End of Modernity?

Iain Provan offers this comment in his Ecclesiastes commentary: “Modern people tend to view the movement of history, as far as human beings are concerned, as being from primeval swamp to divinity. The beginning was unpromising, but quite against expectation the forces of evolution have propelled us along, to a point where we stand on the verge of greatness. We have already overcome so many of the limitations of human life as it was experienced by most of our predecessors. Control of life itself, it seems, is within our grasp, as we come into possession of the mysteries of DNA and pronounce ourselves capable of manipulating genetic codes so as to bring in utopia – the land of ultimate consumer choices (which hair or skin color do you prefer in your baby? which gender?), freedom from illness and deformity, and happiness for everyone.”

What was that you were saying about “incredulity toward metanarratives” and the collapse of the idea of progress and the newfound humility of science?

Were I conspiratorially minded, I’d be tempted to think that postmodernism is a feint by scientists to keep us distracted while they pursue their thoroughly modern dreams of perfection.