Silence
06-16-2019, 06:25 AM
I posted this in the "book reviews" section here, but since the topic relates to how the church functions and teaches, I thought I would post it here also. The ending of the book "A General Theory of Love" sounds almost like a plea to heed the last verse in Malachi, but there is plenty in the whole book that is more consistent with biblical Christianity than what we see today in the "west". Below in bold print is what I posted in the "book review" section of the forum.
I recently read a book titled "A General Theory of Love and was floored by how ignorant "western" culture has been of some of the most basic human needs. The book lays out several lines of evidence that clearly show just how dependent we are on each other from before we are born to when we die. The old quote "I am the master of my soul" is B.S. as well as the ridiculous emphasis we place on individualism. This ignorance may play a big part in the 500 year historical cycle, where the balance of world power shifts from the "east" to the "west" and back again. Individualistic western culture, with the freedom people have to innovate, can out-produce eastern cultures, which are more traditional and family oriented. But in the long run, the focus on the individual gets out of hand and ignorance (or flat out denial) of our interdependence and what we require socially eventually starts to take a toll and the individuals produced in such a society do not develop properly. Iaian McGilchrist wrote a book titled "The Master and His Emissary" that warns of a new danger - in the recent past, the "eastern" cultures have started abandoning their traditional ways so they can have the same material "prosperity" that the "western" cultures have. In the past, these traditional cultures have been a balancing, stabilizing force when western cultures collapse. I don't know if Dr. McGilchrist has read "A General Theory of Love", but some of the implications of his work dovetails with it pretty closely. I wish every person reading this review would read this book, along with every person in the "western world", but if not, then this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThFuqtLWcQw - is an interview with one of the authors that mentions just a very few of the things that humans need from each other. Things we used to think were part of the "autonomous" nervous system are actually not self-contained or self-regulating. prepare to be surprised.
I recently read a book titled "A General Theory of Love and was floored by how ignorant "western" culture has been of some of the most basic human needs. The book lays out several lines of evidence that clearly show just how dependent we are on each other from before we are born to when we die. The old quote "I am the master of my soul" is B.S. as well as the ridiculous emphasis we place on individualism. This ignorance may play a big part in the 500 year historical cycle, where the balance of world power shifts from the "east" to the "west" and back again. Individualistic western culture, with the freedom people have to innovate, can out-produce eastern cultures, which are more traditional and family oriented. But in the long run, the focus on the individual gets out of hand and ignorance (or flat out denial) of our interdependence and what we require socially eventually starts to take a toll and the individuals produced in such a society do not develop properly. Iaian McGilchrist wrote a book titled "The Master and His Emissary" that warns of a new danger - in the recent past, the "eastern" cultures have started abandoning their traditional ways so they can have the same material "prosperity" that the "western" cultures have. In the past, these traditional cultures have been a balancing, stabilizing force when western cultures collapse. I don't know if Dr. McGilchrist has read "A General Theory of Love", but some of the implications of his work dovetails with it pretty closely. I wish every person reading this review would read this book, along with every person in the "western world", but if not, then this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThFuqtLWcQw - is an interview with one of the authors that mentions just a very few of the things that humans need from each other. Things we used to think were part of the "autonomous" nervous system are actually not self-contained or self-regulating. prepare to be surprised.