Explorers on the Edge of Time

We have mentioned in the past that our turbulent times very much resemble the fragmentation and disintegration and incoherence (or entropy, if you will) of the civilisation of the Late Middle Ages, also known as “Christendom” or “Holy Roman Empire” or “Age of the Church”. And yet this period of great unrest also saw the emergence of early Renaissance and Age of Discovery, both premissed on the revelation or disclosure of space and spaciousness and the urgent need to organise this spaciousness. So it also witnessed a shift from the Age of the Church to the Age of the Nation State as part of this new re-organisation of space.

But today the emphasis is shifting from space to time, and it would be very appropriate to consider ourselves explorers at the edge of time.

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Navigating the Maelstrom

In case you may have missed my link to Brad Stulberg’s “A Brief Guide to Navigating Periods of Disorder“, here it is again. I find it to be very sound advice for getting through this period of transition and not succumbing ourselves to Pogany’s transitional “havoc” or to what Gebser calls the “maelstrom of blind anxiety” attendant upon this transitional era.

Havoc and the Great Unraveling

Long-time subscribers to The Chrysalis may recall the name Peter Pogany, the late Hungarian economist who wrote the book Havoc, Thy Name is Twenty-First Century. I gave it a brief review in a earlier (November, 2015) posting entitled “The Near Future: A Picture of “Havoc”” Current events would seem to bear out his dire forecast for a world descending into havoc or “the Great Unraveling”, so I’ve turned to it again for some insights into the present situation and his thoughts on our transition to a saner world. Pogany was influenced by Jean Gebser, whose works we have frequently referred to here in The Chrysalis.

I thought I would bring up Pogany’s book again for those who are perplexed and dismayed at current events, as it might be helpful. I will by commenting on it as I work my way through it once more.