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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Matter with Things | 3/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matter_with_Things | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T08:54:38.169975+00:00 | kb-cron |
This is the era of 'infotainment,' egregious public lies, corrosive cynicism, scientific fundamentalism, the barbaric functionalizing of education, and the Balkanization of public argument." Finally: "In the long run, I imagine, McGilchrist would say that this is an unforgivingly big book because his subject matter is unforgivingly urgent and complex. And he addresses this with an extraordinary blend of detailed clinical evidence, a keen eye for the illusions of popular culture, a style of exemplary simplicity and energy, and a consistent moral passion." Writing for First Things magazine, Dan Hitchens described The Matter With Things as a book that "may mark the end of the Age of Darwin and the beginning of a new intellectual era." Whereas the Darwinian account produced a vision of the cosmos as an "unfathomable, pointless expanse, punctuated by rocks and fireballs, nothing to history but 13.7 billion years of chemical reactions, in which humans appear for a blink of an eye and then disappear," McGilchrist presents an alternative story that is sufficiently compelling and well-grounded as to effectively negate the materialist picture of reality.