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What this is:
This is a book. Kind of. The kind-of-a-book that should matter to everyone. You don’t need to be an academic, a scientist, or a philosopher to understand it. More precisely: what you see here is the process of writing a book made visible. It is this process, much more than the outcome, that generates insight. |
This book is about the end of the age of machines, an age we sometimes call modernity.
It is a vision about what comes next for humanity.
That vision is not pretty.
It is realistic.
But it is not dystopian either. The best of times are not behind us,
because these were never the best of times.
We may be about to enter a more meaningful age,
an age less gluttonous, inequitable, and confused.
The problem is how to get there from our current state of affairs.
We are horribly locked into our old ways, a global Titanic headed straight for that ultimate iceberg.
To use E. O. Wilson’s terms: the unfortunate combination of palaeolithic emotions,
mediaeval institutions, and God-like technology has set us on a self-terminating path.
The problem is far bigger than any one of us:
for the first time in human history, we are facing a global threat of extinction.
We have no idea how to escape this threat without unprecedented civilizational collapse.
None of us has the answer. In fact, there may not be one.
The only thing we know with some certainty
is that everything will turn out differently.
The end of modernity is the biggest challenge of our time.
Quite possibly, it is the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced.
There are no ready-made solutions. Old wisdom no longer applies.
Much knowledge we count on is useless or, worse yet, is leading us astray.
We must proceed with determination. We must act now.
At the same time, we must proceed with caution, not take anything for granted.
We need to unearth our most trustworthy knowledge, find our deepest wisdom,
to let go of this age of machines, and embrace whatever may be coming.
This is a book that looks forward to the new, post-industrial age,
focusing on the science we’ll need to guide our steps on the way there.
We propose a science for a world that is not a machine, a metamodern science.
We’ll also discuss how to wield this science with wisdom.
Therefore, this is a book about science, as much as it is a book of science.
We could call it a work of natural philosophy.
It yearns for a time that probably never was, when scientists were philosophers:
philosophy with evidence, knowledge with wisdom.
We must heal our current rift between knowing and acting.
We need a new narrative, a new purpose, a new story to tell ourselves.
This book is for anyone who wonders (perhaps despairs) about our delusional times.
It is a book for those ready to move on.
We can bend, not break, but only if we start acting now.
A good first step towards wiser action is to better understand the problem, the pickle we’re in.
It is a vision about what comes next for humanity.
That vision is not pretty.
It is realistic.
But it is not dystopian either. The best of times are not behind us,
because these were never the best of times.
We may be about to enter a more meaningful age,
an age less gluttonous, inequitable, and confused.
The problem is how to get there from our current state of affairs.
We are horribly locked into our old ways, a global Titanic headed straight for that ultimate iceberg.
To use E. O. Wilson’s terms: the unfortunate combination of palaeolithic emotions,
mediaeval institutions, and God-like technology has set us on a self-terminating path.
The problem is far bigger than any one of us:
for the first time in human history, we are facing a global threat of extinction.
We have no idea how to escape this threat without unprecedented civilizational collapse.
None of us has the answer. In fact, there may not be one.
The only thing we know with some certainty
is that everything will turn out differently.
The end of modernity is the biggest challenge of our time.
Quite possibly, it is the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced.
There are no ready-made solutions. Old wisdom no longer applies.
Much knowledge we count on is useless or, worse yet, is leading us astray.
We must proceed with determination. We must act now.
At the same time, we must proceed with caution, not take anything for granted.
We need to unearth our most trustworthy knowledge, find our deepest wisdom,
to let go of this age of machines, and embrace whatever may be coming.
This is a book that looks forward to the new, post-industrial age,
focusing on the science we’ll need to guide our steps on the way there.
We propose a science for a world that is not a machine, a metamodern science.
We’ll also discuss how to wield this science with wisdom.
Therefore, this is a book about science, as much as it is a book of science.
We could call it a work of natural philosophy.
It yearns for a time that probably never was, when scientists were philosophers:
philosophy with evidence, knowledge with wisdom.
We must heal our current rift between knowing and acting.
We need a new narrative, a new purpose, a new story to tell ourselves.
This book is for anyone who wonders (perhaps despairs) about our delusional times.
It is a book for those ready to move on.
We can bend, not break, but only if we start acting now.
A good first step towards wiser action is to better understand the problem, the pickle we’re in.
What this is not:
This book is not a political polemic. Yet it is progressive, never reactionary.
We chose to look forward, not back. Reaction has never led anywhere.
This book is a deconstruction of modern science, but it is not anti-science.
Quite the contrary: our central aim is to make science better, wiser, more applicable.
We are critical of modernity, yet this is not postmodernism.
Mere deconstruction ends in nihilism, relativism, and arbitrariness: a post-factual world.
Instead, we engage in system-building when postmodernists tell us
that all grand narratives are futile and have failed.
This book is philosophy, telling us how to make the best of our encounters with the world.
But it is not a traditional piece of academic writing.
This book is an introduction to the science and philosophy of the organism and its evolution.
Yet, it is not a monograph stuffed full with references, foot- and endnotes.
This book is definitely not a review of the literature.
We do not meticulously cite everyone who has worked on its topics before.
We do our best to acknowledge those whose shoulders we stand on,
and sincerely apologise to those worthy of praise that we have neglected to mention.
We want to get our points across, forcefully and clearly,
not provide yet another compendium of academic work.
We possess all the knowledge we need.
But lack the wisdom to put it to better use.
That wisdom starts by not taking ourselves too seriously.
Don’t get us wrong: the situation is grave, and our intentions are as earnest as they can be.
Yet, we too are probably wrong, in ways we could not possibly anticipate.
We do not state a doctrine. We merely provide our own perspective.
Do not follow our advice.
We have succeeded if we inspire you to make your very own mistakes.
This book is not a political polemic. Yet it is progressive, never reactionary.
We chose to look forward, not back. Reaction has never led anywhere.
This book is a deconstruction of modern science, but it is not anti-science.
Quite the contrary: our central aim is to make science better, wiser, more applicable.
We are critical of modernity, yet this is not postmodernism.
Mere deconstruction ends in nihilism, relativism, and arbitrariness: a post-factual world.
Instead, we engage in system-building when postmodernists tell us
that all grand narratives are futile and have failed.
This book is philosophy, telling us how to make the best of our encounters with the world.
But it is not a traditional piece of academic writing.
This book is an introduction to the science and philosophy of the organism and its evolution.
Yet, it is not a monograph stuffed full with references, foot- and endnotes.
This book is definitely not a review of the literature.
We do not meticulously cite everyone who has worked on its topics before.
We do our best to acknowledge those whose shoulders we stand on,
and sincerely apologise to those worthy of praise that we have neglected to mention.
We want to get our points across, forcefully and clearly,
not provide yet another compendium of academic work.
We possess all the knowledge we need.
But lack the wisdom to put it to better use.
That wisdom starts by not taking ourselves too seriously.
Don’t get us wrong: the situation is grave, and our intentions are as earnest as they can be.
Yet, we too are probably wrong, in ways we could not possibly anticipate.
We do not state a doctrine. We merely provide our own perspective.
Do not follow our advice.
We have succeeded if we inspire you to make your very own mistakes.
How to use this site:
This site is under construction. It will be for a while. Possibly forever.
That’s a feature, not a bug.
The table of contents links to those chapter drafts that already exist.
Those at early stages of writing are labelled with a construction icon.
The content of any chapter, and the table of contents as a whole,
are still subject to revision and wholesale rearrangement.
You can read the chapters in any order you want. They refer to each other
with links in the text so you can skip back and catch up on the background you may have missed.
Important: each chapter has a feedback and comment form at the bottom.
Please feel free to post your thoughts! Please be critical, but constructive. We don’t like mean people.
Suggest how to make the book better: how to clarify, what to leave out, and what else to include.
Tell us if we forgot to cite you, or your friend. We are sorry!
You can do all this anonymously or by signing your name.
Should we use your input, we promise to mention you in the acknowledgments of the finished book.
Many, many thanks in advance for putting in the effort!
You are the best.
This site is under construction. It will be for a while. Possibly forever.
That’s a feature, not a bug.
The table of contents links to those chapter drafts that already exist.
Those at early stages of writing are labelled with a construction icon.
The content of any chapter, and the table of contents as a whole,
are still subject to revision and wholesale rearrangement.
You can read the chapters in any order you want. They refer to each other
with links in the text so you can skip back and catch up on the background you may have missed.
Important: each chapter has a feedback and comment form at the bottom.
Please feel free to post your thoughts! Please be critical, but constructive. We don’t like mean people.
Suggest how to make the book better: how to clarify, what to leave out, and what else to include.
Tell us if we forgot to cite you, or your friend. We are sorry!
You can do all this anonymously or by signing your name.
Should we use your input, we promise to mention you in the acknowledgments of the finished book.
Many, many thanks in advance for putting in the effort!
You are the best.
The process never ends (Yogi’s disclaimer)
I’ve been trying to write a book for over ten years now.
Actually, there are many books that I have not written in those years.
At least I’ve already produced a lecture series. It’s called “Beyond Networks.”
I’ll use quite some of the material in there for the book, so you may want to check it out.
These lectures aren’t finished either.
They are like the demo tape for the polished record I am trying to deliver here.
But to tell you the truth: I hate writing books!
From the deepest bottom of my heart.
If there is a single main point of this work, it is that understanding the world is a never-ending process.
Yet, this process must be interrupted at some point for the book to be published.
Crazy, I know. Where to stop and publish?
An impossible decision — annoyingly arbitrary.
I may as well publish this book now, before it is even written.
I hope this helps get the point across.
The format of a medium must match its content.
Books are a Procrustean bed.
And yet, we must write them to be heard.
So I will.
But my story is nonlinear, circular, entangled, self-manufacturing — like life,
an evolving dialectic in which different strands of argument constantly generate each other.
How can I write it down as a linear narrative?
I can’t, and I won’t.
So, then, here we are.
Join the process. Enter the holarchic maze that is our story.
You may choose your own route through the labyrinth.
And whenever you find a fork in your path, take it!
I’ve been trying to write a book for over ten years now.
Actually, there are many books that I have not written in those years.
At least I’ve already produced a lecture series. It’s called “Beyond Networks.”
I’ll use quite some of the material in there for the book, so you may want to check it out.
These lectures aren’t finished either.
They are like the demo tape for the polished record I am trying to deliver here.
But to tell you the truth: I hate writing books!
From the deepest bottom of my heart.
If there is a single main point of this work, it is that understanding the world is a never-ending process.
Yet, this process must be interrupted at some point for the book to be published.
Crazy, I know. Where to stop and publish?
An impossible decision — annoyingly arbitrary.
I may as well publish this book now, before it is even written.
I hope this helps get the point across.
The format of a medium must match its content.
Books are a Procrustean bed.
And yet, we must write them to be heard.
So I will.
But my story is nonlinear, circular, entangled, self-manufacturing — like life,
an evolving dialectic in which different strands of argument constantly generate each other.
How can I write it down as a linear narrative?
I can’t, and I won’t.
So, then, here we are.
Join the process. Enter the holarchic maze that is our story.
You may choose your own route through the labyrinth.
And whenever you find a fork in your path, take it!
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Previous: Table of Contents
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Next: Manifesto
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The authors acknowledge funding from the John Templeton Foundation (Project ID: 62581), and would like to thank the co-leader of the project, Prof. Tarja Knuuttila, and the Department of Philosophy at the University of Vienna for hosting the project of which this book is a central part.
Disclaimer: everything we write and present here is our own responsibility. All mistakes are ours, and not the funders’ or our hosts’ and collaborators'.
Disclaimer: everything we write and present here is our own responsibility. All mistakes are ours, and not the funders’ or our hosts’ and collaborators'.
