Author: Mark Chou File Type: pdf Beginning with the premise that democracies are often deeply implicated in their own downfall, The Theory of Democide challenges the conventional view of how and why democracies collapse by demonstrating that democratic collapse is often a direct result of the inherent logic of democracy itself. **

Author: Fritjof Capra File Type: pdf The author of the bestselling The Tao of Physics and The Web of Life explores the profound social implications of emerging scientific principles and provides an innovative framework for using them to understand and solve some of the most important issues of our time.For most of history, scientific investigation was based on linear thinking. But the 1980s brought a revolutionary change. With the advent of improved computer power, scientists could apply complexity theory--nonlinear thinking--to scientific processes far more easily than ever before. Physicist Fritjof Capra was at the forefront of the revolution, and in The Web of Life he extended its scope by showing the impact of complexity theory on living organisms. In The Hidden Connections he breaks through another frontier, this time applying the principles of complexity theory to an analysis of the broad sphere of all human interactions.Capra posits that in order to sustain life in the future, the principles underlying our social institutions must be consistent with the organization that nature has evolved to sustain the web of life. In a lucid and convincing argument, Capra explains how the theoretical ideas of science can be applied to the practical concerns of our time. Covering every aspect of human nature and society, he discusses such vital matters as the management of human organizations, the challenges and dangers of economic globalization, and the nature and the problems of biotechnology. He concludes with an authoritative, often provocative plan for designing ecologically sustainable communities and technologies as alternatives to the current economic globalization.A brilliant, incisive examination of the relationship between science and our social systems, The Hidden Connections will spark enormous debate in the scientific community and inspire us to think about the future of humanity in a new way.From Publishers WeeklyPhysicist and bestselling author Capra (The Tao of Physics and The Web of Life) delivers another fascinating discourse that explores of the interconnectedness of all living (and some nonliving) things, from the first life form of protocells to the development of language, culture, social mores and customs, spirituality and the global economy. That may be a lot of ground to cover in one book, but Capra gracefully cruises from 3.8 billion years ago, which marked the emergence of a universal ancestor from which all subsequent life on Earth descended through the present. Capra moves seamlessly through the evolution of cognition and thought in a total rethink of Cartesian notions, he suggests that consciousness is not only a biological, but also a social phenomenon. Other topics include tool-making (which Capra calls the earliest form of technology), language development (which, he explains, developed as a secondary need to tool-making) and the social loops of culture. Readers would do well to heed Capras remarkably unpreachy warnings about the depletion of natural resources. Here is a book that not only moves readers to think about the larger picture, but also places them squarely in the middle of it, as they travel the interlinking and continual loop of the network. 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. ReviewCritical Acclaim for Fritjof CapraThe Tao of PhysicsA pioneering book of real value and wide appeal. - Washington PostA brilliant best-seller... Lucidly analyzes the tenets of Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism to show their striking parallels with the latest discoveries in cyclotrons. - New York magazineFritjof Capra, in The Tao of Physics, seeks... an integration of the mathematical world view of modern physics and the mystical visions of Buddha and Krishna. Where others have failed miserably in trying to unite these seemingly different world views, Capra, a high-energy theorist, has succeeded admirably. I strongly recommend the book to both layman and scientist. - V. N. Mansfield, Physics TodayI have been reading the book with amazement and the greatest interest, recommending it to everyone I meet, and as often as possible, in my lectures. I think [Capra has] done a magnificent and extremely important job. - Joseph CampbellThe Web of LifeA sweeping vision of the scientific landscape and probably his finest work. - Lynn Margolis, University of MassachusettsThe acclaimed author of The Tao of Physics puts modern biology and ecology under his revisionist scrutiny... fascinating. - Kirkus ReviewsThis book, a rare blending of the heart and the head, should be required reading. - Theodore Roszak, Director, Ecopsychology Institute, California State University, Hayward, and author of The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein