Another book to read
Jan. 11th, 2005 12:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebeccmeisterAs I was scanning the titles of articles published in the most recent edition of the journal Nature, a book review caught my eye. It's about the latest book by Jared Diamond, entitled Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. I enjoyed Diamond's earlier books, including The Third Chimpanzee and Guns, Germs, and Steel, and this book also looks interesting.
I just have to pause here and quote from the review, which was also well-written:
"Human behaviour towards the ecosphere has become dysfunctional and now arguably threatens our own long-term security. The real problem is that the modern world remains in the sway of a dangerously illusory cultural myth. Like Lomborg, most governments and international agencies seem to believe that the human enterprise is somehow ‘decoupling’ from the environment, and so is poised for unlimited expansion."
A note: Bjorn Lomborg is author of a book called The Skeptical Environmentalist.
In any case, the review is well-written, although non-environmentalists might find it a bit preachy because it calls down the usual environmental destruction fire and brimstone. From what I recall, Diamond tries hard to stay away from outright pronouncements of doom and destruction (why is it that terms for disaster always come in pairs? death and despair, doom and destruction, hell and high water...), so with any luck, the book will be less preachy than the review. I just hope the whole enchilada encourages people to invest more time, energy, and money in good science.
In unrelated news, today's fortune cookie reads: "Do not eat anything bigger than your head."
I just have to pause here and quote from the review, which was also well-written:
"Human behaviour towards the ecosphere has become dysfunctional and now arguably threatens our own long-term security. The real problem is that the modern world remains in the sway of a dangerously illusory cultural myth. Like Lomborg, most governments and international agencies seem to believe that the human enterprise is somehow ‘decoupling’ from the environment, and so is poised for unlimited expansion."
A note: Bjorn Lomborg is author of a book called The Skeptical Environmentalist.
In any case, the review is well-written, although non-environmentalists might find it a bit preachy because it calls down the usual environmental destruction fire and brimstone. From what I recall, Diamond tries hard to stay away from outright pronouncements of doom and destruction (why is it that terms for disaster always come in pairs? death and despair, doom and destruction, hell and high water...), so with any luck, the book will be less preachy than the review. I just hope the whole enchilada encourages people to invest more time, energy, and money in good science.
In unrelated news, today's fortune cookie reads: "Do not eat anything bigger than your head."
Collapse
Date: 2005-01-12 03:40 am (UTC)http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4276179