Our Modern World

 Philip Goff, right near the end of his book, Galileo's Error says:

In the early twentieth century, Max Weber wrote of the “disenchantment” of nature caused by modernity and the rise of capitalism. In a religious or traditional worldview, the universe is filled with meaning and purpose; as Weber put it, “the world remained a great magical garden.” The modern scientific worldview, in contrast, seems to present us with an immense universe entirely devoid of meaning, in which human beings are a tiny and painfully temporary accident.

This can lead to a sense of alienation. We seem to have nothing in common with the universe, no real home within it. The “big picture” story of the universe is one of insentient and meaningless physical processes, from which we are a senseless aberration. In the absence of a place in the universe, we have only consumerism and the endless quest for economic growth to make sense of our lives.

This problem of “cosmic alienation” has grown worse as society has become more globalized. When one is embedded in a traditional society, ignorant of the plurality of social forms across the globe, the conditioned meanings of one’s society seem to define the cosmos. One lives not in a meaningless universe but in a world with sense and purpose. However, globalized markets have eroded many traditional forms of life; international chain stores have conquered the centers of communities; advertising now fills all corners of public space. Where local beauty is preserved, it is only as a quaint museum piece for globe-trotting tourists.

Yes indeed. We live deeply alien lives where meaning and purpose have been erased and replaced by bleak existential angst and despair. We lose ourselves in the daily activities of existence. Pretending things like our wealth, status, possessions, are important. Trying to replace the meaning to our lives that has been eradicated by the modern western metaphysic. Lest existential dread consumes our souls.

The modern western Weltanschauung has been utterly devastating in transforming the image we had of ourselves as spiritual beings living in a world full of magic and ultimate purpose. The lack of a story of what we are, where we come from, why we're here, has wrought unparalleled damage to our collective psyches.