The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning

The Patterning Instinct explores a foundational question for the Great Transition: how did humanity come to see the world in ways that produced today’s dominant civilization? Jeremy Lent traces the evolution of meaning-making across cultures, showing how deeply rooted patterns of thought shape societies, institutions, and ultimately humanity’s relationship with the living Earth. Of particular importance is his examination of the worldview of separation—the belief that humans are fundamentally separate from nature—which became embedded in Western culture and helped legitimize domination, extraction, and unlimited growth. By revealing that civilizations are constructed around culturally inherited patterns of meaning rather than immutable truths, the book opens an important space for transformation: what has been patterned can be repatterned. In Three Horizons terms, The Patterning Instinct helps expose the deep cultural foundations of Horizon 1 and strengthens our capacity to consciously cultivate the worldviews from which a regenerative Horizon 3 civilization might emerge.

I want to Learn and I have Time for a Deeper Dive

Source: Jeremy Lent

Functional Sector: Education, Environment, Spirituality

Date Added: 2026-09-11

#N/A	Category:
	Format: Book
	Duration: Time for a Deeper Dive