Scientists for Ludd!
Hi! I've got very little, but wanted to let you all know that I'm reading two books right now. Both of them were written by super-smart scientists with advanced degrees who eschew their vaunted ivory tower to live like humans lived many years ago.
In the first, "Better Off," an MIT-educated scientist and his wife (no educational background given to this point) go to live in a community seemingly modeled on those of the Middle Ages or a bit later--you know your neighbors, you barter, you use common machinery (grain grinders and the like). I've only entered into this book, but it subconsciously inspired me to pick up (from my own shelves). . .
"Kon Tiki" by Thor Heyerdahl. Thor wrote the book after an epic journey he and 5 other men took in the late 1940s. They launched a raft in Peru with the hopes that they would reach the Pacific Islands sometime about 3 months later. Why? To prove Thor's theory that people from South America peopled the South Pacific--a theory pooh-poohed by all of the really smart people back then (which is yet another reason to not necessarily trust the "experts" and "intellectuals.") I'm to the point in this book where they are riding into the Peruvian jungle to secure balsa logs for the raft.
I'll write more about their adventures when I finish the books, but I thought it was interesting that of all the books in the world I would spontaneously couple these, especially in light of J. Thunder's article about how our book collections reflect our true selves. I've often maintained that I was born in the wrong century. Of course, I'm happy to live with the scientific and social advancements of this time period, but I do ache to see an unsullied environment, and I do think that we have gone way overboard with technology. As I sit here writing a message on a computer that in a few seconds will be available to anyone with the same technology anywhere on the planet. I know, I know. But I don't need this blog, and I wouldn't miss this blog. I would miss my washer and dryer. I'm rambling now.
In the first, "Better Off," an MIT-educated scientist and his wife (no educational background given to this point) go to live in a community seemingly modeled on those of the Middle Ages or a bit later--you know your neighbors, you barter, you use common machinery (grain grinders and the like). I've only entered into this book, but it subconsciously inspired me to pick up (from my own shelves). . .
"Kon Tiki" by Thor Heyerdahl. Thor wrote the book after an epic journey he and 5 other men took in the late 1940s. They launched a raft in Peru with the hopes that they would reach the Pacific Islands sometime about 3 months later. Why? To prove Thor's theory that people from South America peopled the South Pacific--a theory pooh-poohed by all of the really smart people back then (which is yet another reason to not necessarily trust the "experts" and "intellectuals.") I'm to the point in this book where they are riding into the Peruvian jungle to secure balsa logs for the raft.
I'll write more about their adventures when I finish the books, but I thought it was interesting that of all the books in the world I would spontaneously couple these, especially in light of J. Thunder's article about how our book collections reflect our true selves. I've often maintained that I was born in the wrong century. Of course, I'm happy to live with the scientific and social advancements of this time period, but I do ache to see an unsullied environment, and I do think that we have gone way overboard with technology. As I sit here writing a message on a computer that in a few seconds will be available to anyone with the same technology anywhere on the planet. I know, I know. But I don't need this blog, and I wouldn't miss this blog. I would miss my washer and dryer. I'm rambling now.
posted by lulu at 2:40 PM
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