Quantum Jump was written for individuals trying to make sense of the rapid social and political changes overtaking their lives. Clement explains how our civilization is undergoing a translation similar to the European Renaissance, the development of managed agriculture or the invention of writing. Each of these eras brought about new world-views and broadened the intellectual scope through which we perceive our world. The Renaissance was triggered by the discovery of perspective — the means to manipulate three dimensions — and implemented by the bill of exchange and new mathematics. Our newest era began in 1900 with the discovery that the universe exists in many more than three dimensions. Exploration of this realm via mathematics and computers will drive the immediate future. This is a guide to surviving the jump from the industrial age to the onrushing era of hyperspace. The changes wrought by this era transition are already formidable — the rise of global capitalism and new industries, the collapse of the Soviet Union — but they are only the beginning. History shows that era transitions are juggernauts, imposing massive individual, cultural and social adaptation. Clement analyzes current responses, from retreats into tribalism to the erection of a "New World Order" of global corporatism and trading blocs; he concludes that neither is viable. Instead, he points to skills like tangential and lateral thinking that will better equip individual readers with the points of view required in tomorrow's world. Clement is a refreshingly astute voice in the realm of political and social analysis. Praise for W.R. Clement's Quantum Jump: "[Clement] argues persuasively that the discovery of quantum mechanics is having the same kind of effect on modern minds that the application of perspective to art had 500 years ago ... his fascinating ... book deserves a wide audience." — Monday Magazine "Social scientists will be debating the next millennium until we are well into it. This book gets the discussion started." — Quill & Quire
Author(s): W.R. Clement
Year: 1998
Language: English
Pages: 485
Table of contents......Page 8
THE AUTHOR'S PERSPECTIVE: Welcome to Renaissance 2.0......Page 10
PART I: Filtering the Background Noise: the hyperspace era begins......Page 30
1 How the World Changes: It all depends on your perspective......Page 32
2 A New World-View: The orderly industrial worlds starts to get creaky......Page 58
3 Meet the New World Order: Is this what the corporate world calls "a white knight to the rescue?"......Page 84
4 Time Out: What do we mean by a new era in history?......Page 102
PART II: What's Wrong with this Picture? Fault lines in the New World Order......Page 120
5 Flaws in the New World Order: Some fatal, some just tacky......Page 122
6 A Brief History of Conspiracy Theory: How the Cold War was won, and what went wrong......Page 136
7 Pride and Peril: people who count, and people who think they do......Page 158
8 Mismanagement School 101: The New World Order and the environment......Page 172
9 Lost in Cyberspace: Language, race, and religion on the edge......Page 190
10 Islam in Cyberspace: Loose nukes sink continents......Page 212
PART III: Life in Cyberspace......Page 228
11 Learning to Live in a Hyperspace World: Does this mean our brains will change?......Page 230
12 Culture in Hyperspace: This is not a-computer game......Page 246
13 Government in Hyperspace: The twilight of the nation state......Page 260
14 Challenging the New World Order: Watch out for falling dinosaurs......Page 276
15 The Superpower Trap: America's dangerous gamble......Page 292
PART IV: How to survive in a multi-dimensional world......Page 314
16 Life in the Cyberspace Era: How to survive and even enjoy an era transition......Page 316
17 Women in Cyberspace......Page 330
18 This is the Information Age? Loaded cannons and crossed wires......Page 346
19 First We Kill All the Censors: Why censorship is suicide......Page 378
20 A New Kind of World: A new kind of literacy......Page 392
21 All Aboard for a New Era: Leave your baggage at home......Page 416
EPILOGUE: The Philosopher's Stone: How John Dee turned Britain into gold......Page 442
INDEX......Page 476
B......Page 478
D......Page 479
G......Page 480
K......Page 481
M......Page 482
P......Page 483
T......Page 484
Z......Page 485
