Comments on: The Age of Exuberance http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/ se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenki Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:23:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Wilderness & Its Troubles (The Anthropik Network) http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-95715 Wilderness & Its Troubles (The Anthropik Network) Sat, 05 May 2007 21:54:05 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-95715 [...] Roderick Nash's classic Wilderness and the American Mind traces the history of our conception of wilderness from its Biblical roots. In the Bible, the "wilderness" was a place of great evil—a wasteland cursed by G-d, inhabited by demons and devils. When Christ goes into the wilderness, he is tempted by Satan. At its best, the wilderness is a purgatory where one might meet G-d, but only once the trials of the wilderness have burned away one's sins. When the Israelites sin, they are sent to wander the wilderness for 40 years before they may enter the Promised Land. It was this view that dominated the medieval view of wilderness: the place where hermits and monks could burn away their sins, and find communion with G-d through suffering. Folklore and legend built on this. In Beowulf, Grendel comes out of the wilderness, and is very much a manifestation of it.1 Pan, the trickster god whose name is the root of our word for "panic," was similarly a monster of the wilderness.2, 3 The Age of Exuberance was a turning point in this history: while in the New World the "wilderness" remained an obstacle to be subdued, in Europe, limitlessness led to the begininnings of Romanticism. The greatest impact on American thought and attitudes toward wilderness were from European influences. It is clear that European views were developed, at least in part, by religious perspectives, folkloric legends and fears created by the encounters with the unknown. But at the time that the colonists settled in the New World, Europeans, who no longer had any real wilderness left, romanticized wilderness. They were not in battle with it—Europe had long ago been tamed and cultivated. It was from this vantage point that wilderness held a mystique. Perhaps there was a Paradise yet to be discovered. [...] […] Roderick Nash’s classic Wilderness and the American Mind traces the history of our conception of wilderness from its Biblical roots. In the Bible, the “wilderness” was a place of great evil—a wasteland cursed by G-d, inhabited by demons and devils. When Christ goes into the wilderness, he is tempted by Satan. At its best, the wilderness is a purgatory where one might meet G-d, but only once the trials of the wilderness have burned away one’s sins. When the Israelites sin, they are sent to wander the wilderness for 40 years before they may enter the Promised Land. It was this view that dominated the medieval view of wilderness: the place where hermits and monks could burn away their sins, and find communion with G-d through suffering. Folklore and legend built on this. In Beowulf, Grendel comes out of the wilderness, and is very much a manifestation of it.1 Pan, the trickster god whose name is the root of our word for “panic,” was similarly a monster of the wilderness.2, 3 The Age of Exuberance was a turning point in this history: while in the New World the “wilderness” remained an obstacle to be subdued, in Europe, limitlessness led to the begininnings of Romanticism. The greatest impact on American thought and attitudes toward wilderness were from European influences. It is clear that European views were developed, at least in part, by religious perspectives, folkloric legends and fears created by the encounters with the unknown. But at the time that the colonists settled in the New World, Europeans, who no longer had any real wilderness left, romanticized wilderness. They were not in battle with it—Europe had long ago been tamed and cultivated. It was from this vantage point that wilderness held a mystique. Perhaps there was a Paradise yet to be discovered. […]

]]> By: Coal, World War & the Collapse of European Imperialism (The Anthropik Network) http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-92575 Coal, World War & the Collapse of European Imperialism (The Anthropik Network) Tue, 01 May 2007 13:55:08 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-92575 [...] The basic pattern of civilization over the past ten thousand years has been relatively simple: begin farming, and as the act of farming makes future farming impossible because of its ecological consequences, expand into neighboring territories. In "The Age of Exuberance," we discussed how this pattern had set the large-scale narrative of European history. By Plato's time, Greece was already beginning to fail agriculturally. By the fifth century, Europe had run out of lands to expand into, resulting in the collapse of the Roman Empire. Throughout the High Middle Ages, populations were balanced against famine and plague, until Columbus' discovery resulted in an "age of exuberance," that came with new lands to expand into and cultivate. [...] […] The basic pattern of civilization over the past ten thousand years has been relatively simple: begin farming, and as the act of farming makes future farming impossible because of its ecological consequences, expand into neighboring territories. In “The Age of Exuberance,” we discussed how this pattern had set the large-scale narrative of European history. By Plato’s time, Greece was already beginning to fail agriculturally. By the fifth century, Europe had run out of lands to expand into, resulting in the collapse of the Roman Empire. Throughout the High Middle Ages, populations were balanced against famine and plague, until Columbus’ discovery resulted in an “age of exuberance,” that came with new lands to expand into and cultivate. […]

]]> By: The Slow Crash (The Anthropik Network) http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-84282 The Slow Crash (The Anthropik Network) Mon, 16 Apr 2007 15:21:46 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-84282 [...] Charles Mann (2005) describes the evidence that has forced us to rethink the shape of the pre-Columbian world, including the notion that in 1491, the bulk of the world's population lived in the Americas. In "The Age of Exuberance," we looked at the dire straits Europe was in by 1491, pressed with plague, overpopulation, and massive mortality, and how the discovery of the New World changed Europe's social, economic and political dynamics, and brought with it new philosophies and world views that matched the new sense of "limitlessness." What followed in Europe was an age of imperialism unseen since the Roman Empire, as European civilization moved out of the stagnation of the High Middle Ages, and began an era of unquestionable growth. In the New World, the cataclysmic spread of Old World plagues through the Native population decimated most Native cultures. The loss of a Native population to press into labor led Europeans to begin exporting Africa's population en masse to make up for the deficit with the global slave trade. (Mann, 2005) Within a few centuries, European powers dominated most of the world. The Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution all represented undeniable leaps in social complexity. [...] […] Charles Mann (2005) describes the evidence that has forced us to rethink the shape of the pre-Columbian world, including the notion that in 1491, the bulk of the world’s population lived in the Americas. In “The Age of Exuberance,” we looked at the dire straits Europe was in by 1491, pressed with plague, overpopulation, and massive mortality, and how the discovery of the New World changed Europe’s social, economic and political dynamics, and brought with it new philosophies and world views that matched the new sense of “limitlessness.” What followed in Europe was an age of imperialism unseen since the Roman Empire, as European civilization moved out of the stagnation of the High Middle Ages, and began an era of unquestionable growth. In the New World, the cataclysmic spread of Old World plagues through the Native population decimated most Native cultures. The loss of a Native population to press into labor led Europeans to begin exporting Africa’s population en masse to make up for the deficit with the global slave trade. (Mann, 2005) Within a few centuries, European powers dominated most of the world. The Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution all represented undeniable leaps in social complexity. […]

]]> By: Rick Larson http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-26479 Rick Larson Wed, 18 Oct 2006 01:30:26 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-26479 It matters little what adjectives one lends to the "event". It is what it is and what happened is unchangeable just as what is to be - unchangeable. The die was cast 10,000 years ago. It matters little what adjectives one lends to the “event”. It is what it is and what happened is unchangeable just as what is to be - unchangeable.

The die was cast 10,000 years ago.

]]> By: Jason Godesky http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-26373 Jason Godesky Tue, 17 Oct 2006 02:18:58 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-26373 I'm sure the last thoughts of many plague victims lingered on their glorious divine right and manifest destiny as the planet's rightful rulers and gods. Unlike those stinking savages. I’m sure the last thoughts of many plague victims lingered on their glorious divine right and manifest destiny as the planet’s rightful rulers and gods. Unlike those stinking savages.

]]> By: Rick Larson http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-26370 Rick Larson Tue, 17 Oct 2006 01:57:34 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-26370 The hardships endured by Europeans toughened their immune systems, and lead to the seeking of better territory. The America's success in fitting into the ecology was their failing. The hardships endured by Europeans toughened their immune systems, and lead to the seeking of better territory.

The America’s success in fitting into the ecology was their failing.

]]> By: Eric http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-25572 Eric Fri, 13 Oct 2006 04:36:19 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-25572 Damn. Thanks anyway. I suppose anyone with a tribal bent can meditate upon people who apparently forgot how to fish and couldn't even make fire from scratch nonetheless getting along fine in a not-too-comfortable or plentiful environment for ten thousand years. Until they met us. Damn.

Thanks anyway.

I suppose anyone with a tribal bent can meditate upon people who apparently forgot how to fish and couldn’t even make fire from scratch nonetheless getting along fine in a not-too-comfortable or plentiful environment for ten thousand years.

Until they met us.

]]> By: Jason Godesky http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-25392 Jason Godesky Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:05:43 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-25392 I think you've got me mixed up with someone else, since I can't think of any reason to call Tasmanian aborigines "misogynist." Unfortunately, most of what I know of them also comes from Diamond, so you probably know about as much of them as I do! I think you’ve got me mixed up with someone else, since I can’t think of any reason to call Tasmanian aborigines “misogynist.” Unfortunately, most of what I know of them also comes from Diamond, so you probably know about as much of them as I do!

]]> By: The Mid-Apocalypse Review: Indigenous Edition (The Anthropik Network) http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-25380 The Mid-Apocalypse Review: Indigenous Edition (The Anthropik Network) Thu, 12 Oct 2006 15:57:25 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-25380 [...] Jason discusses the impact Columbus had on philosophy and civilization in "The Age of Exuberance." [...] […] Jason discusses the impact Columbus had on philosophy and civilization in “The Age of Exuberance.” […]

]]> By: Eric http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-25235 Eric Thu, 12 Oct 2006 04:44:50 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/10/the-age-of-exuberance/#comment-25235 Another classic. Reading it, I wanted to say something ... but then MatthewJ said it most bluntly and best. There isn't anything to add. Technically OT, but Jason, how much do you know about the Tasmanian aborigines? (Okay, no one seems to know anything much about them, but I seem to remember seeing you refer to them as having a'misogynist' social system, so you might know more than most ... apologies if my memory is faulty on this). A smaller scale version of another society suddenly suprised and destroyed by the arrival of the white invader, and uniquely interesting for its very long period of complete isolation and remarkably low tech (see Diamond for a brief but tantalizing account). Indeed, amongst the many, many crimes of the Imperial British, perhaps their greatest crime against human knowledge (not even to speak of morality) lay in destroying these societies. Of course, my interest in this is biased - I'm from Tasmania (but I am not physically there presently). Another classic. Reading it, I wanted to say something … but then MatthewJ said it most bluntly and best. There isn’t anything to add.

Technically OT, but Jason, how much do you know about the Tasmanian aborigines? (Okay, no one seems to know anything much about them, but I seem to remember seeing you refer to them as having a’misogynist’ social system, so you might know more than most … apologies if my memory is faulty on this). A smaller scale version of another society suddenly suprised and destroyed by the arrival of the white invader, and uniquely interesting for its very long period of complete isolation and remarkably low tech (see Diamond for a brief but tantalizing account). Indeed, amongst the many, many crimes of the Imperial British, perhaps their greatest crime against human knowledge (not even to speak of morality) lay in destroying these societies.

Of course, my interest in this is biased - I’m from Tasmania (but I am not physically there presently).

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