Human Development, Language and the Future of Mankind: The Madness of Culture [Hardcover]

Drawing on and integrating unorthodox thought from a broad range of disciplines including clinical psychology, linguistics, philosophy, natural science and psychoanalysis, this book offers a provocative, original analysis of the global threats to our survival, and proposes a remedy.1. Understanding our Global Dangers 2. What is Language, and Why Does it Matter? 3. Infancy and First Language Acquisition 4. Literacy and Primary Orality 5. Ontogenesis and Pathology 6. Phylogenesis and Madness 7. Visions of Sanity 8. Toward Restorative Change

Why do we blithely destroy our own futures in the pursuit of self-interest? What kind of being has an interest in its own destruction? What if our current sense of 'normality' were in fact a particularly pervasive and stubborn form of madness? Making a clear, well-researched, and often compelling case for this provocative view, Berger suggests a way to restore some sanity to our world grown mad. By stepping back and thinking realistically about what human survival requires, we can develop child-rearing practices that will help us heal the malignant divide between our skillful embodiment and our linguistic self-understanding. There is much food for thought in this wise book. - Iain Thomson, University of New Mexico, USA

Louis S. Berger is a Clinical Psychologist based in the US, with experience spanning the fields of engineering, physics and music. He has been a Assistant Professor at the faculty of The University of Louisville, Department of Psychiatry, and the staff psychologist at Southwest Research Institute. He is the author of eight books and numerous papers.