ABSTRACT
The selections thus far have outlined historical processes that have brought a shift in Western societies from a culture of resignation to a culture of planning and control, and from a model of medicine that had room for social and spiritual dimensions of illness to one that has trouble conceiving of mind–body interactions. These historical processes include a dramatic decline in birth and death rates, which coincided with the processes of industrialization, urbanization, and national political and cultural unification. This selection explains that these changes brought a new concept of time as linear as opposed to cyclical, while industrial rationalization and a revolution in mathematics meant that nature came to be seen in quantitative terms.
