Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist and Other Essays

Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist and Other Essays by Paul Kingsnorth, 284 pages



Kingsnorth is English and England plays a part in several of his essays. In fact, the political mood that ended up leading to England voting to leave the EU (although he doesn't talk about Brexit) is talked about several times.

Through the essays we find out how he became an environmentalist and decided he didn't want to be one anymore. It isn't that he no longer cares about the Earth and how it is treated. Rather, he has broken ranks with what environmentalists believe. He believes civilization will collapse at some point and we are better off preparing for what comes after. Environmentalists see this as giving up. Even more scary to him is the possibility of us surviving in a world that is devoid of nature and the wild.

Kingsnorth does not say that he has answers. He presents alternative explanations and possible paths to explore.

Kingsnorth has a bleak and pretty unique viewpoint. People who care about the environment are likely to find this book depressing. Despite that, I would recommend it and consider it worthwhile reading.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes, 491 pages

The title of this book is confusing. The most basic way to explain it is that Jaynes believed the right hemisphere gave orders to the left hemisphere and that system (bicameral mind) broke down when consciousness emerged. People described it as taking orders from god(s). Part of his argument lies in the similarities of ancient religions including ones that are halfway around the world. It includes the way they depict their gods and where holy sites are located in towns or settlements.

Jaynes believed this happened much later in human history than we think. He puts the time somewhere in the time of the Greeks. Part of his evidence lies in analyzing the language in the Iliad and the Odyssey. His analysis indicates that while humans had bicameral minds people didn't think they were in control. The Odyssey's language contains evidence of people believing they are in charge of their own actions.

Jaynes believes that schizophrenia is a situation where the brain has partially reverted to the bicameral mind and makes the argument that evidence proves his idea.

While I don't buy Jaynes's theory I am glad that I read this book because it is a classic and now I am going to have to re-watch the first season of Westworld with the theories from the book in mind. I did find it noteworthy that when Jaynes was defining what consciousness isn't the ways mirrored what Koch mentioned in Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist.

We're Doomed, Now What?

We're Doomed, Now What? Essays on War and Climate Change by Roy Scranton, 348 pages

This collection of essays is divided into three parts. The first part is on climate and change. The second part is on war and memory. The third part is on violence and communion.

Scranton does a good job of laying out the issues related to climate change. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any answers for fixing it. In one of his essays he argues that we may be past the point of preventing climate change and that we are probably better off preparing for what comes after our current civilization collapses.

In the second section, in talking about why he joined the military after 9/11, he admits that part of the reason was that he wanted to be able to write about it afterward. The essays reminded me of some things I had forgotten about the war and the aftermath.

Another essay bring us up to date on what the state of the arts and politics are in Iraq. He also talks about writing about war.

I can't say that I loved this collection but I did appreciate some of the writer's thoughts on the second Iraq war, the aftermath and the personal effects of thinking about climate change.