Modern Mind : An Intellectual History of the 20th Century

Rating:
Summary: a measured but provocative take on a century of big ideas
Review: Mr. Watson takes on a subject that seems impossible to tackle, a survey of the century's big ideas, and does an admirable job of getting a lot of them in, even as he sometimes overreaches in his search for connecting strands to tidy his narrative. Mr. Watson has his biases (he is an unabashed fan of science's achievements and pays particular homage to the neo-Darwinists; while at the same time bemoaning the impact of the two men he believes most responsible for the bad ideas of the century: Freud and Marx (in fact he seems to lay blame on Freud for what he sees as the lack of truly important ideas emanating from France in the 20th Century)). Most controversially, i would think, Mr. Watson points out that he intended to include whithin his survey important ideas from non-Western sources, but decided not to after completing his review, since he came to the realization, one buttressed by the opinions of experts he consulted, that the century was dominated by Western ideas. He notes that all important non-Western (defining "western" to mean Europe and the U.S.)intellectual contributions were reactions to and re-workings or adjustments to Western ideas. I would think that this thesis would be controversial. The true importance of the book, however,is that its summaries lead the reader to the work of influential thinkers such as Reisman and Von Hayek whose predictions (along with those of the more well known Daniel Bell) are eerily on point. All in all, a worthwhile and thought-provoking book. I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: I read only half the book, but listen...
Review: OK. Writing a review for a book that you did not fully read may seem unjust. And that too a bad review at that. It is not that I did not finish it: I COULD NOT finish it, which defintely reflects on the nature of the book. It reminded me of that time in ninth grade when I decided to memorize the dictionary and could go only as far as the word "aba". Not that the dictionary is without its charms. There is only so much useful information the mind can assimilate unless presented in a style that engages it. So if you buy this book, try to use it like a dictionary or an encyclopedia. If you have ever wondered what Bill Gates' nephew's name is, the book probably has it. But I would suggest you look up in the index for " Gates, Bill..nephew" instead of trying to read it ascendingly till you reach that particular section.

BTW, If you are wondering what "aba" means my dictionary tells me it is "A fabric woven of the hair of camels or goats".

Rating:
Summary: More Like a "History of Science"
Review: On the very first page of the text (the preface), Watson refers to Willard von Orman Quine as the "greatest living philosopher." This questionable praise is HIGHLY indicative of what the reader can expect in the next 7 hundred pages; especially indicative to those of us familiar with pan-scientism of Quine's writing.

If Watson wanted to write an INTELLECTUAL history, that is what he should have stuck with. He should have removed all the text on esoteric poetry, novels, and plays. I studied O'Neil's work while in college and I can tell you that Long Day's Journey into Night has absolutely nothing to do with man's relationship to science (as Watson claims is does). All reference to art, music, and artists should be removed, unless such art is crucial to intellectual history. Perhaps watson was attempting to show that art was now being used no longer as something to entertain the wealthy, but as a medium to make grand political statements or otherwise make deep philosophical statements about the human condition. But its not clear wether Watson was doing this on purpose.

Watson should revamp his work and retitle it a "A Scientific History of the 20th Century". He describes scientific experiments in highly drawn-out prose. But then he glosses over thinkers like Husserl and Foucault. It is extremely clear that Watson does not understand the importance of these people to what is happening to American universities RIGHT NOW.

There is something specifically dissappointing in opening up an "intellectual history" and to find oneself reading about new camera tricks being used in Hollywood studios. (cr.326)

The complete utter disregard for religion is very interesting. One might be led to beleive that relgion no longer existed in the last century.

Nevertheless, what the "Modern Mind" demonstrates is that in the 20th Century, science and mathematics itself began to produce statements of an intellectual/philosophical nature:
"All living things have DNA."
"The cosmos began with the big bang."
"Human beings are a species of primate."
"Sufficiently rich mathematical systems are incomplete."

Watson claims that the last century can be understood as a time in which science colonized all modes of thought. But instead of spending 700 pages illuminating this "colonization" we instead get a work which seems only to praise scientific discoveries, one after the next.

Rating:
Summary: More Like a "History of Science"
Review: On the very first page of the text (the preface), Watson refers to Willard von Orman Quine as the "greatest living philosopher." This questionable praise is HIGHLY indicative of what the reader can expect in the next 7 hundred pages; especially indicative to those of us familiar with pan-scientism of Quine's writing.

If Watson wanted to write an INTELLECTUAL history, that is what he should have stuck with. He should have removed all the text on esoteric poetry, novels, and plays. I studied O'Neil's work while in college and I can tell you that Long Day's Journey into Night has absolutely nothing to do with man's relationship to science (as Watson claims is does). All reference to art, music, and artists should be removed, unless such art is crucial to intellectual history. Perhaps watson was attempting to show that art was now being used no longer as something to entertain the wealthy, but as a medium to make grand political statements or otherwise make deep philosophical statements about the human condition. But its not clear wether Watson was doing this on purpose.

Watson should revamp his work and retitle it a "A Scientific History of the 20th Century". He describes scientific experiments in highly drawn-out prose. But then he glosses over thinkers like Husserl and Foucault. It is extremely clear that Watson does not understand the importance of these people to what is happening to American universities RIGHT NOW.

There is something specifically dissappointing in opening up an "intellectual history" and to find oneself reading about new camera tricks being used in Hollywood studios. (cr.326)

The complete utter disregard for religion is very interesting. One might be led to beleive that relgion no longer existed in the last century.

Nevertheless, what the "Modern Mind" demonstrates is that in the 20th Century, science and mathematics itself began to produce statements of an intellectual/philosophical nature:
"All living things have DNA."
"The cosmos began with the big bang."
"Human beings are a species of primate."
"Sufficiently rich mathematical systems are incomplete."

Watson claims that the last century can be understood as a time in which science colonized all modes of thought. But instead of spending 700 pages illuminating this "colonization" we instead get a work which seems only to praise scientific discoveries, one after the next.

Rating:
Summary: Superbly written and researched
Review: Rarely do you get the type of outstanding book, that you tell friends about, and keep to re-read 5 and 10 years later. This book is a superbly written examination of the 20th century. But it is really more because it surveys the oustanding achievements in science, arts, literature, giving us insightful summaries of the books which shaped out lives. My only complaint, I can't find a comparable book, and when I ask, I am directed to works which are disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: The Modern "Never-Mind"
Review: Reading this book is like listening to one of Mozart's string quartets played by a few beginning saxophone students. Sure, you might recognize the significance of the content, but the execution leaves you longing for a performance commensurate with its substance. I found myself continually putting it down and returning to other books on my shelf, such as Everdell's "The First Moderns" or Schorske's "Fin de Siècle Vienna."

In all fairness though, Watson's book is remarkably ambitious in its attempt to cover the entire scope of twentieth century intellectual history in one volume. Undertaking this daunting task alone merits a few stars. The author's apparent breadth of knowledge is impressive and it was somewhat nice to read a broad work on a subject so prone to esoteric treatment. Watson's book brings perspective. I learned some things reading it, but I would not want my students to model his writing. The word "encyclopedic," used elsewhere in reference to this book, is an accurate description--for better or for worse.

Rating:
Summary: Dreadful
Review: The author is a journalist who has bitten off way more than he can chew. I was only able to spend 5-10 minutes with this book, but by then I had discovered that Watson misdates the Kinsey Report to 1966 (the work began in 1946 and appeared in the early fifties), and that he devotes much more space to the "Hite Report," which was just a piece of yellow journalism backed by no defensible methodology at all. And the rest of the book is the same, ranking Freud and Einstein as approximate equals (which is like equating Pseudo-Dionysius and Galileo!)

In sum, the book is superficial and does not make very necessary discriminations when evaluating the last century. It's not worth your money and it wasn't worth his time.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good for a book that knows more than I do
Review: THE MODERN MIND: AN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF THE 2OTH CENTURY by Peter Watson has Notes and References, an Index of Names, People and Places, and an Index of Ideas Subjects. This is not quite scholarly enough to have a Bibliography, listing all of the books which would be helpful for understanding this topic. Some of the most interesting books might be difficult to locate in this volume, for anyone who hardly knows where to look when the game is trying to find where ideas have been situated in the minds of others. The book trilogy, THE LORD OF THE RING, is not listed in any of the indices, but shows up in the text on the first page of Chapter 42, "Deep Order," as an annual reading ritual of Vint Cerf, "one of a handful of people who could be called a father of the Internet." (p. 737). The author J.R.R. Tolkien is in the Index of Names, People, and Places, but in the text, he is merely J.R. Tolkien in a list of writers who fit the topic, "a branch of thought that set the countryside -- nature, peasant life -- against urbanity." (p. 581). The reference note does not mention his name at all, though it showed up at his name in the text because of his position, last in the list. The unfortunate Michael Frayn, author of the successful drama "Copenhagen," only shows up in a reference to the conversation between Niels Henrick David Bohr and Werner Heisenberg which was the subject of the drama, and Frayn does not appear in the index.

I went into so much detail about the paucity of information about other books, which may be difficult to locate within this volume, because it illustrates a key point associated with Marshall McLuhan, who appears between Guy MacLean and Louis MacNeice in the Index of Names, People and Places (p. 837). As the last name in a list on page 331, Marshall McLuhan has a note associated with his name which does not mention him, and I wonder if he would appear in book about Walter Benjamin, who is getting credit for "anticipating in a general way the ideas of Raymond Williams, Andy Warhol, and Marshall McLuhan." (p. 331). Most important for the 20th century, "McLuhan's chief interest was the effect of the new `electric' media on man's self-consciousness and behavior, but he also thought this had important consequences for freedom." (p. 546). The contrast of tribal consciousness, which modern sociology presumes to locate individuals within cultural pockets of isolated points of view, is in opposition to McLuhan's insight that within a tribal culture, "no man knew appreciably more than another." (p. 546). The note on this point is thorough: pages in Marshall McLuhan, UNDERSTANDING MEDIA (1968) and ESSENTIAL MCLUHAN (paperback, 1997) with a mention of the Canadian edition of ESSENTIAL MCLUHAN (1995). With the advent of television, easy videotape and DVD reproduction of movies, much more rock and roll than this book mentions, McLuhan figured our times for "retribalised man can learn a far richer and more fulfilling life . . . with a deep emotional awareness of his complete interdependence with all humanity." (p. 547). Now, instead of experiencing freedom as an opportunity "only to be alienated and disassociated, a rootless outsider bereft of tribal dreams; our new electronic environment compels commitment and participation, and fulfils man's psychic and social needs at a profound level." (p. 547). Considering how well this book avoids tough political questions, like how the personal became so political on the issues surrounding the impeachment of President Clinton, it is not surprising that the author is skeptical of some of McLuhan's predictions, and the view of this book is that, "In many ways, though he was strikingly original, McLuhan was (so far) wrong." (p. 547).

It is possible to find information about real heroes in this book. The poem for which Osip Mandelstam was punished for describing Stalin is included in a translation which I had not seen before. The line, "And his large laughing cockroach eyes" makes as much sense as a cockroach mustache looming over Stalin's smile, and "Tossing out decree after decree like horseshoes" sets up the ending of this poem well, but I like the last line that was in DARK SUN: THE MAKING OF THE HYDROGEN BOMB by Richard Rhodes better. Ultimately, THE MODERN MIND might seem like an intellectual history which hardly knows its place, but it does have a heart. You can read hundreds of pages without finding a single song by Bob Dylan, but then, on page 584, "Dylan's `It's All Right Ma (I'm only Bleeding),' Reich said, was a far more powerful, and considerably earlier, social critique of police brutality than any number of sociological treatises." It may take some thinking to figure out who is walking upside down inside handcuffs in that song, but at least Peter Watson shows that someone thinks he figured it out.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good for a book that knows more than I do
Review: THE MODERN MIND: AN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF THE 2OTH CENTURY by Peter Watson has Notes and References, an Index of Names, People and Places, and an Index of Ideas Subjects. This is not quite scholarly enough to have a Bibliography, listing all of the books which would be helpful for understanding this topic. Some of the most interesting books might be difficult to locate in this volume, for anyone who hardly knows where to look when the game is trying to find where ideas have been situated in the minds of others. The book trilogy, THE LORD OF THE RING, is not listed in any of the indices, but shows up in the text on the first page of Chapter 42, "Deep Order," as an annual reading ritual of Vint Cerf, "one of a handful of people who could be called a father of the Internet." (p. 737). The author J.R.R. Tolkien is in the Index of Names, People, and Places, but in the text, he is merely J.R. Tolkien in a list of writers who fit the topic, "a branch of thought that set the countryside -- nature, peasant life -- against urbanity." (p. 581). The reference note does not mention his name at all, though it showed up at his name in the text because of his position, last in the list. The unfortunate Michael Frayn, author of the successful drama "Copenhagen," only shows up in a reference to the conversation between Niels Henrick David Bohr and Werner Heisenberg which was the subject of the drama, and Frayn does not appear in the index.

I went into so much detail about the paucity of information about other books, which may be difficult to locate within this volume, because it illustrates a key point associated with Marshall McLuhan, who appears between Guy MacLean and Louis MacNeice in the Index of Names, People and Places (p. 837). As the last name in a list on page 331, Marshall McLuhan has a note associated with his name which does not mention him, and I wonder if he would appear in book about Walter Benjamin, who is getting credit for "anticipating in a general way the ideas of Raymond Williams, Andy Warhol, and Marshall McLuhan." (p. 331). Most important for the 20th century, "McLuhan's chief interest was the effect of the new `electric' media on man's self-consciousness and behavior, but he also thought this had important consequences for freedom." (p. 546). The contrast of tribal consciousness, which modern sociology presumes to locate individuals within cultural pockets of isolated points of view, is in opposition to McLuhan's insight that within a tribal culture, "no man knew appreciably more than another." (p. 546). The note on this point is thorough: pages in Marshall McLuhan, UNDERSTANDING MEDIA (1968) and ESSENTIAL MCLUHAN (paperback, 1997) with a mention of the Canadian edition of ESSENTIAL MCLUHAN (1995). With the advent of television, easy videotape and DVD reproduction of movies, much more rock and roll than this book mentions, McLuhan figured our times for "retribalised man can learn a far richer and more fulfilling life . . . with a deep emotional awareness of his complete interdependence with all humanity." (p. 547). Now, instead of experiencing freedom as an opportunity "only to be alienated and disassociated, a rootless outsider bereft of tribal dreams; our new electronic environment compels commitment and participation, and fulfils man's psychic and social needs at a profound level." (p. 547). Considering how well this book avoids tough political questions, like how the personal became so political on the issues surrounding the impeachment of President Clinton, it is not surprising that the author is skeptical of some of McLuhan's predictions, and the view of this book is that, "In many ways, though he was strikingly original, McLuhan was (so far) wrong." (p. 547).

It is possible to find information about real heroes in this book. The poem for which Osip Mandelstam was punished for describing Stalin is included in a translation which I had not seen before. The line, "And his large laughing cockroach eyes" makes as much sense as a cockroach mustache looming over Stalin's smile, and "Tossing out decree after decree like horseshoes" sets up the ending of this poem well, but I like the last line that was in DARK SUN: THE MAKING OF THE HYDROGEN BOMB by Richard Rhodes better. Ultimately, THE MODERN MIND might seem like an intellectual history which hardly knows its place, but it does have a heart. You can read hundreds of pages without finding a single song by Bob Dylan, but then, on page 584, "Dylan's `It's All Right Ma (I'm only Bleeding),' Reich said, was a far more powerful, and considerably earlier, social critique of police brutality than any number of sociological treatises." It may take some thinking to figure out who is walking upside down inside handcuffs in that song, but at least Peter Watson shows that someone thinks he figured it out.

Rating:
Summary: Ambitious informative survey work
Review: The rule is simple with survey works of this kind: ' The more you know about the subject surveyed the less happy you are with the description of it'. The author has done a tremendous amount of work , has brought together material from a great number of fields , has made a heroic attempt at surveying the whole intellectual development of the twentieth century. His focus is on scientific and technological development, and he believes the century is one in which science ' colonized all modes of thought and changed the way thinking is done". According to the book jacket he sees the first half of the century as the period of discovery and the last half as one of synthesis analysis and understanding" I wonder however how this fits with the following developments in the second half of the century i.e.DNA's structure revealed by Crick - Watson , the human genome spelled out, the accelerated development of computer technology, the development of the Internet. I too believe that it is impossible to talk about the overall intellectual history of the century without relating to developments in religious thought. One interesting development in this regard is the movement within the scientific world itself to an understanding of where ' limits' may have been reached and religious thought of possible value.
I am not doing justice to the richness of Watson's work, the vast amount of information he brings, the vast number of developments and persons he surveys. One can learn a great deal from this book.
When younger I would have tried to ' know the whole book' put it all in my mind. But older if not wiser I understand that in so many cases the ' interpretative description given by Watson ' is preliminary and alternative only. And that there are other ways of describing, understanding the same phenomenom. On the whole I did not come away from this work with a sense of ' understanding the modern mind' in an even a fairly complete way .There is too much, and the central developments are still in the process of being made. In this sense I believe a more modest title to the book such as " One man's effort to comprehend the Modern Mind' might have been more appealing and more convincing.