Posts Tagged ‘ Lewis Mumford ’

Demonic Machines

I have a strange obsession: I am determined to understand the world – and people in particular. People are the ones that give me the most trouble. I am convinced we have changed greatly, and we now are only partly human. But saying just what we have become has baffled me. It is clear that we have [ READ MORE ]

The Ubiquity of the Social Network

My scripture this morning is from James S. Hans’ The Question of Value, page 162. This is my third pass through this section, and I am determined to get it down. I have two criticisms of this guy, the brightest person I know: (1) he doesn’t appreciate the impact of technology – something Lewis Mumford is much [ READ MORE ]

The Divine Machine

Man has always wanted to be divine, and in our secret heart of hearts we believe we are really divine – with perhaps some of the Devil in us too – just to make us interesting. But there has been something else in us too: the machine, which we have worshiped also – and also been [ READ MORE ]

The Digital State of Mind

Just as I went to press with this, this article popped up Who will win the battle for control of the web? My state of mind seems to coincide with others here – who are much brighter than I am. Technology continues to be irresistible. — Technology has always had a strong effect on us, effects we don’t [ READ MORE ]

The Axial Religions Were a Reaction to Civilization

I am still reading Lewis Mumford, who continues to amaze me. The following is copied from Page 258 if his book Technics and Human Development: This revolt began in the mind, and it proceeded quietly to deny the materialistic assumptions that equated human welfare and the will of the gods with centralized political power, military [ READ MORE ]

Origins of the Machine

Lewis Mumford does an excellent job of describing how this happened, and where it happened. It happened a long time ago: in Mesopotamia and Egypt at the same time early civilization was developing – from about 3000 to 600 BC.  Its first components were people, who functioned as easily replaceable components – much like any functionary in [ READ MORE ]

The Sacrifice of Life to Power

I am still on a Mumford kick – this time on a book I just got The Pentagon of Power. Mumford himself is circumspect about being seen as too much of a radical, but it doesn’t take a genius – indeed, it only takes someone like me – to see the radical implications of his [ READ MORE ]

The CEO as Ruthless Killer

The ruthless killer is one of our basic human roles – and this role has not gone away – just denied. But like all denials this is dangerous because we are denying a basic part of ourselves – which operates undercover more than ever – because there is nothing to stop it. We have become [ READ MORE ]

The Importance of Ritual, Part II

This is a continuation of my previous posting The Importance of Ritual in Human Development. As I continued to read Lewis Mumford about this, I had to copy more of his writing – such as this paragraph on Page 62: By means of ritual, I suggest, early man confronted and overcame his own strangeness, identified himself with [ READ MORE ]

The Importance of Ritual in Human Development

I continue with my study of Lewis Mumford’s Technics and Human Development. My previous posting was about The Dream Time of Long Ago - which no one commented on, probably because it was too far out – or actually, too far back. We refuse to believe human development began in prehistory – which shows how [ READ MORE ]

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