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"Conversation was never begun at once, nor in a hurried manner. No one was quick with a question, no matter how important, and no one was pressed for an answer. A pause giving time for thought was the truly courteous way of beginning and conducting a conversation. Silence was meaningful with the Lakota, and his granting a space of silence to the speech-maker and his own moment of silence before talking was done in the practice of true politeness and regard for the rule that, 'thought comes before speech.'" - Luther Standing Bear |
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Anthropik Network - The Anthropik Network is a closely-knit network of websites including a weblog, forums, and this wiki, The Anthropik Cyclopaedia. All sites on the Anthropik Network are maintained by the Tribe of Anthropik.
The Tribe of Anthropik is a small, loosely-defined group with ambitions of forming a functional hunter-gatherer tribe in the future. These ambitions are still in their formative stages, making the Tribe of Anthropik at this point in time primarily a philosophically and politically inclined social circle in Pittsburgh, PA (USA).
Changing Mind - Many people feel that we as humans, need to make some changes. We are unhappy with the present systems that we live in, but feel trapped, and therefore, we just continue on day-to-day. To most, it seems like too much of an uphill battle to accomplish anything that would even matter. And if you are willing to do something, where is the best place to begin?
Curious Dialogue - by Thom Hartmann - Socrates never wrote down a word: he taught entirely by challenging his pupils to argue or debate or discuss things with him. We only know of his existence because several of his pupils - Plato being the most well known - wrote about his life and teachings. Plato, having been schooled in the "Socratic method," wrote most of his work in the form of a dialogue. Some of it was a recreation of his earlier dialogues with Socrates, some dialogues with other people, and some simply a dialogue with an unknown person, presumably himself.
The technique of dialogue is so compelling and powerful at presenting information that I've decided to use it to share my most recent thinking. This is entirely copyright 2000 by Thom Hartmann
Derrick Jensen - Derrick Jensen is the prize-winning author of A Language Older Than Words, The Culture of Make Believe, Listening to the Land, Strangely Like War, Welcome to the Machine, and Walking on Water. He was one of two finalists for the 2003 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, which cited The Culture of Make Believe as "a passionate and provocative meditation on the nexus of racism, genocide, environmental destruction and corporate malfeasance, where civilization meets its discontents." He is an environmental activist and lives on the coast of northern California.
Fighting for Our Lives (PDF)
Hate Civilized: Derrick Jensen Explores the Culture of Make Believe - This is an interview with Derrick Jensen by Tim Ream.
Ishmael - This is the official website of Daniel Quinn -- author of the book Ishmael. Although Quinn's books are not the only source from which we draw our knowledge, they are certainly at the heart of our vision. The following synopsis is an excerpt from a review by Louis Wicker:
"Ishmael is the story of a man, disillusioned by the violence society inflicts upon the world and itself, who answers an ad in the paper placed by a teacher looking to instruct students on how to save the world. Surprisingly, the teacher is a telepathic gorilla named Ishmael who has been studying human history and culture for many years. Ishmael offers to teach the man how to free himself from the cultural cage that surrounds him, 'for who is better qualified to teach about captivity than a gorilla'. And so begins the story of a student who discovers the powerful yet subtle mythology of western society which defines man's relationship toward the world. Indeed, Ishmael is the story which theorizes how our modern mythology provides us the justification to destroy the planet as well as generating the ambivalence to the inevitable consequences that destruction holds.
Analyzing familiar secular and Christian stories, Ishmael uncovers an underlying belief shared by most modern societies: Man is at war with nature and his position at the apex of evolution can only be maintained by completely conquering the world. Modern man assumes that natural law does not apply to his species, and that his sentience and his technology protects our species from the famine, disease, and extinction which inflicts pain and death on the other species in the wild. Therefore man is freed to act with malice toward the world without any consequences from these actions. Here is the crucial concept which forms the basis of Ishmael: these hidden or implied beliefs are the primary force driving modern societies to behave as they do toward the earth."
Here are some other sites dedicated to the books of Daniel Quinn.
Friends of IshmaelThe World Hall of the Gallery - This hall of the Gallery is devoted to the topic of Saving the World, inspired by the writings of Daniel Quinn and related writings. If you're looking for an introduction to the minds of people influenced by Quinn's books, this is a good place to start. You'll find bitterness, concern, intelligence, cynicism, humor, and hope.
Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, The - Sunlight warms the Earth with life. As our culture moved from ancient hunting/gathering times to the technological era, we discovered ancient sunlight -- captured millions of years ago by plants and compressed into oil deep under our soil and oceans. Now, as our planet's oil supplies are projected to last no more than thirty to fifty years, and species and cultures are dying off at an unprecedented rate, we confront difficult choices.
In this passionate yet thoroughly researched book, author Thom Hartmann proposes that the only lasting solution to the crises we face is to relearn the lessons of our ancient ancestors -- who lived sustainably for thousands of generations.
When you touch this new yet ancient way of seeing the world and hearing the voice of all life, you discover that you, personally, hold the power of personal and planetary transformation. In that breathtaking moment we see both a possible future for the survival of humanity and the fulfillment of our highest dreams and aspirations.
Paul Shepard - As a pioneer of the ecology movement, a teacher who inspired generations of students and colleagues, and a scholar and writer whose work continues to grow in influence, Paul Shepard's profound contribution to our understanding of what it means to be human-especially in relation to other animals and our evolutionary past, but also to our culture and to each other-is central to his public legacy.
Primitivism - Critique of Civilization - Primitivism is the pursuit of ways of life running counter to the development of technology, its alienating antecedents, and the ensemble of changes wrought by both. This site is an exploration into primitivist theory, as well as various works that contribute to an understanding of the tendency.
Spellbreaker - We have been hypnotized by civilization's myths. We have confidence in its power. We believe its lies. It's time to break the spell, to begin to awaken from our slumber.
Voice Yourself - We believe all life on earth is sacred. VoiceYourself promotes and inspires individual action to create global momentum towards simple organic living and to restore balance and harmony to our planet.