Conquest of abundance : a tale of abstraction versus the richness of being

From flea bites to galaxies, from love affairs to shadows, Paul Feyerabend reveled in the sensory and intellectual abundance that surrounds us. He found it equally striking that human senses and human intelligence are able to take in only a fraction of these riches. "This a blessing, not a drawback," he writes. "A superconscious organism would not be superwise, it would be paralyzed." This human reduction of experience to a manageable level is the heart of Conquest of Abundance, the book on which Feyerabend was at work when he died in 1994. Prepared from drafts of the manuscript left at his death, working notes, and lectures and articles Feyerabend wrote while the larger work was in progress, Conquest of Abundance offers up rich exploration and startling insights with the charm, lucidity, and sense of mischief that are his hallmarks. Feyerabend is fascinated by how we attempt to explain and predict the mysteries of the natural world, and he looks at the ways in which we abstract experience, explain anomalies, and reduce wonder to formulas and equations. Through his exploration of the positive and negative consequences of these efforts, Feyerabend reveals the "conquest of abundance" as an integral part of the history and character of Western civilization. -- Publisher description "From Homeric gods to galaxies, from love affairs to perspective in painting, Paul Feyerabend reveled in the physical and cultural abundance that surrounds us. He found it equally striking that human senses and intelligence are able to take in only a fraction of these riches. From this fraction, scientists, artists, all of us construct the stereotypes and abstractions that shape our sense of reality. This basic human trait is at the heart of Conquest of Abundance, the book on which Feyerabend was at work when he died in 1994. This book, his last, is a testimony to major developments in his thought."--BOOK JACKET. "Conquest of Abundance" was prepared from drafts of the manuscript left at the author's death, working notes, lectures and articles Feyerabend wrote while the larger work was in progress. It offers up exploration and insights with the charm, and sense of mischief that are his hallmarks. IN THE BOOK 9 OF THE ILIAD, Aias, Odysseus, and phoenix, acting as messengers, ask Achilles to return to the Achaeans and to aid them in their battle against Troy.