Ask National Geographic explorer Wade Davis about magic, ritual, and why ancient wisdom matters
source: http://blogs.current.com/green/2010/01/12/ask-national-geographic-explorer-wade-davis-about-...
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- leahl
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Here is what TED has to say about why he is worth listening to:
Anthropologist Wade Davis is perhaps the most articulate and influential western advocate for the world’s indigenous cultures. His stunning photographs and evocative stories capture the viewer’s imagination. As a speaker, he parlays that sense of wonder into passionate concern over the rate at which cultures and languages are disappearing — 50 percent of the world’s 6,000 languages, he says, are no longer taught to children. He argues, in the most beautiful terms, that language isn’t just a collection of vocabulary and grammatical rules. In fact, “Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind.”
Davis, a Harvard-educated ethnobotanist, believes humanity’s greatest legacy is the “ethnosphere,” the cultural counterpart to the biosphere, and “the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness.” He beautifully articulates the intellectual, emotional and moral reasons why it’s in everyone’s best interest to preserve the world’s cultures.
To this end, Davis serves on the councils of Ecotrust and other NGOs working to protect diversity. He also co-founded Cultures on the Edge, a quarterly online magazine designed to raise awareness of threatened communities. Perhaps his best-known work is The Serpent and the Rainbow,The Clouded Leopard: A Book of Travels. an international bestseller about zombification practices in Haiti. Wes Craven adapted the book into a 1988 film, which Davis denounced as a betrayal of the book’s spirit.
So post your questions below. We will also be live tweeting from the sold out lecture on Wednesday, 7:30pm-9pm PST.
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- groups:
- Green, Wade Davis
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- tags:
- Earth and Science, Adventure, Wade Davis, Explorers
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leahl
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Here is the link to the blog with links to all of his answers along with a link to the podcast: Wade Davis on myth, magic, voodou, relativism, aboriginal dreaming...what more could you want? http://su.pr/1aHs5d
- 2 years ago
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leahl
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leahl
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Here is the answer to your question Jan: http://current.com/items/91965204_pessimism-is-an-indulgence-wade-davis-on-clima...
- 2 years ago
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leahl
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leahl
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unimatrix0, here is the answer to your question: http://current.com/items/91965176_myth-magic-and-mysticism.htm
- 2 years ago
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leahl
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JanforGore
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BTW, is this going to be reported on here so we know if our question was asked if we don't "tweet?"
- 2 years ago
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JanforGore
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leahl
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JanforGore:
I'll be posting on the blog tomorrow!
- 2 years ago
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leahl
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JanforGore
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In light of the effects of climate change in relationship to increasing corporate encroachment and devastation of our environment, what can we do to help the indigenous peoples of the world whose wisdom is now key to our biodiversity and survival as a species? And as a second question to this, do we have that ability considering the disconnect and disrespect so many in this "modern" technological world have with/towards nature?
- 2 years ago
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JanforGore
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leahl
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JanforGore:
Incoming!
Here is the answer to your question Jan: http://current.com/items/91965204_pessimism-is-an-indulgence-wade-davis-on-clima... - 2 years ago
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leahl
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unimatrix0
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Could you define magic? Does magic involve the supernatural?
Also, you seem to embrace a cultural relativism. Is this the case? Are all cultures equal? Or are some cultures superior to others? Either way, on what criteria do you make such judgments?
thank you
- 2 years ago
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unimatrix0
