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Charles C. Mann is a genius among journalists. 1491 was mind-blowing for me, and I'm halfway through 1493 (equally good). Most of what people were taught about

Charles C. Mann is a genius among journalists. 1491 was mind-blowing for me, and I'm halfway through 1493 (equally good). Most of what people were taught about pre-Columbian civilizations in America is wrong. They were far more sophisticated than previously thought (and, for that matter, more sophisticated than Europe in a variety of ways), but their downfall was lack of immunity to Eurasian viruses. Reading 1491 is similar to the feeling one might have of encountering Chinese or Japanese civilization for the first time. I would also like to plug a third book from Mann: The Wizard and the Prophet. https://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Prophet-Remarkable-Scientists-Tomorrows/dp/0307961699 https://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Prophet-Remarkable-Scientists-... It's about two men, the godfathers of the Green Revolution and the modern environmental movement. The first, Borlaug, is a techno-optimist solving global hunger, while the second, Vogt, is a conservative vis a vis technology, modernity and demographics, and takes a Malthusian opposition to tech and growth. I have come to see the conversation happening about tech, and between tech and mainstream American culture, as a conversation between wizards and prophets. Neither side is wholly wrong, and both have good reasons as well as self-interest to believe what they do. But the way they understand the world is deeply different.

Litost 6y ago
Fascinating, I've not read any of these books, but I'll stick them on top of my list. Do his books come to a conclusion on how to solve the "conflict" between the Wizard and the Prophet, it was hard to tell just reading the Amazon Reviews? Am I right in thinking it's worth reading 1491 first? This might be a bit tangential, but I can't help but be reminded of this article on Two-Eyed Seeing, which says there's value in both the Western (scientific) view and the Indigenous (natural) view and they both have things to teach each other. http://www.integrativescience.ca/Principles/TwoEyedSeeing/ http://www.integrativescience.ca/Principles/TwoEyedSeeing/ There's a brief video explaining in the above. http://www.integrativescience.ca/Media/Video/ http://www.integrativescience.ca/Media/Video/ It's a topic I've not been able to find much reference to, though there's also a TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA9EwcFbVfg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA9EwcFbVfg P.S. Even more tangential, but coincidently I was only today reading an article about the agricultural system in use in the article, growing maize, beans and squash often with the use of fish heads which was quite advanced and also nutritional - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture)
- blueyes 6y ago
  I would read 1491 before 1493, but you could certainly read wizard and prophet on either side of that. I don't think he has a solution to reconcile the wizards and the prophets. The two approaches are not at all mutually exclusive, but wizards try to find solutions for a larger population, while prophets seek to constrain the population. One point that he makes in 1491/1493 is that native civilizations manipulated the environment much more than previously thought. The Americas were very much a worked landscape before the Europeans landed. They were just worked by deliberate fire, rather than the plough. He says that there is evidence that 1/8th of California was burned every year, which puts our recent fires to shame. The balance of that landscape and its species was destroyed when the Indians were wiped out.

Litost 6y ago

Fascinating, I've not read any of these books, but I'll stick them on top of my list. Do his books come to a conclusion on how to solve the "conflict" between the Wizard and the Prophet, it was hard to tell just reading the Amazon Reviews? Am I right in thinking it's worth reading 1491 first? This might be a bit tangential, but I can't help but be reminded of this article on Two-Eyed Seeing, which says there's value in both the Western (scientific) view and the Indigenous (natural) view and they both have things to teach each other. http://www.integrativescience.ca/Principles/TwoEyedSeeing/ http://www.integrativescience.ca/Principles/TwoEyedSeeing/ There's a brief video explaining in the above. http://www.integrativescience.ca/Media/Video/ http://www.integrativescience.ca/Media/Video/ It's a topic I've not been able to find much reference to, though there's also a TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA9EwcFbVfg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA9EwcFbVfg P.S. Even more tangential, but coincidently I was only today reading an article about the agricultural system in use in the article, growing maize, beans and squash often with the use of fish heads which was quite advanced and also nutritional - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture)

blueyes 6y ago
I would read 1491 before 1493, but you could certainly read wizard and prophet on either side of that. I don't think he has a solution to reconcile the wizards and the prophets. The two approaches are not at all mutually exclusive, but wizards try to find solutions for a larger population, while prophets seek to constrain the population. One point that he makes in 1491/1493 is that native civilizations manipulated the environment much more than previously thought. The Americas were very much a worked landscape before the Europeans landed. They were just worked by deliberate fire, rather than the plough. He says that there is evidence that 1/8th of California was burned every year, which puts our recent fires to shame. The balance of that landscape and its species was destroyed when the Indians were wiped out.