martattack reviewed The Wizard and the Prophet by Charles C. Mann
Review of 'The Wizard and the Prophet' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Learned soooo much about soooo much, 4real
Very interesting journey into the shaping of !!!western!!! mindsets and approaches to nature from the 20th century to today. It's quite a deep philosophical question really, where we are set at the start of the book: what is the position of humankind in this planet we find ourselves in? how do we then relate to all other beings, to the non-human? are we, in a cartesian way, unique and different from all automata out there, and thus need to use nature to our whim to preserve our special human ingenuity? (the wizard) or are we just a being equal to any other, part of an interconnected, balanced system that must be honored and preserved? (the prophet)
it's crazy to see how this dichotomy is the underlying mechanism that will shape so many opinions and attitudes to the way societies should work! the author …
Learned soooo much about soooo much, 4real
Very interesting journey into the shaping of !!!western!!! mindsets and approaches to nature from the 20th century to today. It's quite a deep philosophical question really, where we are set at the start of the book: what is the position of humankind in this planet we find ourselves in? how do we then relate to all other beings, to the non-human? are we, in a cartesian way, unique and different from all automata out there, and thus need to use nature to our whim to preserve our special human ingenuity? (the wizard) or are we just a being equal to any other, part of an interconnected, balanced system that must be honored and preserved? (the prophet)
it's crazy to see how this dichotomy is the underlying mechanism that will shape so many opinions and attitudes to the way societies should work! the author spends a lot of the book explaining how these 2 attitudes have shaped the advance of food, water, and energy technology in the 20th centuries and how they've been at odds with the other.
by the end i was a bit bored but it was a verrrry interesting read!!! so much relevant info about recent history and modern advances in science that i can't reproduce anymore dammit why does this always happen!!!