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Reality Isn't What It Used to Be: Theatrical Politics, Ready-to-Wear Religion, Global Myths, Primitive Chic, and Other Wonders of the Postmodern World
Anderson reveals the reality of postmodernism in politics, popular culture, religion, literary criticism, art, and philosophy -- making sense of everything from deconstructionism to punk.
306 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1990
18 people are currently reading
221 people want to read
About the author
Walter Truett Anderson
14 books9 followersWalter Truett Anderson is a political scientist, social psychologist, and author of numerous non-fiction books and articles in newspapers and magazines.
In his public lectures, he frequently speculates that, if we had a history of every advanced species in the universe, we would find that they all had to pass through two large, difficult and unavoidable transitions: (1) accepting conscious responsibility for the future of all life on their planets; and (2) recognizing that their systems of symbolic communication – such as language and mathematics – don’t merely describe reality, but participate in creating it.
Most of his major writing efforts have engaged one or both of these evolutionary themes. His defining statement on the first was To Govern Evolution: Further Adventures of the Political Animal. Its vision of human impacts on Earth’s life systems had been foreshadowed in his earlier book on American natural history, A Place of Power: The American Episode in Human Evolution, and was further developed in Evolution Isn’t What It Used To Be and All Connected Now. He is now at work on a new book that explores the evolutionary challenges and frontiers of the 21st century.
His major statements on the second (constructivist) theme were Reality Isn’t What It Used to Be and the subsequent anthology The Truth About the Truth. In other books on related subjects, The Future of the Self described changing ways that people are constructing personal identities in contemporary global society, and The Next Enlightenment points out the similarities between Western constructivist thought and Eastern spiritual traditions such as Buddhism.
He is currently President Emeritus of the World Academy of Art and Science (having served as president 2000-2008); a founding Fellow of the Meridian International Institute; a Fellow of the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute (LaJolla, CA); and a Distinguished Consulting Faculty member of Saybrook University in San Francisco.
In his public lectures, he frequently speculates that, if we had a history of every advanced species in the universe, we would find that they all had to pass through two large, difficult and unavoidable transitions: (1) accepting conscious responsibility for the future of all life on their planets; and (2) recognizing that their systems of symbolic communication – such as language and mathematics – don’t merely describe reality, but participate in creating it.
Most of his major writing efforts have engaged one or both of these evolutionary themes. His defining statement on the first was To Govern Evolution: Further Adventures of the Political Animal. Its vision of human impacts on Earth’s life systems had been foreshadowed in his earlier book on American natural history, A Place of Power: The American Episode in Human Evolution, and was further developed in Evolution Isn’t What It Used To Be and All Connected Now. He is now at work on a new book that explores the evolutionary challenges and frontiers of the 21st century.
His major statements on the second (constructivist) theme were Reality Isn’t What It Used to Be and the subsequent anthology The Truth About the Truth. In other books on related subjects, The Future of the Self described changing ways that people are constructing personal identities in contemporary global society, and The Next Enlightenment points out the similarities between Western constructivist thought and Eastern spiritual traditions such as Buddhism.
He is currently President Emeritus of the World Academy of Art and Science (having served as president 2000-2008); a founding Fellow of the Meridian International Institute; a Fellow of the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute (LaJolla, CA); and a Distinguished Consulting Faculty member of Saybrook University in San Francisco.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 5, 2012
This book was published during my second year as a doctoral student when I was just becoming familiar with postmodernism. So, it was a timely book for me. The book is written in an entertaining and organized way, with many specific and every day examples from politics, entertainment, and current events. If you like postmodernism or have any interest or curiosity in the ideas, this is a good read. The many anecdotes in the book are easy to remember so you can share them with other people.
February 12, 2011
An extremely accessible introduction to postmodernism. I read this as a student, about 15 years ago, and just loved it.
March 7, 2012
An accessible look at post-modernism in it's many forms. Worth a read in this era when we have belief systems about belief systems and wonder how to navigate our own minds...
September 30, 2019
I read this back in the mid-to-late 90s, when I was just beginning my marketing career. How fascinating to read it again now, 27 years after its publication, when the Internet and social media are ubiquitous and there's a reality tv personality in the White House. All the world is, indeed, a stage 🎭
February 29, 2020
1990 book that explains that the new world is a choose your own reality world
October 2, 2022
Another dim witted person comparing his perceived reality with a time that never existed.
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October 22, 2012Post Modernism, somehow, got such a bad name. How?
This book should be essential reading for every college, or HS , student.
Too bad his other works seem like complete shite.
Sorry, my opinion.
But, this one was very accessible, down-to-Earth and extremely readable.
I've owned a copy for 10+ years, refuse to give it up,
even on loan, to those I do not know.
It's a good read!
This book should be essential reading for every college, or HS , student.
Too bad his other works seem like complete shite.
Sorry, my opinion.
But, this one was very accessible, down-to-Earth and extremely readable.
I've owned a copy for 10+ years, refuse to give it up,
even on loan, to those I do not know.
It's a good read!
May 16, 2014
I thought this would be more of a history of the pop culture of the eighties, but instead it's an introduction to postmodernism and constructivism. It's lucid, but the author is very much a cheerleader for postmodernism, and there isn't as much focus on the downsides of having a non-objectivist view of the world.
February 26, 2008
Tons of references and points to ponder. Truly a wonderful way to waste time. Anderson takes a humble survey of just about everything, and in doing so, makes a convincing argument for subjectivism without attempting to do so.
February 22, 2007
A modest introduction to post-modernism.
August 20, 2008
Provocative, imaginative, and extraordinary!
A brilliant tour through the contemporary social-cultural-political landscape makes sense of everything from punk rock to God.
A must read book!
A brilliant tour through the contemporary social-cultural-political landscape makes sense of everything from punk rock to God.
A must read book!
January 13, 2013
Oh the glories of the post-modern world....!
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February 16, 2013I don't know how to rate this book...I do know that I threw it at the wall a couple of times..but I learned alot from it thou...Very shocking, disturbing, frightening and enlightening!!
April 3, 2016
Examines postmodernism and the way the certainties of an earlier age seem to have fallen away, leaving us with...what we have now. Cutting and thought-provoking.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews