This is a fascinating book that is written by Charles Mann about the subject of the civilizations that may have existed in the New World before the Europeans crossed the ocean. One aspect that I really enjoyed was the time and pages he devoted to discussing alternative points of view. Too frequently books have a thesis they try to prove and never discuss the counter points. Discussing the opposing arguments makes the book stronger and also serves to show how over time we have learned more and built on our past knowledge.

I think that there were two main things that really stood out to me in this book. The first is simply how much we have lost in knowledge and humanity due to the massive population loss. If you take this books arguments seriously, then it's as if we had never heard of half or more of the world's primitive culture that existed. It's truly shocking that all of these societies were temporally so close to us and we have managed to overlook them. One example that is particularly striking is Maya calender. It shows such advanced learning and knowledge in both mathematical and astrological areas. That isn't a cherry picked example however, Mann mentions almost half a dozen civilizations that we appear to have lost or forgotten that had interesting parallel discoveries.

It will make you even more upset then to read about and understand what early colonizers did to erase that history. It's also scary though, it show that human culture is so temporary and that maybe the long arc of the world is a cyclical one and not one of ever increasing human progress.

The second thing that really stood out to me in this book was the level of active management of the land. It's interesting how often we imagine the earth begin as this untouched virgin wilderness before Columbus but that's not really true at all. The individuals who lived though out the Americans had done massive large scale terraforming and shaping of the land to make it more habitable. This is a stark contrast to what most U.S. based education or even some environmental politics will teach.

If this is true, then this is cause for reevaluating some of the ecological policy. Often individuals in support of the environmental will appeal to the fact that the Americas used to be untouched wilderness and that settlers were a disruption to it. They further continue that we should make attempts to preserve or restore this utopia vision of American wilderness. However what this book posits is that what European colonizers saw was actually saw was the result of active land management programs by the Native Americans. In this case, how can we argue to return to such a state if that state is no more natural then our current one?

I think in some cases, this is actually a benefit to those arguing for ecological changes or management. One weakness in arguing that we should return to a pristine virgin state is that it simply isn't possible. After all, we aren't going to tear down New York City to restore the wilderness. So even proponents of this view have already granted that it isn't possible. So then what is actually the end state that is being argued for in that situation?

In the other case, if we view the Americas have been actively managed for hundreds or even thousands of years. This is a much better basis to argue that we are being irresponsible stewards and that we need to take seriously an active management mindset towards the land. After all, what would such an effort look like? If we grant that the mature forests present on colonization were the result of land management, then perhaps it's also okay to examine the belief that forest ecosystem are the pinnacle of conservation. I think having an honest conversation about this implications would be incredible valuable to the governments and the people that live on this land.

Overall this book was interesting and very dense. It does prompt a host of follow up questions though. How many other significant historical events have been proven false? How has advancing technology and tools helped us clarify what has happened so historically? It's clear that we are still learning more about history and that it isn't a settled subject. If discoveries of this magnitude are coming out, then as humanity, we have a long way to go in knowing our past.

I'm going to attempt a new thing. On Sunday of each week, I'm going to post some links to different things I found interesting on the internet all week with maybe a little bit of commentary.

Links

How to help people millions of years from now

This is an aspect not considered enough. We frequently view ourselves as the result of a long line of humanity. What if we viewed ourselves as the precursors to a human age? How would that affect our choices and judgements?

Uber’s Secret Restaurant Empire

This is going to be more important as a business model going forward. Delivery costs are falling and delivery in general seems to be on the upward trend. I was just talking with someone about why we aren't see more of these. It's quick to startup, cheaper than running a front of house. I believe that we will see quite a bit more of these. I'll also additionally note, I think small kitchens with no seating for pickup will grow in popularity in urban environments. It's just not efficient to cook for a single person and out sourcing this to a local neighborhood kitchen that bulk produces meals is a sensible alternative for the working individual.

How Capitalism Saved the Bees

An important story showing the failures of the media world and how markets do in fact help save the world sometimes. I think one key aspect of this is how many things had to align for this to work, bees are quick to breed and cheap to do so as well. I'd love to see more work in the area of where markets have succeed. As we implement the next generation of government and regulation, it is going to become increasingly important to understand where markets work well.

Media

In addition, I'm going to start a short section on media that I've watched this week or in recent history. This is likely to not appear some weeks or be quite short as I don't watch a ton of media.

West Wing - a rewatch for me as the last time I saw it was when I was quite young. It holds up well, being both moving and quite witty. Also enjoyable for treating politics with the gravitas that one would expect. Would recommend.

Incredibles 2 - This could have gone wrong in so many ways but delivers in all of them. A great film even in comparison to the first which was one of my favorite movies. I'm aware that I'm late to the game on this but do watch this.

The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell - If there was ever a show to tell you that we live in the age of data mining and diverse interests, this would be it. It's clear that this show is a product of the internet age and it shows it's oddness right on it's sleeve from the first moment. I'm not sure I would have finished the first season but my partner loved it and I found it enjoyable at points. I wonder how many people have seen this show and how many found it good vs bad. Watch the first episode, you make enjoy it.

Daria has a wonderful tumblr + website that really showcases some excellent cinemagraphs. One of the wonderful things about their work is how it involves everyday mundane items. It's one of the few pieces of art that seems to be simply magic and I wish that I could still hang it on the wall and preserve the motion.

The Oregon Zoo posted an interesting twitter thread earlier this week showing some X-ray pictures of their animals. It's really interesting how different skeletal structures can be between animals.

This is a wonderful video by Zhestkov that displays a marvelous range of color shifting and motion on very elementry spheres. This is one of those films that I wish could exist in real life because it would be unreal to stand next to this. The shifting camera angle is interesting. I often wished for it to stay static because I wanted to see more.