Introduction (part 2)
Since the 1950's there has been a fairly steady decline in the intellectual hegemony of scientific materialism. The rise of postmodernism is a deliberate response to this decline of our modern worldview. I have not been able to find anyone who foresees as radical an outcome of this trend as I do. How come?
There are several differing interpretations of the decline of scientific materialism. The most common view is that we headed into an indefinite period of pluralism. There exists no overarching truth about the world to capture our allegiance, or if such existed it is not accessible to our powers of reason.
The other common view is that postmodernism is simply a symptom of cultural decline. Scientists and religionists alike see this trend as a further falling away from either the intellectual or spiritual rigor of the past. The apocalyptic minded sectarians are content to include postmodernism among the signs of the end times.
What do I see that the other observers do not? Coming from a background in physics, I am aware that there remains a hard core of scientists who are still in pursuit of Truth, with a capital 'T'. The recent progress in theoretical physics leaves some of them tantalizingly close the 'Grand Unified Theory of Everything'. And in general there is a silent minority which has not given up the strong desire for intellectual coherence. If and when a few of these stalwarts are presented with a viable, coherent alternative to scientific materialism, some of them will take it seriously. It would only take a determined and articulate handful of such individuals to constitute a publicly noticeable presence. The ensuing discussions would presumably lead to more 'converts', and would constitute an intellectual and eventually a spiritual trend, given that there does indeed exist a personally accessible coherent Truth as is being outlined here.
I can only hope that in this Best Possible World we do not have to be prodded with a 'stick' in order to become interested in the intellectual and spiritual 'carrot' being offered.
<-- Introduction
7/12/02