functionalism

The chapter critiques the dominance of functionalism in scientific and technological thinking, emphasizing how it reduces human individuality and life itself to mere functions within mechanized systems. It argues that this instrumentalist mindset, while effective for technical progress and automation, leads to a dehumanizing loss of personality and vitality, ultimately resulting in a mental and ecological desolation. The author foresees the collapse of such a system once it exhausts its resources and usefulness.

This chapter critiques the conflation of scientific exactness with truth, arguing that mechanical repeatability does not equate to genuine truth, which is unique and non-duplicable. It contrasts functionalism, which describes passive, mechanical processes, with vitality, the self-directed, living motion that cannot be fully captured by scientific analysis. The author warns that the dominance of functionalism leads to a loss of individuality and authentic life, resulting in a metaphorical 'deadness' within humans who imitate life mechanically.