TECHNOLOGICAL MAN

by Victor Ferkiss ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1969

T. M. doesn't exist -- yet -- Ferkiss says. In fact he's a myth along with Suburbia, the Sexual Revolution, Leisure Time, and a host of other pop and not-so-pop subjects for contemporary alarums and excursions. What does exist is a combination of population pressure, exploitation of nature, and general mindlessness about control which could bring on the ultimate horror. Man is willy-nilly heading into an ""existential, revolution,"" a profound alteration of his way of life brought on by his own industry, science and invention. That is the essential subject matter of Ferkiss' book, but it doesn't begin to do him justice. His is an extraordinarily vivid account of American life today from Bonnie and Clyde to Thomas Altizer, from Herma Kahn to Walden Two. How will it change? Ferkiss paints the full picture of genetic control, sub-ocean colonies, man-machine symbioses, as constructed by the most optimistic (or pessimistic) futurists. He then examines contemporary politics, economics, and culture in this light, finding them very dark indeed. The book is a continuously stimulating, splendidly written thesis which is marred only by a weak conclusion. Having taken a hard look at the myths and symbols of our society, Ferkiss constructs a kind of dream for tomorrow: a technological man who espouses a new philosophy of naturalness, thoroughly integrated with the environment; a new holism -- aware of the interconnectedness of things -- and a new ""immanentism"" -- a sense of the creative well-springs of living things. An idealistic but unlikely conjecture, not up to the acuity of the bulk of the critique.

Pub Date: March 1, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Braziller

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION