The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe
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- Create Date：2021-08-25 08:51:50
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Jeremy Lent
- ISBN：1788165640
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Summary
'The Web of Meaning is both a profound personal meditation on human existence and a tour-de-force weaving together of historic and contemporary world-wide secular and spiritual thought on the deepest question of all: why are we here？' Gabor Maté M。D。， author， In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction
'We need， now more than ever， to figure out how to make all kinds of connections。 This book can help--and therefore it can help with a lot of the urgent tasks we face。' Bill McKibben， author， Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out？
As our civilization careens towards a precipice of climate breakdown， ecological destruction and gaping inequality， people are losing their existential moorings。 Our 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 passed its expiration date。 Yet another world is possible。 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。
Reviews
Paul Boudreau
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Does an excellent job of bringing together western and eastern philosophies to examine the present challenges facing the world。 Being an ecologist it is easy for me to connect with the portion of Lent's argument for bringing science into his discussion with philosophy and social economics。 His approach is extremely broad， but necessary， to really appreciate how we have arrived here。 At some points in the book， particularly the last chapters， it might be received as a bit preachy。 But these chapt Does an excellent job of bringing together western and eastern philosophies to examine the present challenges facing the world。 Being an ecologist it is easy for me to connect with the portion of Lent's argument for bringing science into his discussion with philosophy and social economics。 His approach is extremely broad， but necessary， to really appreciate how we have arrived here。 At some points in the book， particularly the last chapters， it might be received as a bit preachy。 But these chapters are necessary to understand Lent's suggestions for the future。 He is not just railing against corporations and consumerism， he is bravely putting forth necessary revisions to our world view that might get us out of the current socio-economic and climatic mess。 。。。more
Ram Lee
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I appreciate the work and efforts of Jeremy Lent。 His previous book The patterning instinct （2017） is a valuable book。 The work Lent does is much needed and I suppose many people will feel like he is a brother to us。 For a proper summary of The web of meaning I refer to the well-written review， here on Goodreads， of Ryan Boissonneault。Basically， I agree with Lent’s diagnoses and conclusions。 In this review I like to zoom in on an aspect of his conclusion。 I hope I will not take Lent’s conclusion I appreciate the work and efforts of Jeremy Lent。 His previous book The patterning instinct （2017） is a valuable book。 The work Lent does is much needed and I suppose many people will feel like he is a brother to us。 For a proper summary of The web of meaning I refer to the well-written review， here on Goodreads， of Ryan Boissonneault。Basically， I agree with Lent’s diagnoses and conclusions。 In this review I like to zoom in on an aspect of his conclusion。 I hope I will not take Lent’s conclusion too much out of context: Connectivity is a central theme in this book。 Lent concludes in chapter 11: "the interconnectivity of the universe creates innumerable meaning potentials， but we must actively participate in attuning to those potentials in order to actualize the meaning。” In other words: “we must tune in to the deep connectivity of the cosmos in order to enact its meaning。” And: “Meaning is a function of connectedness: the more extensively we connect something with other aspects of our lives， the more meaningful it is to us。” I would like to bring forward an alternative perspective that is critical to Lent’s take on “tuning in to deep connectivity”。The pursuit of connectivity （as something valuable） only makes sense after mental conditioning has fragmented reality into seemingly self-existing objects and subjects。 Not only is connectivity not intrinsic to reality， also the fragmentation that is presupposed by connectivity is not intrinsic to reality。 Fragmentation is man-made， mind-born。 Fragmenting our reality is something we do ourselves; it is usually not our intention to do this， yet it happens。 It’s a by-product of how we have come to think and how we understand our thinking and its relation to reality。 Fragmentation happens unnoticed and determines our experience of reality and our self-experience。Those who appreciate more substantiation here， I refer to the opening chapter of David Bohm’s Wholeness and the implicate order。 When we regularly break something， we may value the healing of the broken parts。 We can even gradually develop expertise in the healing of broken parts - but why not focus on learning to stop breaking things in the first place？ It is better - if possible - to prevent than to cure。 Better to learn to stop fragmenting reality than to continually work on realizing （re）connections。 And of course there’s a difference between discernment， which is desirable， and fragmentation。I believe Jeremy Lent is familiar with this alternative perspective。 Here are three quotes from his book that express the perspective I am trying to bring to attention。 “the Chinese view was that one simply had to unlearn the layers of misconception that society placed on a person as they grew up”。。。“The bodhisattva has achieved the realization that the boundaries separating the self from others are all mere constructions of a conditioned mind。”[quoting Rumi:] “Your task is not to seek for love， but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it。” These quotes emphasise unlearning， deconditioning， and breaking down barriers。 Unlearning， deconditioning and breaking down barriers are not really different from deconstruction， which is a proper term to use here。 But the term ‘deconstruction’ is used here in a different way from the way it is used in philosophical traditions like existentialism and post-structuralism。The main difference is that the dominant currents of existentialism and poststructuralism consider reality and human beings to be conditioned while the alternative perspective views reality and human beings as being both conditioned and unconditioned。 Unfortunately， the dominant currents of existentialism and poststructuralism disregard the unconditioned domain。 This difference of worldview - is the unconditioned included or ignored and excluded？ - matters much， because what remains after （successful） deconstruction is as different in these two cases as day and night。 The dynamics of deconstruction turn out to be such that only what is conditioned can be deconstructed。 The unconditioned cannot be deconstructed。 After deconstruction existentialism and poststructuralism remain empty-handed: what is left is nihilism with an optional heroic acceptance of nihilism as a bonus。In the alternative perspective brought forward here - found in Taoism， Advaita vedanta and Buddhism and some （apophatic） western traditions - deconstruction （of conditionings） brings human beings not to nihilism but to flourishing。 The result of deconstruction is not problematic， it is natural and unproblematic。 So， if we find out that our reality is fragmented， and we acknowledge that this is not the way it should be and need be， we have an option to connect the fragments and we have an option to begin to deconstruct our own ‘reality-fragmenting mental habits’。 The intended purpose in Jeremy Lent’s book and in the perspective brought in here in this review is the same: well-being， flourishing， maturation。 Yet， the explanations （of the nature of the problem） and the indications （of the solutions） are different。 These different ways of presenting the problem and solutions do not exclude each other， they may be helpful in different contexts， and it is up to each of us to sense which presentations of the problem and which solutions suit us。Though I brought in a critical perspective， I respect the way Jeremy Lent presents the problem and solution and I hope it will be experienced as useful by many readers。 。。。more
Jeffrey Fisher
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Superlative treatise on integrating ancient and Indigenous wisdom into a transformative worldview -- precisely what's needed to deal with today's existential crises。 Lent makes his case in an accessible discussion with this exhaustively detailed （and notated） text。 His argument is sound and his supporting data varied and deep。 Modern science seems to support the wisdom espoused by Eastern thinkers （Taosim， Buddhism， New Confucianism， et al。）， hundreds of years ago that dualism （the mind/body spl Superlative treatise on integrating ancient and Indigenous wisdom into a transformative worldview -- precisely what's needed to deal with today's existential crises。 Lent makes his case in an accessible discussion with this exhaustively detailed （and notated） text。 His argument is sound and his supporting data varied and deep。 Modern science seems to support the wisdom espoused by Eastern thinkers （Taosim， Buddhism， New Confucianism， et al。）， hundreds of years ago that dualism （the mind/body split， man vs。 nature） is a flawed ideology and instead we should rediscover our integrated， systems view in the cosmos。 Highly recommended。 。。。more
Ryan Boissonneault
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The thing about a dominant worldview is that those who embrace its underlying assumptions are often blind to the possibility that those assumptions may be wrong or misguided。 But every now and then， a book comes along that challenges conventional wisdom in such a way as to shake people out of their “dogmatic slumber，” causing them to reevaluate their basic orientation to the world。 For many readers， this may be just such a book。 Having spent the greater part of 10 years researching the sources o The thing about a dominant worldview is that those who embrace its underlying assumptions are often blind to the possibility that those assumptions may be wrong or misguided。 But every now and then， a book comes along that challenges conventional wisdom in such a way as to shake people out of their “dogmatic slumber，” causing them to reevaluate their basic orientation to the world。 For many readers， this may be just such a book。 Having spent the greater part of 10 years researching the sources of meaning， Jeremy Lent presents an integrated worldview that challenges the Western conception of life as a reductive， radically individualistic， competitive struggle for survival。 In fact， modern science paints the opposite picture: life and evolution are every bit as much about cooperation as they are about competition。 Lent provides numerous examples of how cooperation has been the catalyst to virtually every major transition in the evolution of life， and that， on a deeper level， all life is fundamentally connected and interdependent。 The Western mind—which often fails to recognize the limits of language to capture the full complexity of the world—focuses on artificial divisions and reductionist investigations into the material world when， more often than not， it’s the relationships between things， and in particular between people， that are far more consequential than the granular descriptions of the things themselves。 The wisdom traditions of the East that have known this all along—most prominently Taoism and Zen Buddhism—offer a different way of contemplating the world that is less aggressively individualistic and more attuned to the integrated nature of all living things。 While Western thinking identifies individuals based exclusively on their “conceptual consciousness”—i。e。， their ability to translate and describe experience using language and abstract concepts—the Eastern mind considers the individual to be a combination of both conceptual consciousness and “animate consciousness”—the aspect of our consciousness that places us in direct contact with the world via our five senses。 To understand the difference， think of the contrast between describing the experience of drinking tea using language （conceptual consciousness）， for example， and the actual experience of drinking tea （animate consciousness）， with all of its associated aromas， flavors， colors， sensations， and temperatures。 The Eastern mind is simply more in tune with direct experience and with the dynamic， complex， and interdependent aspects of nature for which language and abstractions can only superficially capture。 Whereas a Western scientist， for instance， may believe that all biological， psychological， and social phenomena ultimately reduce to the laws of particle physics， the ancient Eastern way of thinking recognizes the importance of emergent properties and relationships that cannot be reduced to the sum of their parts。 Because Eastern thinking is not reductive， and not solely focused on the individual in isolation from the contexts in which they live and flourish， Eastern philosophies provide a strong counterpoint to the individualistic， greedy， competitive drive for material gain and profit characteristic of the West。 Of course， Western philosophy and science have contributed greatly to the improvement of human well-being through technology， medicine， specialization， and trade， and Lent does not deny this。 It is undeniable that reductionist science has resulted in longer， healthier lives and greater material well-being。 But this has all come at a cost: namely， the prospect of ecological collapse， massive inequities in income and wealth， and a sense of disconnection from nature and from each other。 The brilliance of Lent’s book is in its integration of modern science and capitalism with an Eastern conception of interdependence and a greater conception of the common good。 There is no reason—now that we know that social Darwinism and neoliberalism are misguided ideologies—that we cannot simultaneously enjoy the benefits of Western science and capitalism while also tempering them with a greater concern for the common good。 In other words， there is no reason to continue to allow the “free market” to dictate our lives and our values。Lent uses an apt analogy。 Markets， like fire， are useful and serve their purpose， but let them run uncontrolled and they end up destroying everything in their path。 The ironic part is that we perpetually fear the creation of uncontrolled artificial intelligence and yet stand oblivious to the fact that we’ve already created it: an entity called the corporation that is given the legal rights of an individual without any of the associated social obligations。 The sole concern of corporations is the maximization of profits at all costs; so when we give them free reign to accomplish this， we really shouldn’t be surprised when the environment gets destroyed， workers get exploited （while shareholders grow ever richer）， and consumers get harmed。 As a country， we’re obsessed with the idea of freedom， but today freedom from the “tyranny of the market” is what we should be most concerned with。 The neoliberal world in which the corporation became king was a world where money and material wealth were the only goods and where cut-throat individualistic competition was the metaphor for life。 With the world careening towards environmental catastrophe and growing inequality， it’s time for a new metaphor and more robust controls on corporate greed。 But this cannot come from top-down central planning or control; it has to come from the bottom up—from the collective actions of individuals that recognize a deeper sense of connection to nature and to each other。 This book can help get us started down this more integrated and desirable path。 。。。more
Mike Chitty
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Easy reading but some big ideas！Some lovely pulling together of east and west science and mysticism pointing at different way of being in the world。Taoism， Buddhism， Confucianism and lots of biology from single cells to ecosystem。。。
Diana
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This book got me through the extreme heat in BC。It is highly readable and engaging and examines the philosophical underpinnings of why we treat the planet the way we do。 After finishing the book， I feel a profound sense of connection with all of life and a commitment to be part of the change to the world we want in my own unique way。Please give this book a read， especially if you're feeling discouraged about the state of the world。 This book got me through the extreme heat in BC。It is highly readable and engaging and examines the philosophical underpinnings of why we treat the planet the way we do。 After finishing the book， I feel a profound sense of connection with all of life and a commitment to be part of the change to the world we want in my own unique way。Please give this book a read， especially if you're feeling discouraged about the state of the world。 。。。more
Charlie Andras
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