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World
History
And The Eonic Effect
Civilization, Darwinism,
and Theories of Evolution
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.
Combining the methods of complex systems and the philosophy
of history, we can create a novel type of historical model, using nothing more
than periodization to clock a macroevolutionary dynamic of transitions, in the
process throwing new light on the descent of man, and the limits of current
evolutionary theories such as the Darwinian theory of natural selection.
This elegant and simple model operating on two levels can
help to sort out the frequent confusion of biological and cultural evolution,
along with the contradictions of historicism and historical inevitability. This
account of the ‘evolution of freedom’ without metaphysics gives us the key
to the evolution of consciousness. 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.
The Book
 Online Resources
The eonic effect is a discovery arrived at with
nothing more than careful periodization and a special type of systems model. The
result is spectacular, but subtle. This discovery can also help us to see the
limits of Darwinian theory, and resolve the confusion over history and
evolution. We
are so conditioned to ideas of random evolution and flat history that the sudden perception of a
non-random pattern in our own back yard comes as a surprise, but the evidence speaks
powerfully for itself. The
result is to find a deep coherence to the emergence of civilization, and throws light on
the confusions of the science of history, in the process giving us a clue to the
evolution of man. We must revise our thinking on the issues of historical
directionality, teleology and evolutionary progress.
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The Eonic Effect Our objective to
demonstrate a non-random pattern in world history.
What
is the Eonic Effect?
The Eonic Effect
Falsifying Darwinism
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History and Evolution As we discover the eonic effect, a sudden suspicion
arises that this is what evolution must really be like, and that something is
awry with Darwin's theory of natural selection. We need to examine the meaning
of evolution, and create a definition of that harmonizes its relation to visible
history. We see that history and evolution are braided processes that overlap,
and that Darwin's theory fails a photo finish test.
History and Evolution
Descent of Man
Revisited
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The Axial Age
There are two aspects of the eonic effect, a sequential and parallel
pattern. The question of the Axial Age can be clarified by seeing its
relationship to the eonic effect.
Enigma of the Axial Age
New Ages
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Theory and Ideology Questions of
ideology have always haunted evolutionary theories. Our study of the eonic
effect provides a powerful new method to take into account the factor of
ideological viewpoint.
Theory and Ideology
Historicism and The
Oedipus Effect
Evolution of Morality
Critique of Evolutionary Economy
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Need
for a Model The eonic effect suggests a very simple model to illustrate its
properties. This kind of model can give us a new approach to both historical
and evolutionary theories.
The Eonic Model
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Philosophy of History Even as we
construct our model we discover a connection to the philosophy of history,
and this can help us answer the question, Is there a science of
history?
Kant's Challenge
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The Darwin Debate
The discovery of evolution was revolutionary, but
Darwin's theory of natural selection has ignited an endless controversy, now
with the Intelligent Design movement attempting to reinject theology into a
scientific research program. Questions of metaphysics, ideology, and scientific
methodology haunt the debate, 'one long argument'. Part of the problem is the
failure to distinguish theory from the fact of evolution, or to properly observe
the actual mechanics of natural selection. Debriefing Darwinism
Legacy of Darwinism
Debates and Darwin Trials
Darwinism
in Historical Context
Economics
and Evolution
Descent of Man Revisited
Id in
Class?
Beyond The ID Debate
Toward
A Postdarwinian
Liberalism
Kant and
Design
Time Article
on Darwin Debate
Toward A Secular Postdarwinism
Once we have laid the foundations of our eonic model we have a set
of powerful tools to examine and study both world history and contemporary
culture in a new way. The full text of World History
and the Eonic Effect explores a host of issues beyond this
introduction, from Greek Tragedy to the evolution of religion, the emergence of
freedom and the nature of modernity, the confusion of modern and postmodern
ideologies, and much else.
The Fallacy of Random Evolution
Darwin's theory is really about random evolution. There has always been
an implausibility about the potential of randomness to generate
complexity. Nothing ever changes in the Darwin debate, and the claims for random
evolution have never been properly documented. Looking at history we see
something else. If we can detect non-random evolution in any form, that is a
powerful challenge to Darwinian thinking. Falsifying
random evolution
 A
New Model of History
Detecting the macro-structure of world history
requires careful detective work. Current theories of evolution throw us off the
scent. Real evolution is almost visible to the naked eye but requires that we
look at history in a new way to see what it is showing us. A new way to model
history is needed to elicit the deep structure of historical dynamics. The
result allows us to deal with questions of ideology and theory, directionality
and teleology, and the evolution of consciousness. Notes
Toward An Eonic Model
The Enigma of the Axial Age
One of the most significant discoveries of the revolution of
modern historical knowledge has been that of the Axial Age. This data, an aspect
of the eonic effect, is the smoking gun for non-random evolution. Is evolution a global
process able to produce synchronous effects over large regions? As we
close in our the eonic effect we discover the evidence of both a sequential and
a parallel dynamic. This evolutionary parallelism demonstrates clearly the
existence of a global evolution and in the process illuminates the
confusions of the so-called Axial Age as described by the philosopher Karl
Jaspers. Some essays on the Axial Age
Kant's Challenge
Is there a pattern of universal history?
What is the relation
of evolution and history?
The
challenge to find the resolution of historical evolution as Universal History finds
a classic realization in the essay of the philosopher Immanuel Kant, in his
Idea for a
Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Point of View. The pattern of the
eonic effect closes in on this challenge and uncovers the hidden significance of
this classic work of modernity's greatest philosopher. Kant's formulation allows
us to adopt a critical stance toward the pitfalls of both metaphysical history
and narrow empiricism. Kant's
Challenge
The Darwin Debate
The debate over evolution is one of the most
persistent features of modern culture. This debate has persisted since the first
reviewers of Darwin's Origin, and before. Now the lists are joined by the
so-called Intelligent Design movement attempting to revive the world of Paley
and natural theology. Debriefing
Darwinism
 Evolution
blog
Darwiniana
The current Darwin debate and the Intelligent Design
movement is tracked and subject to commentary and analysis.
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