End of a Millennium

As we approach the year 2000, where do we look for meaning? In the East, a vast socialist experiment has failed; in the West, the capitalist enterprise seems tainted--the consumer society notably inadequate when it comes to fulfilling spiritual needs. If the ages of enlightenment and reason ushered in a mechanistic (though, more or less, comforting) notion of the universe, the modern age has foundered upon the shifting sands of quantum physics, where reality has given way to probability (a notion which one prefers to see in a casino rather than in a model for how the universe operates). A joint French-Canadian production, End of a Millennium brings together a diverse group of thinkers, ranging from scientists and philosophers to psychologists and meditation teachers, in an exploration of available directions for humanity to turn. A greater appreciation for the feminine, a return to cultural roots, and a few fairly sophisticated scientific principles are explored (including the concept of non-locality, which is the scientific version of "interconnectedness"--derived from the observation that particle pairs will act similarly even when they are separated). While no easy answers are presented, the program definitely underscores the fact that, as one interviewee plainly puts it, "human experience cannot be squeezed into the bathing suit of science." A very good discussion starter. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)