Ishmael Book Review Part 1

Buyer Beware

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Ishmael

[ILLEGITIMATE01]

i dont like the cut of this guys jib, and i pretty sure he doesn't kow the meaning of the word: arbitrary lol

[j0hnwi11iams]

I would probably have to be a member of your circle jerk club.

[landland44]

@landland44 If you think there's no evidence presented, maybe try re-reading the book and really looking at the world we live in for a few minutes.

[landland44]

@landland44 The evidence is everywhere. Quinn shows the reader how to see it. In the book, Ishmael has different students, and has to teach each differently. Quinn has written a book that, since he can't write it differently for each person, he's tried to make pretty universal. Including all the evidence would make it so that only anthropologists and sociologists would be interested.

[landland44]

Quinn explains these truths in an accessible way that almost anyone can read and understand. His point here is not to write an 800 page book of scientific gibberish that most people will not being interested in. He's trying to show an idea to a lot of people. If he were to construct an absolutely irrefutable argument with every piece of evidence that exists, the book would be too huge for him to write or anyone to read.

[landland44]

You also said that the argument being presented is from an authority, and that Ishmael's telepathy is meant to make us follow the argument like sheep. No, the authority of the argument comes from its explanation, not who's saying it. A human, a gorilla, or a rock could be saying it; it would be no less true. The entire book is a huge presentation of evidence, but it's not an anthropology or sociology textbook. It is a fictional story that holds up real truths.

[landland44]

You say that Ishmael's telepathy is supposed to make the reader accept his authority. I highly doubt that was Quinn's meaning. Who is going to accept an idea based on it being presented by the a fictional character with a (for all we really know) fictional ability? Daniel Quinn is not an idiot. Ishmael's telepathy was beside the point of the book; it served to allow a gorilla to present these ideas to a human, which illustrates the ideas' universal truth, regardless of who is saying them.

[landland44]

@jessemparker You'd probably love "My Ishmael" if you liked "Ishmael" that much. It's a sequel that elaborates on the first book's ideas, and also focuses on some specific points. "The Story of B" is also by Daniel Quinn. I haven't read it yet, but it's apparently also great.

[jessemparker]

I'm reading it now... I will say it almost lost me but it kept me for the same reason. Now I'm hooked. Can anyone recommend another thought provoking book like this?

[newman09]

Oh yeah, encouraging subsistence farmers to grow cash crops can be devastating. In the Indian cotton belt the importation of subsidized US cotton has caused prices to fall. The more expensive GMOs sold to Indian farmers have caused an alarming rise in farmer suicides. At one time most small farmers used 80% of their crops for subsistence, growing wide varieties from traditional seeds. Now, the growers that switched to Monsanto seeds are in debt, forced to sell their land and work as laborers.

[j0hnwi11iams]

The Capitalism and monetary that pervades global trade is to a large extent responsible for what is happening. It is a system that seemingly requires exponential growth just to stay afloat. Capitalism systematically eliminates diversity. The infrastructure supporting society is fragile and easily crashed.