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"A profound personal meditation on human existence and a tour-de-force weaving together of historic and contemporary thought on the deepest question of all: why are we here?"
— Gabor Maté M.D. , author, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
As our civilization careens toward climate breakdown, ecological destruction, and gaping inequality, people are losing their existential moorings. The dominant worldview of disconnection, which tells us we are split between mind and body, separate from each other, and at odds with the natural world, has been invalidated by modern science.
Award-winning author, Jeremy Lent, investigates humanity's age-old questions – Who am I? Why am I? How should I live? – from a fresh perspective, weaving together findings from modern systems thinking, evolutionary biology, and cognitive neuroscience with insights from Buddhism, Taoism, and Indigenous wisdom.
The result is a breathtaking accomplishment: a rich, coherent worldview based on a deep recognition of connectedness within ourselves, between each other, and with the entire natural world. It offers a compelling foundation for a new philosophical framework that could enable humanity to thrive sustainably on a flourishing Earth.
The Web of Meaning is for everyone looking for deep and coherent answers to the crisis of civilization.
Jeremy Lent is an author whose writings investigate the patterns of thought that have led our civilization to its current crisis of sustainability. Born in London, England, Lent received a BA in English Literature from Cambridge University, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and was a former internet company CEO. His award-winning book, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity's Search for Meaning , explores the way humans have made meaning from the cosmos from hunter-gatherer times to the present day. He is founder of the non-profit Liology Institute, dedicated to fostering an integrated, life-affirming worldview that could enable humanity to thrive sustainably on Earth. He lives with his partner in Berkeley, California.
Introduction
Part One: Who Am I?
1. The Nameless Uncarved Wood
2. The Original AI: Animate Intelligence
3. The Most Important Relationship in Your Life
Part Two: Where Am I?
4. The Patterns of the Universe
5. The Harmonic Dance of Life
Part Three: What Am I?
6. The Deep Purpose of Life
7. The Tao in My Own Nature
Part Four: How Should I Live?
8. Flourishing as an Integrated Organism
9. Cultivating Integrated Values
10. Human/Nature
Part Five: Why Am I?
11. Everything Is Connected
12. From Fixed Self to Infinite Li: The Fractal Nature of Identity
Part Six: Where Are We Going?
13. Weaving a New Story of Meaning
Glossary
Further Reading
Acknowledgments
Notes
Permissions
Illustrations
Index
About the Author
About New Society Publishers