Being human [[electronic resource] ] : the search for order / / Seán Ó Nualláin

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910452683003321
• Autore: Ó Nualláin Seán
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Bristol, : Intellect, 2002
• ISBN: 1-84150-865-9; 1-280-47681-8; 9786610476817
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (221 p.)
• Disciplina: 306.45
• Soggetti: Science - Social aspects; Science - Political aspects; Religion and science; Electronic books.
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references.
• Nota di contenuto: Contents; Dedication; Acknowledgements and Errata; Preface; Introduction; 1 The Current Crisis; i. The environmental crisis; ii. The demographic crisis; iii. The economic crisis; iv. The Political crisis; v. The Moral/Fideistic/Epistemological crisis; 2 Our Age of Ignorance; i. Noetic Science; ii. Physics; iii. Biology; iv. Economics; v. Technology; vi. Psychology; vii. Politics and Sociology; viii. Religion and Myth; 1. Toward a Description of Universals in Religious Experience; 2. Myth in religious and 'scientific' cosmogony; 3. Psychology of the Millennium; 4. The Problem of Human Sufferingix. Value; x. Some Conclusions; 3 Theories of Everything; Introduction; i. Dei ex Machina; i.a. The sciences of complexity; i.i.a. Catastrophe Theory; i.i.b. Chaos; i.i.c. Games; i.i.d Something for Nothing?; i.b. Information; i.c. Computation; i.d. Buckserologists; ii. Precedence Claims and Claim-Jumps; Introduction; ii.a. Physics; ii.b. Darwinism; iii. Eschatologies; iv. State Takeover; v. Weltanschauungen; v.a. Gurdjieff; v.b. Marxism; 4 Conclusions; Appendix A: How Does Science Progress?; Appendix B: The Reduced History of Physics; Appendix C: Genetic TechnologiesReferences; Subject Index
• Sommario/riassunto: We live at a time of unparallelled environmental and moral crisis. Not only do we not believe anything but, despite exponential advances in information production, we do not know very much either. This book is a guide for everyone who, understandably, feels perplexed. Presenting an explanation of recent findings in science and their relationship with society and politics as we enter the third millennium, the book also seeks to provide guidance towards responsible political action in this current crisis. From new technology's power to preserve the status quo, to the true impetus behind the Huma