Too Much ‘Noo’ in the Sphere (All Spin, No Facts)
Steve Bannon describes MAGA narrative in terms of Teilhard’s ‘noosphere’
Years ago, I was a fan of the philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955). At least, I was excited by one of his books.
Teilhard assumed the concept of the biosphere, which resembled what I already understood as Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis: the totality of the Earth as a self-regulating organism.
From there, Teilhard (with Vladimir Vernadsky) proposed the noosphere: the totality of human thought, giving feedback, spiraling, evolving toward harmony. Nous is a Greek word meaning intellect, perception, or intuition.
I remember reading this Harper Torchbooks paperback, probably in 1999 when I was 19, and taking a lot of handwritten notes. Teilhard, as a Jesuit priest, wrote in spiritual terms, and the way he expressed himself appealed to me.
It would have been shortly after I read The Future of Man that I produced “The Worst Philosophy Paper I Ever Wrote.” I submitted that paper in the Spring of 2000, trying to springboard over the rest of the class and write my own…
