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Book Western Civilization and Time
Spis treści / Contents
Content Information
Time has become one of the most significant values, manifesting in the compulsion and expectation to Act-Ever-Faster and Live-Ever-Longer. These are now civilizational priorities, as they have driven the most significant changes in how we allocate resources—such as raw materials, capital, labor, time, and skills—over the past few decades.
Looking back, we can observe clear connections between the current valorization of time and historical processes of secularization and modernization.
When we ask about the consequences of transforming time into a value, we see a striking trend increasingly denying the inevitability of death. When we ask what lies at the foundation of the historical transformation of time into a value, we see Christianity.
Between 2012 and 2014, the book was downloaded from my website 45,734 times.
Full text of the book (in Polish), version pdf 12 MB, version 5.8, March 2012
synopsis – extended version pdf in English
Readers’ Opinions
Critics of my book complain that I discuss serious matters in a lighthearted manner. Some of its enthusiasts claim that it is the first postmodern theory of civilization. Neither group is correct.
Readers are also divided into those who admire the book’s format and those who, for the same reason, cannot read it at all. Judge for yourself. You can download it in its entirety, in a single file, to your computer or tablet.
As the book’s popularity grows, so does the number of opinions about it. I greatly value critical, emotional, and even sarcastic comments (e.g., “a sociological comic book for youth,” “pictorial gibberish,” “a theory of civilization for tabloids”).
At the other extreme, I have found reviews linking my analysis to currents of thought such as Science and Technology Studies (STS), Sociology of Scientific Knowledge (SSK), Social Construction of Technology (SCOT), and Social Shaping of Technology (SST).
I find such connections very flattering. My intention was to identify the factors that determined the historical direction of development in Western science, technology, and economy. Demonstrating the process that increasingly valued the concept of time and illustrating the civilizational consequences of this valorization fits well within the analyses of SSK, STS, and similar fields.
Graphic Form
The book is a colorful computer presentation. The text is presented in a condensed form, with numerous photos and graphics. It is fully interactive and designed for use on computers and tablets with touch screens.
Each page is a slide labeled with the title of a subsection. The title links to the table of contents, which itself is a collection of links to specific sections of the book. From any page, you can navigate to any other section thanks to bookmarks.
This design makes the book easy to read on a monitor or tablet. Navigation is simple due to the ubiquitous links. It can also be printed just as effectively. I suggest printing two slides per A4 page, one below the other, ideally double-sided.
Editorial Information
The file size of the book is 12 MB. Before downloading, you can read a brief description of the book above, next to the cover image, or review the summary. This will help you decide if it interests you. You can assess its graphic design by opening any of the chapters provided below in PDF format (highest quality).
The ebook, version 5.8 from March 2012, is a slightly revised edition of the ebook initially developed in November 2011. The changes in version 5.8 are mostly technical, focusing on adapting the book for reading on relatively small, 9–10-inch touchscreen tablet displays (thanks to readers for pointing this out). The only substantive change is a new version of Appendix 3.
Below: the summary and a chapter-by-chapter breakdown. This is version 5.7 from 2008. All files are available online and in PDF format. An update to the book, primarily to Chapter VII, is planned. I intend to complete it in 2014 or 2015 after finishing work on a book about the European phenomenon.
The text of the book Western Civilization and Time (excluding quotes), as well as its concept and graphic design, were developed by Jacek Kwaśniewski in 2004 and 2008, version 5.7. Version 5.7 is a draft, not intended for publication or distribution. The available files may be used for personal purposes. If the text is cited, please include a reference to my website.
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Chapters (synopsis)
synopsis extended version (incl. The Main Idea and Chapter VIII) pdf in English
Even if you do not speak Polish, look at the online version of some chapter to see its graphic form
Introduction
/summary/ Time is becoming an increasingly significant value. We experience this by chasing after passing deadlines, fleeting youth, and ultimately fleeting life itself. The value of time has been gradually constructed over centuries. In a sense, the entire history of the West is a process of transforming time into a value. This book is about that process: how time has been and continues to be transformed into a value, what caused this transformation, its consequences, and what the future might hold.
Viewing history through the lens of time’s transformation into a value (axiologization of time) provides an organized picture of logically interconnected facts, phenomena, and problems. Even a glance at the chapter titles and a reading of this summary reveal how seemingly distant issues are interconnected when approached from this perspective.five-sixths]
Chapter I Western Civilization and Speed
/summary/
This chapter analyzes the unique phenomenon of modern Western civilization—its increasing speed across many domains. We define the concept of civilizational speed and identify methods to measure it.
We also define Western civilization by outlining its five dimensions: geographical location, historical heritage, elements of technopolis, value systems, and the sphere of daily life.
Civilizational acceleration is examined from a macro perspective, taking a broad view of the economy, and from a micro perspective, focusing on individuals.
Analyzing acceleration from a macroeconomic perspective, we explore its economic roots: the principles of private market economies combined with the West’s unique capacity to transform societal wealth into productive capital. This ability to mobilize productive capital emerged relatively recently, thanks to the unification of property rights definitions and management methods across Western civilization. We discuss the historical process that led to this unification and explain why it accelerates the creation of productive capital. The Western ability to generate productive capital is contrasted with the Third World economies, where wealth often fails to become capital (and is the so-called dead capital).
From an individual perspective, we examine the impact of civilizational acceleration through the LNS (Better-Newer-Faster) value system. This system exerts pressure on individuals as consumers, workers, and producers, shaping their preferences, habits, interests, and judgments. We highlight the feedback mechanism: civilizational pressure transforms individual value systems, which in turn reproduce and reinforce that pressure.
Finally, we list factors that differentiate sensitivity to civilizational pressure across countries, regions, social groups, and economic sectors.[/five-sixths]
Chapter II Increasing Value of Time
/summary/ In the ever-accelerating Western civilization, time has become a scarce and valued resource. The economy has subjected it to market rules. Time resources can be managed rationally, and control over them represents a new form of power.
We provide examples of time resource management and goods whose trade constitutes indirect or direct time transactions. We also explain the relationship between sensitivity to LNS values (Better-Newer-Faster) and the perceived attractiveness of such goods.
The economic value of time and the speed of civilizational processes are interdependent. As one increases, so does the other. Therefore, the growing value of time can be measured by the increasing resources allocated to accelerating various processes. We present an outline of such a measurement. The relationship between time’s value and civilization’s speed is illustrated by comparing the growth of IT hardware processing speed to rising investment expenditures in the IT sector.
The main part of the chapter discusses the mechanism by which two widespread expectations and demands related to the growing value of time emerged in Western civilization. Both expectations increasingly influence the allocation of civilizational resources and have become crucial elements of our civilizational identity.
The first expectation, Stay-Young-Longer, stems from the growing value of economic time. A fast-paced civilization rewards behaviors and personality traits more commonly found among younger people. The young can be faster. The old are slower, less flexible, and less open to the new. We describe how this pragmatically rooted expectation transformed into an independent (autotelic) value, detached from instrumental motivations. Stay-Young-Longer, as an autonomous value—also known as the cult of youth—becomes a self-sustaining factor driving civilizational acceleration, stimulating specific allocation processes.
The second expectation, Be-Longer, arises from the growing value of our earthly time. It gains significance due to the “eschatological reduction” caused by secularization (a historical outline from the 11th to 19th centuries is provided in the chapter). Secularization removes the belief in “transcendent continuation” from our lives, while the scientific explosion (since the 16th century) has radically diminished humanity’s position in the universe. The degradation of humanity’s status in the hierarchy of beings and the absence of eternal life perspectives elevate the importance and value of earthly life. We present a list of conditions that have recently turned this increased value into a widespread and strongly articulated expectation to Be-Longer.
Be-Longer, like Stay-Young-Longer, becomes an autonomous value, stimulating significant allocation processes described in greater detail in Chapter IV. [/five-sixths]
Chapter III Death Taboo
/summary/ Secularization has increased the value of our earthly time, and the first half of the 20th century brought an unprecedented rise in average life expectancy. However, this did not immediately lead to widespread articulation of expectations for longer life or demands for its realization. For several decades, these expectations were suppressed due to a peculiar phenomenon: the death taboo, which peaked in the middle of the century.
In this chapter, we analyze the death taboo in detail. We conclude that the death taboo, understood as the repression of death and dying from societal consciousness, was a classic defense mechanism against the mass existential frustration prevalent at the time.
We present statistics on 20th-century demographic processes within Western civilization, which form the basis for our conclusions about the frustration-driven origins of the phenomenon.
At the root of the death taboo lies an unprecedented disparity in the dynamics of increased survival rates between younger and older generations in the first half of the 20th century. The significant improvement in survival rates for younger generations during this period, combined with the lack of progress for older individuals (who comprised two-thirds of the population) and the “scientific” pessimism regarding their future prospects, created a state of mass existential frustration. One of the primary responses to this situation was the suppression of the topic of death and dying.
In contrast, the latter half of the 20th century saw a radical shift in healthcare policies and expenditures. The priority became combating diseases affecting adults and the elderly. The delayed effects of these efforts reversed the dynamics of survival rate improvements. Over the last 30–40 years, older generations have benefited more than the young. This has alleviated existential frustration and is gradually, albeit slowly, reducing the death taboo. e-sixths]
Chapter IV Towards Being Witout End
/summary/ This chapter examines the fundamental consequences of the growing value of time. First, it discusses the characteristic directions toward which increasing civilizational resources are being allocated and the discernible trajectory of Western civilization’s development. Second, it explores how the widespread demand for Living-Ever-Longer has created the myth that this desire is eternal. Third, it highlights how the differing paces of secularization and modernization in the West versus other cultural spheres have generated significant intercivilizational tensions.
We argue and substantiate the thesis that the growing value of earthly time can be measured through statistical analysis of healthcare expenditures. These expenditures reflect our preferences for Living-Longer. We present statistical data for the period 1880–2000 and existing forecasts extending to 2075. All these data reveal an almost exponential increase in spending on healthcare and life extension. This trend significantly reflects societal preferences and values. The cumulative effect is one of the most significant reallocations of civilizational resources observable since the mid-20th century. An increasingly larger portion of Gross National Product (GNP) is and will continue to be allocated to fulfilling the preference for Living-Ever-Longer.
In the latter part of the chapter, we note that the expectations for Living-Ever-Longer and Staying-Young-Longer meet the criteria of mythical perceptions of reality. The value of time, when entrenched within mythological structures, transforms into an autonomous and highly potent factor that perpetuates the civilizational mechanism that generated these expectations.
In conclusion, we observe that the ever-increasing strength of demands and desires for Living-Ever-Longer, forecasts in this area, and the lack of a conceivable boundary for these expectations allow us to discern a trajectory for Western civilization’s development that extends beyond goals typically considered earthly. Just as an exponential function approaches infinity without reaching it, the trajectory of Living-Longer moves toward its boundary, which also lies in infinity—but in terms of human time. [/five-sixths]
Chapter V Death in Retreat
/summary/ This chapter discusses the increasingly common cultural responses to the clash between achievements and ambitions related to Living-Ever-Longer and the eternal phenomenon of death. We highlight mental, psychological, and moral transformations that are becoming lasting effects of these reactions.
The general response of the West has been an increasing perception of death as an aberration and anomaly. The longer we live on average, the more we perceive the death of children and adults, though not yet elderly, as abnormal. This interpretation of death reconciles its existence with the desire for Living-Ever-Longer and optimism about the future. It legitimizes the allocation of ever-greater resources to the fight for a longer life. It also changes our attitude toward death, fostering active opposition and intensifying the will to combat this Eternal Inevitability.
This spiritual transformation is currently exercised on a relatively small scale. It primarily manifests as opposition to the death of increasingly older individuals who die below the rising average life expectancy. In this way, Western individuals gradually prepare themselves to accept increasingly extraordinary demands and ideas for extending earthly existence.
We also discuss techniques for alleviating terminal stress, offering pragmatic solutions to reduce the dread of dying in a secular age, where individuals often view their impending end as a transition into a terrifying void of nonexistence./five-sixths]
Chapter VI Victories Over Time. XX century
/summary/ This chapter explores the directions taken in the latter half of the 20th century in research and expenditures aimed at fulfilling the expectations for Living-Longer.
In the second half of the 20th century, time became one of the leading subjects of modern physics. This shift is undoubtedly linked to the growing sensitivity of Western individuals to this aspect of reality. Since Newtonian physics’ concept of absolute time was replaced by the theory of relativity, the door has been opened for serious studies on the possibility and methods of moving through time. While technologies enabling such travel remain impossible, the theoretical aspects of time travel have become a subject of rigorous theoretical investigation.
We discuss the approaches to analyzing time in modern physics theories (block time, relative time, frozen time, and the controversies surrounding its ontological status) and the paradoxes arising from the collision between the linear experience of time and theories that negate its linearity.
The main section of the chapter examines the successes of science, medical practice, and prevention in overcoming the primary causes of death among middle-aged and elderly individuals in the latter half of the 20th century—namely, cardiovascular diseases and cancer (responsible for two-thirds of deaths). After a period of catastrophic increases in morbidity and mortality caused by these conditions, a breakthrough occurred between 1960 and 2000. The upward trend in cases and deaths was halted and reversed, as evidenced by the statistical data presented.
Finally, we point to a new and alarming phenomenon affecting the health of Western societies—physical inactivity and obesity. This issue has reached epidemic proportions, causing such severe consequences for health and survival rates that it threatens to negate the positive effects of combating cardiovascular diseases and cancer./five-sixths]
Chapter VII Time and Being in the Future
(Discussion based on the planned revised version)
This chapter discusses the latest (2002–2008) achievements in science and technology—especially in medicine, pharmacology, and biotechnology—in treating diseases and countering the aging process. It also describes experimental, planned, and anticipated technologies and products in this field, as well as the debates surrounding their potential social and cultural consequences.
Once the average life expectancy exceeded 80–85 years, aging itself, rather than specific diseases, began to emerge as a more significant problem. We explore the biological and biochemical aspects of the aging mechanism, as well as the great but only partially realized ideas of Living-Ever-Longer from the latter half of the 20th century: transplantology, implantology, biotechnology, and genetic engineering.
Particular attention is devoted to the most promising current path to life extension—biotechnology. We present successive generations of drugs based on genetically modified proteins. We also examine the applications of genetic engineering techniques for embryo selection (PGD and PGH) and discuss the progress, technical challenges, and ethical issues associated with gene therapies and modifications to germline cells (sperm and eggs).
The already available techniques for modifying humans based on designed and inheritable physical and personality traits, as well as those anticipated shortly, have sparked lively debates about their potential social, cultural, political, and ethical consequences if widely applied. We present opposing viewpoints on the feasibility of implementing these technologies, including the transhumanist movement, whose proponents view such developments optimistically and positively, believing in the rapid pace and potential of deep hereditary changes to our genomes.
Finally, the chapter presents a hypothesis about the possible future weakening or even extinction of the desire for Living-Ever-Longer. This may occur if humanity loses the will or need to preserve its identity over time, especially as life expectancy significantly increases in an ever-accelerating civilization. [five-sixths]/five-sixths]
Chapter VIII The West and Christianity
(Chapter VIII is planned as a separate book on the European phenomenon)
The emergence of modern Western civilization in its current form—with its priorities and developmental trajectory—was determined by an unparalleled process: the transformation of time into a value. This transformation was made possible by the successful implantation of a unique cultural invention—Christianity—into the specific ecological and cultural niche of Europe.
In this chapter, we expand on this thesis. We outline the essential elements of Europe’s ecological niche (geographical location, topography, climate, geological activity, and Greek, Roman, and barbarian heritage) and explain why these characteristics made it particularly receptive to Christianity.
We analyze Christianity’s pro-modernization axiologies, including the Judaic invention of linear time connected to Christian eschatology, Christian metaphysics, the idea of a rational and predictable God, and the sanctification of labor. We also examine the areas transformed by these axiologies, such as science, art, agriculture, technology, individual-society relations, and political, municipal, and corporate organizations.
Special attention is given to the Church and its role in creating Europe’s new ideological space by embedding all components of Christianity into culture and society, intensively and systematically promoting, teaching, disseminating, and supporting these components with a system of transcendent and earthly rewards and punishments.
Christianity can be likened to a specific mutation introduced between the 2nd and 10th centuries CE into Europe’s cultural genotype. Using genetic engineering terminology, the Church acted as a vector through which Christianity penetrated and became an integral part of Europe’s cultural DNA. It also ensured the strong expression of this mutation throughout the European organism.
In Europe’s unique niche, this mutation functioned as a catalyst. It reprogrammed the European individual, instilling a new worldview, values, ambitions, dreams, goals, and fears. In a historical blink of an eye, this culturally transformed European created a civilization unmatched in material power, boundless ambition, and optimism.
Organized Christianity underwent radical secularization in this civilizational process, yet the secularized West appears to replicate Christianity’s eschatological promises in a temporal context and continues to seek ways to fulfill them. Today, it seems to place particular hope in biotechnology as a continuation of the act of Creation.