mark Satin New Options for America: A
second American experiment is underway.
Instead of seeking new answers to old questions, we are asking new
questions. P. 2 f.
Spiritual Politics Corinne
McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson seek to transform the world from inside out. “ ‘Consciousness precedes being- not the other way around’
noted former Czech President Vaclav Havel in his 1990
address to the
The human mind is not
simply a reflection of prevailing social structures-I creates
form” p. 3.
Author concurs that a
new worldview, indeed a new world are in the making. But what is this emerging perspective, this
spiritual unfolding? Where did it come from and where might it take us? What is
causing the shift? P. 3-4.
Paradigms are models
or conceptual frameworks which give a unified perspective over a range of
experiences. Their usefulness is tied to their capacity to help s understand
why events occur as they do. Without them our experience would lack structure
and significance.
Futurist Joel Barker
defines a paradigm as “any set of rules … that describe boundaries and tells us
what o do to be successful within those boundaries” p. 4
Art, religion, and
social thought as well as science have their paradigms. P. 4.
Thomas Kuhn stressed
that major paradigms are embedded in a larger social context along with the
habits and expectations of leading thinkers.
William James noted
the tension between fact and theory is magnified by the “extreme slowness with
which the ordinary academic and critical mind acknowledges facts to exist …with
no stall or pigeon hole, or as facts which threaten to break up the accepted
system.” Major new ideas tend first to be condemned as ridiculous, then dismissed as trivial, until finally they are accepted
as truth. P. 4f.
A whole
new world view appears to be at hand. A wolrd view is
broader than a paradigm; it is composed of multiple paradigms.
The
current “new paradigm dialog”, as I shall call it, has not resulted
a fully developed wold view waiting to replace the
ruins of traditional perspectives. Rather, it is being defined and worked out
in every clash with mainstream
thought. p. 9.
Provides
tenativee list of current paradigm principles from
twenty-five hundred years of western culture that have come progressively under
closer scrutiny. we are moving away from, which are from Newtonian science;
religion;
Patriarchal ethical,
social, and political thought;
Psychology,
meaphysics and common sense.
This list is
characterized by root metaphors of fragmentation, reductionism, hierarchy,
competition,
And fear (Anxiety).
(I would add
isolation)
The ascending
metaphors are interrelatedness, balance, emergent properties, love, and
cooperation.
Ten transformational
challenges
In order
to make a case for a shift in world view, a number of issues need to be
addressed.
We must
indicate the growing gaps between prevailing thought and changing circumstances
that challenge that thought. we must show that
traditional structures are not accommodating the challenges and how the old
ways of dealing with problems are not working. We must show that the challenges
cover a broad spectrum of culture; we must show that the challenges and the
kinds of responses they evoke exhibit deep structure similarity. P. 17.
Environmental
degradation and lack of sustainable practices
Decreasing global
capacity for food production to keep up with population growth
Educational
Declining standards,
grade inflation social promotion, declining expenditures for education; seeing
purpose of education as way to get a job; training to accept rather than to
question, and to memorize rather than to create.
Social fragmentation:
Notes “nowhere is the self-defeating logic of fear based politics more evident than in the arms
race.”
The women’s
movement: response to gender inequality;
the patriarchal system has given us war, fragmented social and political
agendas, environmental destruction and endless competition.
Economics
History of American
economic thought is a quagmire of questionable assumptions
The market place is
not a level playing field
growth, conspicuous
consumption;
belief that long term
undifferentiated economic growth is both desirable and necessary. Failure of “trickle down” theory of economic distribution.
“Pat Robertsons recent (pre 1996) The New World Order links the
Illuminati, Freemasons, European banking interests, the Federal Reserve,
Council on Foreign Relations, and assorted political figures to an end-times
scenario familiar to conservative Christians.
… What readers who
look deper into this long standing debate may find troubling is hat too much
energy is often devoted to showing that someone is anti-Christian, anti-semitic, or paranoid, or influenced by someone they should
not be. By contrast, the issue of whether there actually exists hidden economic
manipulation at the levels claimed is not given the attention it deserves. “ p. 33
Religion
“in
it’s lead story for November 28 1994, Newsweek wrote “whether it’s middle age,
or the coming millennium, or a bad case of blues, many Americans are on a quest
for spiritual meaning.” P. 34.
Personal identity:
Three challenges:
social fragmentation, encounter with paranormal, and
angst, meaninglessness,
spiritual dis-ease
science
newly discovered phenomena
such as
Massive evidence for
paranormal phenomena mounts a challenge to mainstream science. What revisions
are needed in the fragmented distinction between mind and body?
Holographic paradigm
developed by Bohm, Pribram, Paul Pietsch and others.
There are significant differences in the various holographic models, but all
offer an explanation of how a part can encode information about the whole.
Health
Biomedical model
prevails: health is the absence of disease, and one must be under the care of a
physician to return from a state of disease to a state of health.
New
modalities becoming recognized.
Extraterrestrial
cultures
It has
become clear that major governments have covered up both what they know and
their own involvement in this area.
Chapter 14 explores
why I believe a coverup has been perpetuated, and why
the answers to the question of ETs are coming sooner
than we might think. The truth about ETs is far more
complex than most imagine. P. 41.
These
ten transformative challenges are pushing deeply held assumptions regarding
fragmentation, hierarchial control, reductionism,
fear, competition, and our place in the universe to historical turning points.
Summary of
transformative challenges and responses:
Assumptions, challenges, current
corrective responses
Are current challenges
greater than in the past? Yes.
Joseph
Campbell: “There are certain periods when the … transformation [of culture] is
quite special and extremely radical. And ours is certainly one of those
periods.” Fn
31 p 44.
In its
manifesto “At the Crossroads”, the Communications Era Task Force noted the
shift through which we are living is unique in two ways: first, it is taking
place within the lifetime of those alive today.
Second, we must develop a win-win strategy based on cooperation. The
alternative, based in mutual fear, can end in total destruction. P. 45.
All of the challenges
are interlocking; cannot meet only one, need to meet them all.
Defenders
of the traditional ways of thinking are still very much in power, and don’t
care for win-win thinking when it effects their
agenda.
The
critical question is less a matter of who is in control now, but rather which
way the winds are blowing. I hope the answer will be clear by the end of this
book. P46.
Chapter 2 p. 47 critical questions for the new age
New Age means many
things to many people.
Purposes for this
chapter: to clarify different senses of the New Age in order to develop a more
coherent sense of what it is all about; to defend the New Age against
superficial criticisms, and to explain some shortcomings. It is not so much what New Agers believe that sets them apart from other movements;
bur rather how they come by their beliefs and promote them in the public arena.
The new age label
cannot be easily distinguished from a wide variety of viewpoints. Concern
throughout the book is with the search for a more comprehensive master
paradigm, not with a label.
Why is there so much
confusion and controversy about the New Age? It has multiple meanings. P. 48
In 1988 Omni magazine
asked twelve leading commentators for a definition of new age. Carl Raschke, author of a study on the origins of the New Age
movement makes unfounded assumptions in offering a sweeping dismissal. He associates it with the 1960s
counterculture.
Publisher’s
weekly has already declared the New Age dead – not because it fizzled, but because it was
loosing its identity vis-a-is the mainstream. P.51
Some new
ager transformationists
pick different labels, like “futurists”; yet other futurists reject the new age
label but adopt many new age ideas under different names.
New age vs New Paradigm
Author uses 3 labels:
New Age:
interest in anything unconventional
New
Paradigm dialog: discussion and exploration of the full range of cross-disciplinary possibilities
of new and trsansformative developments.
Rising
Culture: term borrowed by Fritjof Capra; refers to all persons, trends, and
institutions whose actions and perspectives are informed by the New Paradigm
dialog and New Age agendas.
Author
sees “New Age” as more restricted and less sophisticated articulation of its vision than NP dialog.
Chapter 3 p. 71 The Search for a
Master Paradigm: Systems Holism and the Perennial Philosophy.
New
paradigm thinkers are not necessarily opposed to New Age ideas, but they
approach them with a probing mind, open to more interpretations than a New Ager has time for.
Lists 22 “schools” that pertain to the new paradigm, and leading
advocates of these schools. Author believes all of these
points of view contribute to one of two master paradigms, neither of which is
new. One he calls “systems holism”, the other is the “Perennial Philosophy”.
These two paradigms complement one another, but are not identical, and the
leaders of each paradigm may disagree on a number of issues. The purpose of this chapter is to sketch the
history, key ideas, and shortcoming of each perspective. P. 75
depending on how they are interpreted, may
harbor irreconcilable differences p. 75
Author
believes the Perennial philosophy, supplemented at key points by systems
thinking, is the most viable foundation for the coming age.
Systems holism:
history of philosophy, biology, and the social sciences since Kant’s Critique of Judgement in 1790.
Systems theorists:
Capra, Prigogine,
chaos theorist James Gleick Laszlo, Charles Tart
So it is not the
discipline, but the representatifve of the disapline that is “systems”?
Fractals and chaos sciejnc eare a special form of
systems theory; has to do with how the whole and the part are interrelated
Perennial Philosophy:
includes most major spiritual and philosophical systems from both east and
west.
Holism
Biology has proved to
be the richest discipline for holistically inclined scientists.
Holism
also in history, sociology, and anthropology. Oppose reductionism
Linguistic
holism; cognitive science. Reality based on linguistic and social
systems.
Systems theory
…..
System holism is
integration of systems theory and holism.
Char of SH:
Emergent properities
Parts and wholes are
equally real
All things are
interconnected within their levels.
Nature cretively advances into an open future
Change is all
pervasive
Feedback loops can
transform a system
Tao of holism: a
defense of Fritjof capra
In his review of the
turning point, Harvard paleontologist Stephen j. Gould raises 5 objections to capras call for a systems and
holistically oriented master paradigm.
Argues:
systems holism is not
rigorously developed
Capra fails to
distinguish between meaningful and superficial similarities in nature.
Continue: p 85
Central challenge for
holism: cluster of problems known as problem of vertical depth.
Says holists deal with
mater/energy, living
things, and mind/consciousness, do not deal with paranormal, transpersonal, and
the form that underlies materiality. P 89
Chapter 4 Paranormal Perspectives on Reality
Chapter 5 p. 154 Energy Monism I:
Consciousness and the New Physics
Chapter 6 p. 182 Energy Monism II:
Beyond Dualism and Materialism
Chapter 7 p. 205 The
One-in-the-Many
Chapter 8 p. 250 Order in the Flux
Chapter 9. p 282 Time:Leading
Edge of Eternity
Chapter 10. p 307 Transpersonal Psychology
and Personal Growth
Chapter 11. p 349 Health and Healing at the
Crossroads
Chapter 12. p 404 Paradigm Wars: Abortion, Education, and the
Environment
Chapter 13. p 439
Shaping a New Religious Consciousness
Chapter 14. p 476 Galactic Destiny: A
Transformational Vision for Our Time
Integrates aspects of biblical prophesy, government
cover-ups, the Perennial Wisdom, UFOs
and alien encounters, the CIA and NASA, the clash between light and darkness,
and the hopes and fears of persons in positions th
know things they are not supposed to know.
Appendix
p. 535
Notes p. 569