In a time where we are overloaded with information, I try to sort the different approaches to how to live as an individual in a divided community. How is society ordered? Where do I fit in? Where do I look for guidance?
Outline
Introduction
Mind Maps and the Beach
Part 1: Why is Our Culture Divided?
Chapter 1: The Individual and The Community
What is Culture?
Who Heals? The Problem of Authority
The Individual vs The Crowd
Chapter 2: The Human Brain
Brain Scans – What Can They Really Tell Us?
The Divided Brain
Hierarchies: Levels of Being
Top Down and/or Bottom Up
A Tale of Two Brains: Men vs Women
Resistance: On being wrong (Kaufman)
Chapter 3: Information, Knowledge, Wisdom
Information Theory (language, signaling)
Criteria of Knowledge (Plato)
Two types of Problems – convergent - divergent
Religion (limits of knowledge, collected wisdom)
Part 2: Observations of Human Societies
Chapter 4: Why do Cultures Thrive and Decline?
Six criteria for successful culture (Introduction)
Anomie and Clarity (C.S. Lewis – Tao)
Chapter 5: Natural Divisions of Societies
Similarities between Ancient and Modern Cultures (3 types)
Political Hierarchies (survival through organization – Maslow)
Civilization vs. Tribal Cultures
Civilization’s Divisions - (lower, middle, upper)
Constrained vs. Unconstrained Cultures
Extreme Cultures: Pragmatists vs. Idealists
Chapter 6: Weaknesses of Modern Cultures
Evil exists or Can we all get along?
Cycles vs Progress – Is there an end of history?
Preferences vs fundamental differences
Modern mythologies – Utopia or Eternity?
The Virtual Life – living in the future
The Role of Personality and Genetics in Politics?
Part 3: Building a Culture
Chapter 7: Community Realities
Two types of problems: (convergent, divergent)
The Many Walls of the Community – three classes
Chapter 8: What is the Good Life?
The Purpose of the Law and Institutions
Virtues, rituals, and manners
Struggle and Discipline
Part 4: Life of the Individual
Chapter 9: Stages of Life
Who Am I? Essence and Existence
Acquisition, Consolidation, Reflection
Language and Development
Chapter 10: When and why of Autonomy
Convention, Conviction, Contemplation
Part 5: Thoughts on Transcendence
Chapter 11: Philosophy
Human Concepts and Divine Ideas
Essence and Existence - When Does Life Begin and End?
Chapter 12: Science
What is Time?
Heat Death of the Universe: Reality or Myth?
What’s Wrong with Complexity Theory of the Universe?
Chapter 13: Reaching beyond the Veil
Do We Have Souls?
What Can We Know About An Immaterial Being (God -Circle)
What is Hell? The Problem of Evil
Love and Death
