Dr. Peikoff’s book The DIM Hypothesis identifies three different modes of integration, i.e., of interrelating concretes, such as individual percepts, facts, choices, story events, etc. As Dr. Peikoff explains: “My thesis is that the dominant trends in every key area can be defined by their leaders’ policy toward integration. They are against it (Disintegration, D); they are for it, if it conforms to Nature (Integration, I); they are for it, if it conforms to a Super-Nature (Misintegration, M).” The book—focusing on literature, physics, education and politics—demonstrates the power of these three modes in shaping Western culture and history.

In 2007 Dr. Peikoff presented the first and more theoretical half of the book. Now comes the cashing-in: his identification, on the basis of his hypothesis, of the rules that have governed each of the major changes in Western culture (e.g., pagan to Christian or Enlightenment to Modernist); his analysis of the DIM factors defining the condition of the United States today; and then, applying all this, how those rules predict our future; or, as the title of his last chapter puts it: “What’s Next.” (Along with his prediction, Dr. Peikoff specifies a timeframe and a degree of probability.)

Part 1 of this lecture was delivered at OCON 2007