Daniel Quinn: Saving the World (excerpt) -- A Thinking Allowed DVD w/ Jeffrey Mishlove

[zombiestripper85]

on second thought, it makes sense that Quinn would include all hominin history because such a view equates well philosophically with the high regard held for ancestors in many tribal religions/societies.

[zombiestripper85]

I fell in love with the boy who introduced me to Quinn's writing, but it probably wouldn't have worked. If he's philosophically Quinnian that would make him an Animist and I consider myself more of a Pantheist. I'm not sure that someone who conceives of the universe as an encompassing spirit with harmonic parts, could get on with someone who believes in the separateness and individuality of numerous spirits, which leaves room for conflict. Animist spirits sound like metaphysical existentialists.

[zombiestripper85]

his timescale is a bit misleading in that he is starting human history around the time that the genus homo first emerged (3 MYA), rather than a few hundred thousand years ago when our species evolved. It doesn't detract from his philosophy because there is still a larger chunk of human existence that predates civilization and written record, and he has the date correct for the agricultural revolution. Whenever the problem started, one can't deny that the industrial revolution caused problems too

[Keovar]

I think the Garden of Eden myth works as a commentary on the agricultural revolution. Knowledge can be dangerous, and so it was when we learned to farm and domesticate animals. Land, women, and children became property that had to be controlled and kept from others, so violence escalated to the point of genocide.

[CougarsRock]

@SolidarityScout If you enjoyed the book, I highly recommend DQ's other books. Check out "The Story of B", "Beyond Civilization", "The Holy", and more. They are all excellent mind-bending books.

[CougarsRock]

Read "Ishmael"

[SolidarityScout]

@CougarsRock I had to for a summer reading project.