The Ignorance Explosion: Understanding Industrial Civilization

301 Pages·1994·17.79 MB·English

by  Julius Lukasiewicz

THE IGNORANCE
EXPLOSION
Understanding Industrial
Civilization
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THE IGNORANCE
EXPLOSION
Understanding Industrial
Civilization
JULIUS LUKASIEWICZ
Carleton University Press
Ottawa, Canada
1994
© Julius Lukasiewicz, 1994
Printed and bound in Canada
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Lukasiewicz, J.
The ignorance explosion : understanding
industrial civilization
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-88629-234-4 (bound) -
ISBN 0-88629-237-9 (pbk.)
1. Technology-Social aspects.
2. Civilization, Modern-20th century. I. Title.
CB78.L851994 303.48'3 C94-900171-6
Carleton University Press Distributed in Canada by
160 Paterson Hall
Carleton University Oxford University Press Canada,
1125 Colonel By Drive 70 Wynf ord Drive,
Ottawa, Ontario Don Mills, Ontario,
K1S 5B6 Canada. M3C 1J9
[phone] [phone]
Cover concept: Julius Lukasiewicz
Cover design: Y Graphics, Julius Lukasiewicz
Typeset by: Carleton Production Centre, Nepean
Acknowledgments
Carleton University Press gratefully acknowledges the support extended
to its publishing programme by the Canada Council and the financial
assistance of the Ontario Arts Council.
The Press would also like to thank the Department of Canadian Heritage,
Government of Canada, and the Government of Ontario through the Min-
istry of Culture, Tourism and Recreation, for their assistance.
To the memory of my wife
HALINA
V
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Contents
List of illustrations, xi
List of tables, xiii
List of "boxes", xv
Designation of references, xvii
Abbreviations, xix
Preface, xxi
Acknowledgements, xxv
Introduction, xxvii
1. The paradox of human progress, 1
Notes, 10
2. Humanities, social and physical sciences: the two cultures, 11
The cultural gap, 13
The issue of accessibility, 14
The psychological gap, 16
Traditional culture and education, 17
The inescapable predicament of social sciences, 20
The ineradicable gap, 28
Notes, 29
References, 29
Appendix: Some gems of obfuscatory
(sociological and other) jargon, 31
3. Technology: the land of many faces, 35
The critics of technology, 37
Embracing the unknown, 42
The blessings and curses of industrial civilization, 56
vn
CONTENTS
Technology: a domain unique to the human species, 57
Extension of human capabilities, 58
People: the inhumane users of technology, 60
The dehumanizer and depersonalizer, 66
Technology the unforgiving, 72
The agent of constant change, 74
Population, environment and resources, 78
The causes of suffering, 82
The benefits of democratic industrialization, 84
The Third World and the West: the precarious gap, 88
Difficulties in the West, 102
Notes, 104
References, 108
4. The ignorance explosion, 111
Human intellectual capacity, 113
The growth of science, 115
Specialization, 118
The complexity of science and the environment, 119
The immediacy and obsolescence of information, 120
The vanishing grasp, 121
New tools and techniques, 123
Some future limitations, 130
Superhumans and superscience, 133
Notes, 140
References, 140
Appendix: On estimating the magnitude of complexity, 143
5. The brave new world of globalization, 145
The origins, 147
A historical perspective, 148
Continental integration: the United States, 150
Science: a precursor of globalization, 152
Toward a voluntary federation of nations, 152
A rough road to European Union, 155
Globalization of industrial operations, 161
Internationalization of labour, 167
Environmental challenge to sovereignty, 169
The relentless progress of globalization, 171
Notes, 171
References, 172
vm
CONTENTS
6. Language in the service of identity— or communication?, 175
Latin: a historical illustration, 178
The communication imperative: India and Africa, 179
The communication imperative: China and Japan, 180
Toward efficient spelling, 184
English as the modern lingua franca, 185
The early imperatives of communication, 186
Science, 187
Diplomacy, international organizations, business and education, 190
Global audience and standards, 191
Internationalization of vocabularies and lifestyles, 197
Preservation of linguistic identity, 201
Toward a common language, 209
Notes, 211
References, 212
7. Technology and war, 213
Nuclear weapons: what are they good for?, 217
The Maginot Line of the space age, 222
The missile systems game, 226
The supreme deterrent, 228
What makes deterrence effective?, 230
Containing the arms race, 232
The need for "minimal deterrent", 233
Notes, 234
References, 234
8. Jettisoning the harness of biology, 237
Prolonging life — or death?, 239
Playing God, 241
The tyranny of sexual gratification, 247
Notes, 249
9. Has vision been lost?, 251
Notes, 259
References, 260
Indexes, 261
Subject Index, 261
Name Index, 270
IX