4.17 · Rating details · 1,698 ratings · 99 reviews
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Published in 1996. This is the first time I've seen sustainability discussed so thoroughly (in the Epiloigue).. Book packed with info. Made me wonder where his experts stand with most current researchers. Has anyone read it or have an opinion or info on it? I haven't seen it referenced much, but contains many facts (?) of interest.
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Nate D
May 26, 2009Nate D rated it did not like it
Shelves: non-fiction, school
Pseudo-scientific mysticism. Just enough science (quite a bit, actually; Capra hasn't exactly shirked his research) to make people buy the completely unfounded ludicrous speculation the book spends its length careening towards. I almost shelved this as "fantasy".
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Stephen
Feb 10, 2008Stephen rated it really liked it
Shelves: ecology, non-fiction
In The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems, Fritjof Capra attempts to present a synthesis of systems models as a new (and improved) way of looking at life. While scientists will often speak of paradigm shifts within a field -- for instance from Newtonian to relativistic physics, or Lamarckian evolution to the Darwinian kind -- it is rare that they attempt to link these individual shifts to a wider movement. It is probably rarer still that they attempt to create the overarching paradigm, as opposed to simply documenting it.
Capra begins by acknowledging the countless problems plaguing humanity today. Taking a deep ecological approach, he sees the problems of hunger, climate change, education, conflict, and so on as being integrated and systemic. If humanity understands the magnitude of these calamities, then it is clear that we are not currently capable of dealing with them. Capra's belief is that we must refocus the way we look at the world -- we must put on green-tinted glasses with a worldview rooted in sustainability. He speaks of the need to understand the interdependence of humanity and nature; he speaks of shifting from self-assertion to integration, from power to balance, and from hierarchies to networks.
One of the delightful aspects of Capra's writing is that he leaves room for you to connect many of the dots, yet weaves key concepts in repeated mantras. If you don't quite see the connection, he'll make it clear in a reference somewhere in the next chapter. Thus it is as he steps away from the normative social science for most of the book, wrapping things up nicely at the end.
In parts two and three he describes systems thinking and key systems theories. Of systems thinking in general Capra writes, "[the] essential properties of an organism... are properties of the whole, which none of the parts have," and, " systems cannot be understood by analysis."
Four criteria of systems thinking are laid out:
1) holistic, systemic properties emerge as "organizing relations of the parts"
2) different properties emerge at each "level" of a system
3) knowledge as a network, not an edifice
4) must explicitly describe epistemology
Dr. Capra, a particle physicist by training, has a true gift for translating abstract scientific concepts into intelligible English. This gift is used well in describing an array of theories and showing the similarities of worldview that they imply. Of traditional physics he speaks little, only alluding to ideas drawn out in full in The Tao of Physics. In fact, his work now revolves around the idea of life being at the center of our quest for knowledge, instead of pure structure. Theories so richly described include cybernetics, dissipative structures and mathematical complexity (chaos), laser theory, hypercycles, autopoeisis, Gaia theory, and symbiogenesis.
Much of the synthesis throughout and following these theories grows from the work of Humberto Maturela and Francisco Varela (the Santiago theory of cognition). As he moves from the primarily physical theories into the realm of humanity, he focuses on the place of consciousness, rational and intuitive knowledge, and language in the human condition as we know it.
In an epilogue titled "Ecoliteracy," Capra gives a taste of things to come by extending the discussion of the human condition and the deep ecological view of sustainability. The potential impact of the "web of life" paradigm on the functioning of society at large is fully explored in his follow-up book, The Hidden Connections: Integrating the Biological, Cognitive, and Social Dimensions of Life into a Science of Sustainability.
I find the Web of Life to be an engaging, educational, coherent, and most important of all, extremely relevant view of the world in which we presently find ourselves. It is an important addition to the field of knowledge, and I hope that it may affect some shift in both the filters we see the world through and the policies we create in their context. (less)
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Bob Nichols
Aug 31, 2012Bob Nichols rated it liked it · review of another edition
Capra presents an anti-reductionist, and anti-deterministic (molecular v. integrative, holistic v. mechanistic) view of life. Life is not about atoms only, but patterns of organization and networks of mutually beneficial parts. He uses the term autopoiesis (self-organization) to describe a process whereby life makes iteself, continuously. Life is closed to the world in the sense that it self-creates and self-orders, but life is also open because it necessarily interacts with its environment and adapts to it. Mind is not a thing, Capra says, but a process that takes in what the external world requires and behavior is modified through feedback loops as a result. "To live is to know," he says, and all life has mind.
We are composed of nucleated cells where parts function as parts of a whole and where the whole is dependent on the parts. We are a community, internally, and externally in our relationship with the environment. We are part of the web of life, not isolated from it. This is a vision of not only who we are, but who we need to be. This is why Capra uses the expression, "spiritual ecology."
This is not a bad vision for life, as long as it's understood that Capra describes but does not explain. We are the living embodiment of a pattern he says, but he doesn't tell us how that pattern is created. We know about the cybernetic interaction with the environment, but how did life get this capacity? If life is a community of self-inerested entities (genes, molecules, cells,) we presume that there's cooperation for mutual benefit but that just begs the question: Why do self-interested entities "care" about themselves? Do self-interested communities within our bodies prune back each other and thereby promote the collective interest of the whole? Is it in this sense that the whole regulates and is different from its parts?
We might understand the integration and community part of life from what Capra describes, but he dismisses the role of competition and combat. That omission makes his vision more aspirational than real. (less)
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Sebastian
Mar 15, 2010Sebastian rated it really liked it
This was an excellent book, one of the best ones I have read in over a year, with new ideas and stimulated imagination. I learned a great deal about cybernetics, learned to view evolution from a different perspective, and see how all of "life" can be broken down into cohesive sequence of chemical unfoldings. Theories tie well into chaos theory, emergence and systems analysis.
Not everything he says though I agree with, but this is largely understandable since my world-view is quite fringe even among the fringe.
As far as writing style, even though he has a fabulous and clear voice, he does suffer from repetition. He will prelude to some concept and labor on about it for pages, then explain what it is that is important - sometimes far too briefly - and then labor on again and again [sometimes in further chapters once more:] about the same names, concepts or topics, over and over again. Fortunately, those moments when he does unveil more concepts are quite thought provoking, which helps to keep the attention up and the end-value bright.
Before I had read this book, I was already well versed in: Spiral Dynamics, Permaculture, Integral Philosophy, Deep Ecology, Post-modernism, Chaos Theory and Systems Theory.
With this book I now feel like I have a new micro-biological perspective on evolution, systems-theory connections with emergence and chaos theory, and cybernetics. (less)
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Kity Požek
Aug 17, 2019Kity Požek added it
a real brain candy :D
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Glynda-lee Hoffmann
Sep 13, 2007Glynda-lee Hoffmann rated it liked it
Dense and complicated, but illuminating.
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Paco Nathan
Dec 11, 2009Paco Nathan rated it really liked it
Shelves: green
Well written. Tour de force for many complex points, with excellent storytelling and vital issues. Good intro for autopoiesis and systems theory from Green perspectives.
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Jitin Singla
Feb 11, 2017Jitin Singla rated it it was amazing
Shelves: books-i-loved
I can't recommend it enough.
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Christopher Miller
Jun 02, 2019Christopher Miller rated it did not like it
Shelves: dnf
One good thing from this book, at least I know I'm getting better at recognizing bullshit right off the bat. I would have eaten this right up with no questions back in college.
Capra keeps making assertions that I might agree with, or at least want to be true, but with no evidence to back them up. Where he does cite a source, about half of them appear to be referring to his earlier works. Is there a separate term for 'argument from authority' when you yourself are the authority?
I want to find an electronic version of this just so I can count how many times he uses the word paradigm.
He has a table where various terms are set at odds with each other and of course the terms he likes are superior. I would agree with most, but then the first one in the list is rationality vs intuition. That is so the opposite of science (two people might have different intuitions, how do we go about determining whose is correct?), and it makes it impossible for me to take a single word seriously.
Tao of Physics has been on my favorites shelf for years, which I did read in college. Might be time for a revisit... (less)
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Luke
Jan 03, 2020Luke rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
A wonderful exposition of the theories variously referred to as systems/ecological thinking; the Gaia hypothesis; life-mind continuity thesis, etc. and a must-read for anybody interested in overcoming the false Cartesian mind-matter dichotomy. Full of references that will keep you spiralling merrily down the rabbit hole and with plenty of practical, implementable suggestions for what a holistic, cooperation-heavy worldview would look like. 11/10
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