The DIM Hypothesis

Product Description [MP3-CD audiobook format in Vinyl case. *NOTE: The MP3-CD format requires a compatible audio CD player.][Read by Robin Field]In his groundbreaking and controversial book The DIM Hypothesis, Dr. Leonard Peikoff casts a penetrating new light on the process of human thought and thereby on Western culture and history. -- In this far-reaching study, Peikoff identifies the three methods people use to integrate concrete data into a whole, as when connecting diverse experiments by a scientific theory, separate laws into a constitution, or single events into a story. The first method, in which data is integrated through rational means, he calls Integration. The second, which employs nonrational means, he calls Misintegration. The third is Disintegration -- which is nihilism, the desire to tear things apart. -- In The DIM Hypothesis Peikoff demonstrates the power of these three methods in shaping the West by using the categories to examine the culturally representative fields of literature, physics, education, and politics. His analysis illustrates how the historical trends in each field have been dominated by one of these three categories, not only today but during the whole progression of Western culture from its beginning in ancient Greece. -- Extrapolating from the historical pattern he identifies, Peikoff concludes by explaining why the lights of the West are going out -- and predicts the most likely future for the United States. About the Author Leonard Peikoff is universally recognized as the preeminent Rand scholar writing today. He worked closely with Ayn Rand for thirty years and was designated by her as heir to her estate. He has taught philosophy at Hunter College, Long Island University, and New York University and lectures on Rand's philosophy throughout the country. He lives in Southern California.