The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World

by Wade Davis

Paperback, 2009

Status

Available

Call number

301

Publication

House of Anansi Pr (2009), Edition: First Edition, 240 pages

Description

Every culture is a unique answer to a fundamental question: What does it mean to be human and alive? In The Wayfinders, renowned anthropologist, winner of the prestigious Samuel Johnson Prize, and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis leads us on a thrilling journey to celebrate the wisdom of the world's indigenous cultures. In Polynesia we set sail with navigators whose ancestors settled the Pacific ten centuries before Christ. In the Amazon we meet the descendants of a true lost civilization, the Peoples of the Anaconda. In the Andes we discover that the earth really is alive, while in Australia we experience Dreamtime, the all-embracing philosophy of the first humans to walk out of Africa. We then travel to Nepal, where we encounter a wisdom hero, a Bodhisattva, who emerges from forty-five years of Buddhist retreat and solitude. And finally we settle in Borneo, where the last rainforest nomads struggle to survive. Understanding the lessons of this journey will be our mission for the next century. For at risk is the human legacy -- a vast archive of knowledge and expertise, a catalogue of the imagination. Rediscovering a new appreciation for the diversity of the human spirit, as expressed by culture, is among the central challenges of our time.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Larxol
This is a wide-ranging and interesting discussion by anthropologist Wade Davis on various cultures from all over the world and what they may be able to teach us before they are wiped out by the inexorable march of our technology- and energy-driven “modern” society. The book’s origins as a
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series of lectures for the CBC do show through and give it more of an anecdotal style rather than the reasoned academic exposition the reader might expect. I found, however, that the author’s repeated laments over the destruction of languages and cultures gave the book a bit of a whiny tone. He never addresses the root problem, which is that if you are going to support six or seven billion people on the planet, you are going to end up with a much different relationship between humans and their environment than you had when there were only a million hunter-gatherers or a few hundred million farmers. Many (although not all) of the “other” cultures he discusses made sustainable use of the resources around them, but most were also sparse upon the land in terms of numbers. But even with our bloated population, there are lessons here that would help us make better use of the resources we need to survive.
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LibraryThing member thebookpile
After a poor series in 2008, I was worried that the 2009 Masseys would be disappointing as well. Fortunately, they're back to the quality that I've come to expect from them.

The first four lectures in this book describe different cultures, including the bushmen of the Kalahari, Polynesians
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wayfinders, and South American "Amazons". Each lecture is interesting in and of itself but the book's secondary title, "Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World" is only brought to the foreground in the final lecture, which ties the lectures together more cohesively and puts out a call to action for their preservation.
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LibraryThing member hohlwelt
Also touching upon language but including multiple cultures and obscure cultural techniques and "other ways of knowing" such as polynesian navigation, ayhuasca etc.
Wonderful book. Easy to read but dense. Should be twice as thick and go more into detail.
LibraryThing member juliana_t
Highly recommend this book. So eloquently written - opened my heart and mind.
LibraryThing member ChrisNewton
Big and deep, too much for one reading. I think I need to buy this one. (Got it out of the library - always my first choice)
LibraryThing member Neil_Luvs_Books
A really lovely reflection on what indigenous cultures have to offer Western civilization.
LibraryThing member kslade
Very eye-opening book on the wisdom of other cultures and our western hubris in ignoring them. Mostly absorbing, but he goes on a little too long in some spots. Very worthwhile.

Awards

Libris Award (Winner — 2010)
Orion Book Award (Finalist — 2010)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2009

Physical description

240 p.; 5.25 inches

ISBN

0887848427 / 9780887848421
Page: 0.8859 seconds