The following is Chapter 11 from Dr. T.D. Halls book Lifting the Earth.

For reprint information, contact Hall at hallograph@yahoo.com.

The Pattern of Human History

Whats past is prologue. William Shakespeare

In the West, the first theory of the pattern of human history was offered by the Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico (1668-1744), in his Scienzia Nuova (The New Science), first published in 1725. Vico was the first to see that the various institutions of nations are emanations of what he called ages and what I call foundational paradigms (life visions). In Vicos terms, the first age, the age of the gods, produces theocratic government; the second age, of heroes, produces aristocratic government; and the third, the age of men, produces representative government. William Shakespeare did his bit in the quest by offering the aphorism, Whats past is prologue. Indeed, the past is template for the future. However, the aphorism gives us no idea as to how novelty emerges in human history. How can something new and perhaps wondrous enter into the history of mankind? Shakespeare, I should add, does address the question of novelty in his miracle play The Tempest. More about this play in chapter 15. The quest initiated by Vico culminated in the modern period in Marxs dialectical materialism, and in the devolutionary theory of the American economist and social theorist Thorstein Veblen. Marx maintained that human history is essentially a record of class struggle. As a result of the development of commerce and industry, he

held, the merchant class becomes more and more powerful; and eventually, the most powerful figures within this class (the capitalists) assume the Power Seat in the social order. The capitalists start running the show, and because of their insatiable greed, run it into the ground at which point the victimized working class revolts. After the revolution, a dictatorship of the proletariat gets to sit in the Power Seat and, supposedly, prepare the way from a truly just society, one in which each gives according to his ability, and gets according to his need. Veblen looked upon Marxs vision of a proletarian golden age as utopian nonsense. There is indeed a pattern to mankinds history, Veblen argued, and the pattern is devolutionary. Mankind originated in a state of peaceable savagery, Veblen tells us, and thereafter commenced a long downward slide into the abyss of predation. Though I regard Veblen as one of my principal mentors, I differ with him on many issues. The key difference is this: I see the apparent devolution of our species as an inevitable, and perhaps necessary, part of our evolution. The rationale behind my point of view will become clear as this chapter unfolds. Fractal Dialectical Idealism Patterning in nature was described by Benoit Mandelbrot as fractalic. Bruce Lipton describes the design of the evolutionary process as fractalic. Everything is fractal! Lipton once exclaimed; and this assertion stirred my curiosity. Is it possible that the long-sought pattern of human history is fractalic? The answer I offer is yes. The label Ive coined to describe the pattern is fractal dialectical idealism. Definitions: Idealism refers to ideas of importance and to complexes of ideas, or paradigms. Dialectic means, literally, a conversation. In the present context, it refers to an often heated conversationone that issues, not infrequently, in war. Historically, the first idealism was aboriginal holism and the second was separatist barbarism. These idealisms represent the two sides of the basic dialectic underlying human history. In simple terms, the holistics are those who hold that we are

all related and all deserve a fair break, and the separatists are those who insist that we are better than thou and therefore entitled to run the show. Over time, the controversy between the holistics and separatists repeats itself, over and over, in ever more complicated terms. Same controversy, different degrees of complexity, which is why the pattern may be described as fractalic. Now As humans are holistic by nature, convincing re-articulations of holism (by prophets, philosophers, etc.) tend to garner wide support. The teachings of Jesus the Christ, for instance, represented a re-articulation of holism. God is Father (we are all related). Whats more, God is Love. The god of the Old Testament who enjoined the ancient Hebrews to slaughter the Palestinians, is certainly no god of Love; and so we may suppose that the ministry of Christ was meant to replace this god with the god of Love. As separatist philosophies tend to be self-serving, they rarely inspire widespread support. (More often than not, they inspire loathing.) Without widespread support, the heights of Power cannot be scaled; and so to create the support they require, separatist would-be world shakers have to co-opt movements that have wide support. (As a rule, where there is a powerful movement of any kind, youll find separatists endeavoring to take it over. Usually, they succeed.) For instance, the early Christian movement was co-opted by the Roman emperor Constantine, with the result that one sect of Christianity (the separatist sect, naturally) became the official religion of the Empire. As soon as Roman Catholicism was established as the state religion, writes Elaine Pagels in The Gnostic Gospels, the bishops, previously victimized by the police, commanded them. Possession of books denounced as heretical was made a criminal offense. Copies of such books were burned and destroyed. 1 In the Holy Bible brought into existence by Constantine, the Christ teachings are marginalized, and the separatist god of the old days, who ordered the extermination of the Palestinians, is equated with the god preached by Christ. What a travesty. Another example will be offered in the next chapterthe co-option of the new science of evolution by separatist thinkers. And so to come to the main thesis: Human history shows a repetitive pattern, and the pattern involves (1) The rise of a popular holistic truth movement, (2) take-over

of the movement by separatists, (3) expansion of the now power movement (a power movement is all about power, not truth) to world-shaking proportions, and, lastly, (4) the corruption and falling apart of the power movement. We can find a playing out of the pattern close to home: (1) The establishment of the United States as an egalitarian republic, the original New World Order; (2) the co-option of the United States government by members of a reactionary New World Order; (3) expansion of the reactionary power movement to super-power status; and (4) the corruption and falling apart of the power movement. It would certainly appear that we are well into stage four. Whats Next? Fasten your seat belts. Upcoming is the consummation, the final battle, between separatists and holistics. The separatists, under the pirated banner of New World Order, are in the last stages of their long war against the masses of humankind. (See the DVD Zeitgeist for details.) They are totally confident that they will succeed in their plan to turn planet Earth into the Kingdom of Mordor. At the same time, more and more people are awakening to the fact they are not, in Henry Kissingers terms, meat containers, but offspring of the Most Highthe greatest One of all. To the aid of the awakening is coming a new life vision scientific holism. Background to Scientific Holism We the People of the present end-times have a very interesting new beginningtimes option awaiting us, and that is the adoption of a new holistic life vision that will put the separatists out of office and the holistics into office. As science goes, so go the masses. This has been more and more the case, ever since Sir Francis Bacon suggested that the advisors to the king ought to be scientists (rather than theologians). Well the fact is more and more scientists are making a case for the holo-model of universe. The universe is a one thing that expresses itself in multitudinous ways. Aboriginal peoples have always intuitively understood that all

humans are children of the one Great Spirit. Western science is now validating that intuition. This movement of validation I call scientific holism. To fully understand the critical importance of scientific holism, we need to review, briefly, the cultural evolution of the civilization we call Western, a substantive name for which would be Monotheistic civilization. Western civilization is based, as are all civilizations, on the above-cited idealismsaboriginal holism and separatist barbarism. These idealisms may be considered sub-foundational paradigms. Atop these are foundational paradigms, or life visions. The foundational paradigms underlying Western civilization are: Greco-Roman polytheism, Judaic-Christian monotheism, and materialistic scientism. Greco-Roman polytheism. Under this paradigm, the Great Spirit of the aboriginals is fractured into many gods and goddesses (hence polytheism). The divine realm is now separate from the natural realm. The kingdom of Zeus is on Mount Olympus, and many of the gods make their primary residence there. There are still connections between the deities and nature, of course. The Great Ones are identified with the most powerful forces of nature. Poseidon, for instance, is god of the seas, and Aphrodite goddess of love. Nevertheless, the aboriginal oneness of divine and natural realms is gone. Earth, under this paradigm, is sacred still. Indeed, every mountain glen and spring has its guardian spirit. Humans, mere playthings of the gods, had better be respectful of nature. If they arent, they run the risk of incurring the wrath of the gods. Not a good thing. The paradigm offers very few ways of pleasing the gods. One way is to demonstrate great valor in war. If a warrior really impresses the gods, he might be made into a demi-god, which is a sort of honorary god. He might even get to become a star constellation. The bibles of this paradigm are the Greek and Roman myths and the Homeric epics the Iliad and the Odyssey. Judaic-Christian monotheism. Under this paradigm, the gods and goddesses, nymphs and divas vanish, and are replaced by the One GodGod the Father. (Great Spirit, by the way, is neither male nor female; God the Father is obviously male.) The

separation of divine from natural realms becomes much more pronounced, as God is said to dwell in the kingdom of Heaven, far from Earth. Earth, in this paradigm, is not sacred. Rather, it is a fallen world, a good place to leave. It is valuable only as a stage for moral struggle. Here it is that we humans have the opportunity to overcome our natural tendency to be disobedient, to turn ourselves into faithful servants of God the Father and, or course, his authorized reps on Earth. This paradigm served as the Wests dominant foundational paradigm between the fourth century, when Catholicism became the official religion of the Roman Empire, and the late nineteenth century. It presents itself as far superior to the pagan predecessor paradigm, but continues what many would regard as the worst feature of polytheismthe celebration of war as a God-pleaser. Indeed, under this paradigm, war (war instigated by the church) becomes holy and martyrdom in war is said to be a passport to Heaven. The principal bible of this paradigm is, of course, the Holy Bible. If we consider the Moslems are the easternmost peoples of Monotheistic civilization, then the Koran should be listed as well. Materialistic scientism. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) established scientific materialism as the orthodox scientific methodology, thereby excluding theological inquiry from the category of scientific investigation. Given the enormous prestige of Newton, scientific materialism came to be regarded as the one and only valid way to truth. Thus was scientific materialism transformed into materialistic scientism, Quite a paradox, no? Western science, after Newton, became a religion. Lets unwrap the paradox. Newton established scientific materialism on the basis of the affirmation Hypotheses non fingo, which translates, I dont touch hypotheses. What he meant was simply that real scientific investigation is inductive, not deductive. An inductive approach starts with the compilation of facts, just the facts as Joe Friday used to say. Next step: Allow the facts to suggest a sensible interpretation of the facts. The investigator then formulates the interpretation as a thesis. Deductive inquiry, in contrast, starts with a belief that is recognized as a truism, and from that truism deduces (draws forth) an hypothesis or hypotheses regarding what scientism meaning science operating as religion.

must therefore be the case. A thesis is a proposition supported by empirical proof; an hypothesis is a proposition advanced as a logical implication of some truism or other. Now when I say Scientific materialism is the one and only way to truth, am I stating a thesis or an hypothesis? Well? Times up. Im stating an hypothesis. This particular hypothesis is the doctrine on which the Wests most recent foundational paradigm is based. I label this paradigm materialistic scientism because its central tenet is doctrinal rather than empirically demonstrable. The bible of the Church of Scientism is comprised of an old testament (Newtonian physics and science theory) and a new testamentclassical Darwinism and neo-Darwinism. Ironically, one of the most impressive examples of deductive speculation at its worst is offered by the Darwinists. On the basis of the supposed truism that evolution is the product of micro-changes over a vast expanse of uninterrupted time, the Darwinists deduced that macro-evolutionary events must follow the same pattern as micro-events. Whew! That is not science. It is the collapse of science. Our brief survey of the life visions of Western culture indicates a pattern of everincreasing deracinationseparation from nature and from God. The devolutionary movement may be expected to continue, until scientific holism takes root in common thought. From that point on, the movement of human evolution will be upward, at a very fast pace.

Scientific Holism Physicists use the term field to describe that which organizes the material realm. Throw a handful of iron filings on a tabletop. They fall randomly. No pattern. Now place a powerful magnet under the table. What happens? The particles are patterned by the magnetic field of the magnet. Foundational paradigms are describable as intellectual fields. They organize societies and civilizations. The moral attitudes and institutions of any given society fall

in line with the governing paradigmatic field or complex of fields. So long as a society is getting along reasonable well, few people question the validity of the governing field(s). When things are not going well, however, questions relating to the field(s) begin to arise. The worse things become, the more questions. Ordinarily, the field is invisible to the masses. As worsening social conditions cause individuals and groups to probe for the causes of the affliction, however, the field becomes more and more visible. In 1995, I gave the name of materialistic scientism to the field governing the modern West. Since then, the term has gained some currency. Bruce Lipton and most others label the field scientific materialism, and that's fine. We're talking the same thing. At the moment, things seem to be falling apart in America and in the West in general. The center cannot hold, in the phrasing of the poet William Butler Yeats. What is the center? The governing field. The field is failing. Why? If I had to reduce materialistic scientism to a single doctrine, the doctrine would be All that matters is matter. Or, in David Bohm's terminology, All that matters is the explicate order (the physical universe). Forget about the implicate realm, the realm of formative thought and energy, the materialists say, focus on the physical. Clearly, such a philosophy is not destined to be long-lived, for the simple reason it is entirely out of balance. The other day, I watched on CNN a Congressional hearing in which Representative Henry Waxman questioned Richard S. Fuld, Jr., the CEO of the recently failed Lehman Brothers. One of the questions pertained to Fulds raking in nearly a quarter billion for himself in the last few years of his service. After listing all of Fulds loot, Waxman asked Fuld, Is that fair? Fuld did not answer the question. He only squirmed in his seat. If he could have spoken his mind, he might have said something like, I was educated to believe that only matter matters and that success is measured by the amount of valuable matter that one has accumulated in life. I am a star-studded success! Why criticize me? I was only doing what the field told me to do. Fairness? What is that? Conscience can only handicap the pursuit of matter. All that matters is matter. 2 Where have all the leaders gone? Lee Iococca asks. A better question would be, Where are the real leaders, the leaders committed more to public service than self-

service? America has more than a few public-spirited leaders, but, unfortunately, most of them are not in the power seats. Too many of those in the power seats, such as Richard Fuld, have surrendered themselves to an abominable ideological field (materialistic scientism). They have become, in consequence, the zombies of Mordor. Fortunately, for the West and world, a new foundational paradigm (governing field) is on the wayscientific holism. The premise of this field is that all are one. We are all particles spun from the same Source. To put the point in religious terms: We are all children of God. Individuals who surrender to (allow themselves to be organized by) this field will conduct their lives in a consummately ethical way, mindful always of the fact that what they do to others they do to themselves. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Turns out this was good advice.

Sacred Circle The movement I call scientific holism offers us a release from inadequate sciences and religious persuasions of the past and presentand from the failing institutions based on those sciences and persuasions. That is a great service. Another great service it offers is validation of the science of aboriginal peoples. What our aboriginal ancestors knew intuitively, that we are all related, all peoples will soon know scientifically. Earlier in the book, I addressed the question, What is a human being? Heres another big question: What is humanity? In my book Sacred CircleThe Purification of Earth & Reunion of Its Peoples, I offer the view that humanity is a one thing that is dedicated to consciousness increase. The quest involves the separation of the species into two primary groupsthe keepers of the ancient wisdom (the holistics) and the contras (separatists). The first group maintains the ancient wisdom, that we are all related. The separatist group goes against the ancient wisdom in order to find out whatever it is that can be found by going that way. Ultimately, what the contras find is a scientific proof that the holistics were right all along. Scientific holism is the holy grail of the whole human adventure.

Notes 1Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels (New York: Random House, 1988), pp. xvii-xix. 2See http://oversight.house.gov/story,asp?ID=2208.

Copyright 2009 T.D. Hall