Theos-Talk Archives (November 2005 Message tt00067)

New Web book: Descent of Man Revisited

World History and The Eonic Effect, the study of history and evolution, is 
designed as a set of modular components, with four books dovetailed in one, 
one of them being Descent of Man Revisited, which has extensive selections 
online. 
_http://www.history-and-evolution.com/wbk_intro.htm_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/wbk_intro.htm) 


Quick Tour
1. Introduction
The study of history itself can give us the evidence of a non-random 
pattern, which is nothing less than a '_glimpse of evolution_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/intro1_1.htm) '. This constitutes a _falsification of 
Darwinism_ (http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/intro1_3.htm) , and we can 
proceed to interpret the meaning of that visible structure of world history. 
But first we need to consider the problems that arise in the Darwinian view of 
natural selection, _the legacy of Darwinism_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/intro1_2.htm) , and the _metaphysical pitfalls_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/intro1_5.htm) of theories of any kind. 

2. Mysterious Drumbeat
We are ready to begin, and look at the _eonic effect_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chaptwo2_1.htm) , and its relation to question of the 
'Axial Age'. The _implications _ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chaptwo2_1_2.htm) of this pattern are remarkable, and the result can only be 
called evolution. We see the challenge this offers to the question of human 
emergence, and consider the _Great Explosion_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chaptwo2_2.htm) , developing a '_photo finish_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chaptwo2_2_1.htm) ' argument, and then explore the _problems 
of observability_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chaptwo2_2_2.htm) in Darwinian claims. 
We proceed to clarify the paradox of _history and evolution_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chaptwo2_3.htm) , take up the classic theme of 
_historicism_ (http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chaptwo2_3_1.htm) , find 
a way to bypass the 'free will'/determinism issue via self-consciousness 
concepts, and then examine the question, _Does Man Make Himself? _ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chaptwo2_4.htm) The central, though tricky, 
distinction of '_eonic determination and free action_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chaptwo2_4_1.htm) ' is developed. We have starting point for 
our 'eonic model' as a '_formal evolution of freedom_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chaptwo2_4_2.htm) '. Other sections of the text, not online, 
examine this in relation to 'metanarratives of freedom' in the vein of 
postmodern critiques. 
We need a new approach to _theories_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chaptwo2_5_1.htm) , and their _ideologies_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chaptwo2_5_2.htm) , and a close look at the way _Social 
Darwinism_ (http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chaptwo2_5.htm) arises. 

3. Idea For A Universal History 
We have the basis for a new type of historical model, free of the problems 
of 'historical inevitability' that confuse efforts to find a science of 
history, but we need to connect this with a theme from the philosophy of history, 
and will examine a _classic essay of Kant_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chapthree3_3.htm) at the end of our exploration of the basics of the 
eonic effect. First we develop a '_short history of the world_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chapthree3_1.htm) ', lay the _foundations of 
the model_ (http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chapthree3_1_1.htm) as a 
series of transitions, and then explore the '_stream and sequence_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chapthree3_1_2.htm) ' and 'frontier effects' 
of the eonic pattern. Then we discover the subtle properties of the _rise of 
the modern_ (http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chapthree3_2.htm) in 
this light, and reach the core mystery seen in the Great Divide, and the 
'_discrete freedom sequence_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chapthree3_2_1.htm) '. This gives us a clue to problem of evolutionary theories, and a 
connection to a classic theme of Kant. The issue of the divide gives us the 
clue to the _history behind the Old Testament_ 
(http://www.history-and-evolution.com/2nd/chapthree3_2_2.htm) . 
We have the complete foundation for a new study of world history, and the 
book proceeds to an expansion of our initial formulation. 

John Landon
nemonemini@aol.com
jcl99@columbia.edu

Site for
World History 
And The Eonic Effect
Second Edition
_http://history-and-evolution.com_ (http://history-and-evolution.com/) 
Darwiniana: An Evolution Blog
_http://darwiniana.com_ (http://darwiniana.com/) 

_______________

At a time when theories of evolution are under renewed controversy, 
discussion is hampered by the remoteness of the phenomenon of evolution, and the use 
of indirect inference to speculate about deep time. Adherents of Darwinism 
often defend dogmatic versions of the theory that have been questioned since 
the first reviewers of Origin of Species. 


Now Darwinism is under siege from the Intelligent Design movement, 
threatening the school system. The attempt to hijack the debate using long discredited 
arguments by design tends to make Darwinists close ranks around their flawed 
science. The debate is deadlocked by the rigidity of both parties, evidence 
of fixed agendas, and metaphysical presumptions. A new approach is needed. 
The study of history itself holds the clue if we can find it.

We live in the first generations with enough historical data to detect a 
pattern of Universal History. The discovery of this pattern, the Eonic Effect, 
uncovers the evidence for a deep structure resembling punctuated equilibrium 
in world history itself. The study of history and evolution together shows us 
something we had missed and allows us to infer the existence of non-random 
evolution in the emergence of man. Darwinian theory suffers from low evidence 
density. The Eonic Effect is the only data we have at high evidence density of 
evolution as a process in real time, and this transforms our views 
completely.

We see the real evolution of man as the Great Transition, the human passage 
from evolution to history, in the chronicle of the once and future Origin of 
the Species, Man. 






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