ABSTRACT
Insofar as the revolt against science condemns science for making of itself the instrument of power, looks with dismay on the devastation to which science-based technology has given rise, rejects a world made grey by standardization or a world in which the individual counts for less and less, and seeks to reinstate the imagination and direct sensual enjoyment, one can sympathize with its motives even when one believes that its accusations rest on a misunderstanding of science. But the attack on disciplined thinking, the revival of occultism with its doctrine of “hidden truths” to be revealed by magical means, the demand for instant gratification in every area of human life, the rejection of the idea of learning, of discipleship, of tradition—these, I freely confess, fill me with horror and dismay. And it is not only science which suffers but all the activities which particularly distinguish human society, as compared with a society of bees and ants—art, history, philosophy, social innovation, technological achievement, the spirit of critical inquiry.
