Week 3 - Barker Chap 5-6

While there has been many contributing factors that have created the cultural climate we are now in, I cant help but believe that the natural sciences (biology, physics etc) have been the greatest contributors. As Barker points out, Fordism, consumerism and capitalism have all run their course and left us with unfulfilled promises. However, I think the discoveries and theories generated from the natural sciences have led the charge. Barker makes note of such revelations as wave-particle duality and the ever mysterious field of quantum physics. The world went from the Newtonian absolutism of the enlightenment era to Einstein's relativity of the 20th century. In 1927, quantum physicist Werner Heisenberg introduced the uncertainty principle and shocked the scientific world. The uncertainty principle reveals a universe that is unknowable and unpredictable in its elementary foundations. Particles/waves are unpredictable because they are constantly in motion. Einstein reacted to Heisenberg’s findings with disbelief and said, God does not play dice with the universe. Heisenberg responded saying, Einstein, don’t tell God what to do. Barker makes note of the fact that culture is in a constant state of flux caused by a plurality of forces interacting with it. However, since the natural sciences have been considered our greatest means of knowledge, I believe their impact has caused the most change and will continue to do so.