Wade Davis: The Worldwide Web of Belief and Ritual

Not only are not other cultures failed attempts at being us, their values can give us hope.  We are not forced to be greedy and destructive -  we can learn to live within natural limits. 

Two Things: Avatar and a Book (and a Spoiler Alert)

Please don't read this post if you don't want to hear about the plot of Avatar.

I had just read The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World (Wade Davis, 2009) when I went to see Avatar.  The movie is sensational entertainment: it is also a vehicle for James Cameron's environmental message.  The book is heavier going - it  discusses human cultures and the ethnosphere -  it reminds us  that " the path that we (the developed world) have taken is not the only one available .... by their very existence, the diverse cultures of the world bear witness " to different ways of living.