Alphabet versus the Goddess Future Salon

Update: He will probably talk about his new book: Sex, Time and Power: How Women's Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution Even better :-)

Next Future Salon on Friday the 23rd of February. Please RSVP (http://tinyurl.com/33qnqn)

Drew Gilpin Faust is the first woman President of Harvard University, Hillary Clinton may be the first Women president of the US in 2008, at least right now she is the front runner of the Democratic Party. How come that Women are gaining influence now?

Leonard Shlain the author of The Alphabet Versus The Goddess may argue it is a proof that the proliferation of images in film, TV, graphics and computers is once again reconfiguring the brain by encouraging right hemispheric modes of thought that are encouraging the reemergence of the feminine.

Here his abstract to his Alphabet versus the Goddess Future Salon presentation:

This multimedia power point presentation containing over 300 images proposes that the rise of alphabetic literacy – the process of reading and writing – fundamentally reconfigured the human brain, and brought about profound changes in history, religion, and gender relations. Making remarkable connections among brain function, myth, and anthropology, Dr. Shlain shows why pre-literate cultures were principally informed by holistic, right-brain modes that venerated the Goddess, feminine values, and images. Writing, particularly alphabets, drove cultures toward linear left-brain thinking. This shift upset the balance between men and women, initiating the decline of the feminine and also ushered in the reign of patriarchy and misogyny. Examining the cultures of the Israelites, Greeks, Christians, and Muslims, he reinterprets many myths and parables in light of his theory. Shlain traces the affect of literacy on the Dark Ages, Mary, Gutenberg, the Reformation and the Witchcraze.

Shlain ends with an optimistic appraisal that the proliferation of images in film, TV, graphics and computers is once again reconfiguring the brain by encouraging right hemispheric modes of thought that are encouraging the reemergence of the feminine. A provocative, inspiring, and visually arresting presentation filled with startling historical anecdotes and fresh compelling ideas. It is a paradigm-shattering work that will transform your view of history and the mind.