The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity's Search for Meaning
“What a great history of, and prediction for, human development! Of course human worldview determines our history and this influences what/how we act. As we are now impacting on a global scale, it is critical to review how we have gotten here so that we make decisions on where we might choose to go.
This is the first book that I have encountered that presents many of what I view as the most critical humans/individuals: hunter-gatherers, Akhenaten, Plato, Saint Paul, Philo of Alexandria, Roger and Francis Bacon, Einstein, Lovelock and many others. Their interjections to the developing Western worldview continue to be reflected in our present day perceptions. But their influences are rarely appreciated. Lent lays them out in a clear understandable fashion.
His treatment of Eastern worldview may appear strange and foreign to most readers - as it is should. It is an excellent control study for those imagining the Western approach to nature and the environment as the only way.
Yes there is a lot of detail that may not appeal to all readers. Life is complicated. It is a mistake to think of humans - and our culture - as machines. There is relatively a lot of history to consider in assessing our present predicament. Our present beliefs are so firmly held that they not easily seen.
This book deserves the time and effort.”