The Ignorance Explosion : Understanding Industrial Civilization

Table of Contents

• Contents 8
• List of illustrations 12
• List of tables 14
• List of "boxes" 16
• Designation of references 18
• Abbreviations 20
• Preface 22
• Acknowledgements 26
• Introduction 28
• 1. The paradox of human progress 30
• Notes 39
• 2. Humanities, social and physical sciences: the two cultures 40
• The cultural gap 42
• The issue of accessibility 43
• The psychological gap 45
• Traditional culture and education 46
• The inescapable predicament of social sciences 49
• The ineradicable gap 57
• Notes 58
• References 58
• Appendix: Some gems of obfuscatory (sociological and other) jargon 60
• 3. Technology: the land of many faces 64
• The critics of technology 66
• Embracing the unknown 71
• The blessings and curses of industrial civilization 85
• Technology: a domain unique to the human species 86
• Extension of human capabilities 87
• People: the inhumane users of technology 89
• The dehumanizer and depersonalizer 95
• Technology the unforgiving 101
• The agent of constant change 103
• Population, environment and resources 107
• The causes of suffering 111
• The benefits of democratic industrialization 113
• The Third World and the West: the precarious gap 117
• Difficulties in the West 131
• Notes 133
• References 137
• 4. The ignorance explosion 140
• Human intellectual capacity 142
• The growth of science 144
• Specialization 147
• The complexity of science and the environment 148
• The immediacy and obsolescence of information 149
• The vanishing grasp 150
• New tools and techniques 152
• Some future limitations 159
• Superhumans and superscience 162
• Notes 169
• References 169
• Appendix: On estimating the magnitude of complexity 172
• 5. The brave new world of globalization 174
• The origins 176
• A historical perspective 177
• Continental integration: the United States 179
• Science: a precursor of globalization 181
• Toward a voluntary federation of nations 181
• A rough road to European Union 184
• Globalization of industrial operations 190
• Internationalization of labour 196
• Environmental challenge to sovereignty 198
• The relentless progress of globalization 200
• Notes 200
• References 201
• 6. Language in the service of identity—or communication? 204
• Latin: a historical illustration 207
• The communication imperative: India and Africa 208
• The communication imperative: China and Japan 209
• Toward efficient spelling 213
• English as the modern lingua franca 214
• The early imperatives of communication 215
• Science 216
• Diplomacy, international organizations, business and education 219
• Global audience and standards 220
• Internationalization of vocabularies and lifestyles 226
• Preservation of linguistic identity 230
• Toward a common language 238
• Notes 240
• References 241
• 7. Technology and war 242
• Nuclear weapons: what are they good for? 246
• The Maginot Line of the space age 251
• The missile systems game 255
• The supreme deterrent 257
• What makes deterrence effective? 259
• Containing the arms race 261
• The need for "minimal deterrent" 262
• Notes 263
• References 263
• 8. Jettisoning the harness of biology 266
• Prolonging life—or death? 268
• Playing God 270
• The tyranny of sexual gratification 276
• Notes 278
• 9. Has vision been lost? 280
• Notes 288
• References 289
• Indexes 290
• Subject Index 290
• A 290
• B 290
• C 290
• D 291
• E 292
• F 292
• G 293
• H 293
• I 293
• J 294
• K 294
• L 294
• M 295
• N 295
• O 295
• P 295
• Q 296
• R 296
• S 296
• T 297
• U 298
• V 298
• W 298
• X 298
• Name Index 299
• A 299
• B 299
• C 299
• D 299
• E 299
• F 299
• G 299
• H 299
• J 299
• K 299
• L 299
• M 300
• N 300
• O 300
• P 300
• R 300
• S 300
• T 300
• V 301
• W 301
• Z 301