Charles C. Mann is a genius among journalists. 1491 was mind-blowing for me, and I'm halfway through 1493 (equally good).
Most of what people were taught about pre-Columbian civilizations in America is wrong.
They were far more sophisticated than previously thought (and, for that matter, more sophisticated than Europe in a variety of ways), but their downfall was lack of immunity to Eurasian viruses. Reading 1491 is similar to the feeling one might have of encountering Chinese or Japanese civilization for the first time.
I would also like to plug a third book from Mann: The Wizard and the Prophet.
It's about two men, the godfathers of the Green Revolution and the modern environmental movement. The first, Borlaug, is a techno-optimist solving global hunger, while the second, Vogt, is a conservative vis a vis technology, modernity and demographics, and takes a Malthusian opposition to tech and growth.
I have come to see the conversation happening about tech, and between tech and mainstream American culture, as a conversation between wizards and prophets.
Neither side is wholly wrong, and both have good reasons as well as self-interest to believe what they do. But the way they understand the world is deeply different.
Most of what people were taught about pre-Columbian civilizations in America is wrong.
They were far more sophisticated than previously thought (and, for that matter, more sophisticated than Europe in a variety of ways), but their downfall was lack of immunity to Eurasian viruses. Reading 1491 is similar to the feeling one might have of encountering Chinese or Japanese civilization for the first time.
I would also like to plug a third book from Mann: The Wizard and the Prophet.
https://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Prophet-Remarkable-Scientists-...
It's about two men, the godfathers of the Green Revolution and the modern environmental movement. The first, Borlaug, is a techno-optimist solving global hunger, while the second, Vogt, is a conservative vis a vis technology, modernity and demographics, and takes a Malthusian opposition to tech and growth.
I have come to see the conversation happening about tech, and between tech and mainstream American culture, as a conversation between wizards and prophets.
Neither side is wholly wrong, and both have good reasons as well as self-interest to believe what they do. But the way they understand the world is deeply different.