`Author:` Jeremy Lent `Availability:` [[Audio-books]] > [!info] > > https://theecologist.org/2018/jul/03/beating-system-metaphorically > ![[patterning-instinct-3848258196.jpg]] ## Quotes #### **On Cultural Worldviews and Humanity’s Path** 1. **“The values by which any [[Culture]] lives are embedded in the deepest metaphors they use to describe the cosmos and their place in it.”** • Lent argues that worldviews shape the trajectory of societies, influencing how they interact with each other and the natural world. 2. **“It’s not human [[Nature]] that has led us to this point, but the cultural path we have followed.”** • This challenges the notion of human nature as static and instead places responsibility on choices rooted in culture and thought systems. #### **On [[Ecology]] and Interconnectedness** 3. **“The scientific revolution opened a new era of seeing the world as a machine rather than an organism.”** • Lent critiques the mechanistic worldview that arose in the West, leading to ecological and social disconnection. 4. **“The web of [[Meaning]] that connects us to the natural world is being severed, but it is within our power to weave it anew.”** • A call to rediscover and rebuild a sense of interconnectedness with nature and each other. #### **On Eastern and Western Thought** 5. **“Western thought tends to separate the world into discrete objects, whereas traditional Chinese thought emphasised the [[Relationships]] between things.”** • Lent explores the contrasts between individualistic and holistic paradigms of [[Thinking]]. 6. **“The yin-yang concept of complementary opposites offers a way to harmonise rather than dominate.”** • Highlighting Eastern [[Philosophy]] as a potential framework for addressing imbalances in the modern worldview. #### **On Potential Futures** 7. **“We are at a fork in the road: one path leads to collapse, the other to a new ecological civilisation.”** • Lent underscores the urgency of rethinking societal values to avert ecological and social crises. 8. **“Meaning is not something we discover but something we create, both individually and collectively.”** • A hopeful assertion that humanity has the agency to redefine its future. #### **On Systems Thinking and Cultural [[Evolution]]** 9. **“The patterns of thought that shape a [[Civilisation]] determine the limits of its potential and the seeds of its destruction.”** • Emphasising the importance of examining underlying cultural narratives. 10. **“By recognising the cognitive frameworks that got us here, we can begin to unpick them and chart a new course.”** • Lent promotes conscious reflection on inherited assumptions to enable transformative [[Change]]. ## Key takeaways - ## Notes ## Summary `Concepts:` [[Sociology]] [[Books index]] `Knowledge Base:`