Lyotard called the end to grand narratives, the end to the possibility of a single overall account of the human condition, be it religion, Marxism, liberal democracy, or the Enlightenment. He went on to argue that "grand narratives have always been in conflict with science". But increasingly critics argue science has given rise to its own grand narratives, with uncanny similarities to those it displaced. The sense of mystery and awe implicit in many religions now finds its parallel in the ineffable vastness of the universe. The Marxist unfolding of history has echoes in the unavoidable consequence of the initial conditions in Einsteinian physics. While the Genesis story has direct parallels with the Big Bang, a theory first put forward by a Catholic priest.
Rather than replacing grand narratives, have we just conjured up new versions? Is there a danger that the scientific narratives of today carry the same risks as the ideologies of the past? At root, why are we attached to these tales and could we even in principle get rid of them?
