Relational Reality: New Discoveries of Interrelatedness That Are Transforming the Modern World. By Charlene Spretnak.

Abstract

The backdrops to this book are the mechanistic assumptions of the modern scientific worldview and the theory that the autonomous rational individual self can control the world. Although ‘man’s’ capacity to ‘control’ the conditions of life through ‘rationality’ and ‘technology’ is one of the hallmarks of modern scientific optimism about the future of the world, Spretnak believes this assumption has created the crises the world faces today. The most significant among these crises is the threat that overconsumption of resources and energy and overpopulation pose to the conditions of life on planet earth. Related problems are the failure of educational and health systems, the growing alienation of those who live in the world’s cities from each other and the web of life and the failure of global economies. Spretnak believes that the solution to all of these crises requires a return to the concept of ‘relational reality’ and with it recognition of the ‘interrelatedness’ of human beings with each other and with the whole web of life.