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Rating: 
Summary: Tragedy of Scientific Myopia, Portal to the Future Paradigm
Review: This is a wonderful indictment of the Western scientific tradition, less comprehensive than Voltaire's Bastards but more readable and more focused as a result. The author shows a clear connection between existing global problems (ethnic violence, water scarcity, pollution, poverty, criminalization of society) and the earlier Western decisions to adopt scientific objectivity (with all of its inherent bias and ignorance) as well as the primacy of economic institutions such as have given rise to the consumerist society, regardless of the external diseconomies, the concentrations of ill-gotten wealth, and the cost to the earth resource commons. The author is especially strong on the need to restore sprituality, consciousness, and values to the decision-making and information-sharing architecture of the world--only in this way could community be achieved across national and ethnic and class lines, and only in this way could environmental sustainability and justice (economic, social, and cultural) be made possible. This is not a "tree hugger" book as much as it is a "master's class" for those who would be master's of the universe. It is a very fine portal into the growing body of people who wish to be cultural creatives, and easily one of the guideposts toward the next major paradigm shift, away from scientific materialism and toward a new communitas in which people really matter.
Rating:
Summary: Tragedy of Scientific Myopia, Portal to the Future Paradigm
Review: This is a wonderful indictment of the Western scientific tradition, less comprehensive than Voltaire's Bastards but more readable and more focused as a result. The author shows a clear connection between existing global problems (ethnic violence, water scarcity, pollution, poverty, criminalization of society) and the earlier Western decisions to adopt scientific objectivity (with all of its inherent bias and ignorance) as well as the primacy of economic institutions such as have given rise to the consumerist society, regardless of the external diseconomies, the concentrations of ill-gotten wealth, and the cost to the earth resource commons. The author is especially strong on the need to restore sprituality, consciousness, and values to the decision-making and information-sharing architecture of the world--only in this way could community be achieved across national and ethnic and class lines, and only in this way could environmental sustainability and justice (economic, social, and cultural) be made possible. This is not a "tree hugger" book as much as it is a "master's class" for those who would be master's of the universe. It is a very fine portal into the growing body of people who wish to be cultural creatives, and easily one of the guideposts toward the next major paradigm shift, away from scientific materialism and toward a new communitas in which people really matter.
Rating:
Summary: lfootemd
Review: As a physician trying to bridge the gulf between western and eastern medicine, this has been a wonderful book. The western paradigm, while successful in it's own right, has vast "blanks" to explain certain phenomenon, particularly in the realm of human consciousness. The author has adeptly created a vision from which we can grasp and incorporate a new paradigm. It is so welcoming to read such a scholarly tome that honors the human spirit while embracing the human journey thus far traveled. This is one of the best books from the IONS (Institute of Noetic Sciences) collection.
Rating:
Summary: lfootemd
Review: As a physician trying to bridge the gulf between western and eastern medicine, this has been a wonderful book. The western paradigm, while successful in it's own right, has vast "blanks" to explain certain phenomenon, particularly in the realm of human consciousness. The author has adeptly created a vision from which we can grasp and incorporate a new paradigm. It is so welcoming to read such a scholarly tome that honors the human spirit while embracing the human journey thus far traveled. This is one of the best books from the IONS (Institute of Noetic Sciences) collection.
Rating: 
Summary: A Solid Effort!
Review: From Galileo to the Wright Brothers, mankind's most significant scientific discoveries have come from thinkers who challenged the assumptions of the day, often earning the scorn - or worse - of their contemporaries. Esteemed futurist Willis Harman reminds us of this fact early and often in the second edition of Global Mind Change, which is enhanced by a foreword by acclaimed author, Hazel Henderson, but otherwise maintains the original's insights and flaws. In terms of insight, Harman speaks eloquently about the changes in human perspective that accompanied - and he says ultimately caused - such radical shifts as the fall of the Roman Empire and the demise of slavery in the United States. He extends this analysis to modern scientific thought, which he identifies as a societal foundation currently in the first stages of a paradigm shift in which many concepts now viewed as "New Age" will gain acceptance. We [...] recommend this book to any armchair futurist, but urge all readers to bear in mind one caveat: For every free thinker who upended science with brilliant insight, there have been untold thousands of quacks, madmen and charlatans.
Rating:
Summary: Willis Harman's finest book
Review: Willis Harman's "An Incomplete Guide to the Future" started me on future studies, and his writings have helped focus my studies since. "Global Mind Change" is a powerful statement, digging deep into our language and assumptions as he explores the history and current thought in humanity's attempts to define reality through science. A must read for the new century, and an excellent text for interdisciplinary social and scientific studies.
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