Unwinding the Reel of Civilization in Ponting's The Green History of the World and Quinn's IshmaelClive Ponting's The Green History of the World and Daniel Quinn's Ishmael both critique the dominant paradigms of modernity. human civilization, particularly with regard to its relations with the environment. Both are convinced that we are in trouble. Neither is quite willing to make definitive connections and present us with a systematic method out of our looming ecological crisis, but they both explain what went wrong, what is not right now and what will happen if we choose not to make this decision. evasive action. With no similar works "in the canon", it's hard not to feel (as the character Ishmael promised) that if you accept their premises you are doomed to isolation for those who see the future most clearly. are usually outcasts, not knowing what power they can have to change their minds and directions. Enlightenment almost always has a price, often high. In the interest of exploring the necessity of dissent, let's follow this line of environmental thinking a little further. Ponting presents us with the scientific and cultural evidence that supports what Quinn says: that as a species we are destroying our foundations even as we proclaim our creation – civilization – a success. If this massive collapse and ominous future are certainties, then we must ask ourselves – as Quinn does – who or what is telling us lies to make us believe otherwise? His character, Ishmael, calls it “Mother Culture” and insists that its omnipresent voice works to keep us on course, even when much of the population has every reason to lose hope in its principles. This all-powerful entity would likely include most educational institutions and media outlets, so information to the contrary would rarely be funded or reported, and probably never directly pointed out. Which leaves us with a challenge: using Thomas Kuhn's model of change In the social sciences we must strive to see whether the Ponting/Quinn paradigm for all civilization is just a change in attitude or - as Kuhn would be hard-pressed to imagine it—an entirely new awareness that brings about remedies for the sanctions he warns against. . If this is a return to the paradigm, to the imagery of hunter-gatherers or noble savages, then the potential for civil disruption is great. With the stakes for annihilation as high as they are presented, such a change could justify radical political and economic reform which, in the absence of the reality believed in, would only place a larger portion of the population terrestrial in positions of subsistence and servitude..

Essay / Unwinding the Reel of Civilization in Ponting's The Green History of the World and Quinn's IshmaelClive Ponting's The Green History of the World and Daniel Quinn's Ishmael both critique the dominant paradigms of modernity. human civilization, particularly with regard to its relations with the environment. Both are convinced that we are in trouble. Neither is quite willing to make definitive connections and present us with a systematic method out of our looming ecological crisis, but they both explain what went wrong, what is not right now and what will happen if we choose not to make this decision. evasive action. With no similar works "in the canon", it's hard not to feel (as the character Ishmael promised) that if you accept their premises you are doomed to isolation for those who see the future most clearly. are usually outcasts, not knowing what power they can have to change their minds and directions. Enlightenment almost always has a price, often high. In the interest of exploring the necessity of dissent, let's follow this line of environmental thinking a little further. Ponting presents us with the scientific and cultural evidence that supports what Quinn says: that as a species we are destroying our foundations even as we proclaim our creation – civilization – a success. If this massive collapse and ominous future are certainties, then we must ask ourselves – as Quinn does – who or what is telling us lies to make us believe otherwise? His character, Ishmael, calls it “Mother Culture” and insists that its omnipresent voice works to keep us on course, even when much of the population has every reason to lose hope in its principles. This all-powerful entity would likely include most educational institutions and media outlets, so information to the contrary would rarely be funded or reported, and probably never directly pointed out. Which leaves us with a challenge: using Thomas Kuhn's model of change In the social sciences we must strive to see whether the Ponting/Quinn paradigm for all civilization is just a change in attitude or - as Kuhn would be hard-pressed to imagine it—an entirely new awareness that brings about remedies for the sanctions he warns against. . If this is a return to the paradigm, to the imagery of hunter-gatherers or noble savages, then the potential for civil disruption is great. With the stakes for annihilation as high as they are presented, such a change could justify radical political and economic reform which, in the absence of the reality believed in, would only place a larger portion of the population terrestrial in positions of subsistence and servitude..

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