Ishmael: Chapter 2

Image from Wikimedia Commons.

This is part of a series of posts representing ideas from the book, Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. I view the ideas explored in Ishmael to be so important to the world that it seems everyone should have a chance to be exposed. I hope this treatment inspires you to read the original.

This post covers Chapter TWO, when the lessons begin. Chapter 2 is presented in seven numbered subsections, beginning on page 31 of the original printing and page 33 of the 25th anniversary printing. The sections below mirror this arrangement in the book. See the launch post for notes on conventions I have adopted for this series.

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Ishmael: Chapter 1

Captivity. Photo by rdoroshenko (Wikimedia Commons)

This is part of a series of posts representing ideas from the book, Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. I view the ideas explored in Ishmael to be so important to the world that it seems everyone should have a chance to be exposed. I hope this treatment inspires you to read the original.

This post covers Chapter ONE, which introduces the protagonist/narrator (who we learn in later books to be named Alan Lomax) and the telepathic gorilla named Ishmael who is to be Alan’s teacher. The chapter is presented in eight numbered subsections, beginning on page 1 of both the original printing and the 25th anniversary printing. The sections below mirror this arrangement in the book. See the launch post for notes on conventions I have adopted for this series.

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Ishmael Overview

Have I mentioned how important I think Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael is? I reread it recently for the first time in a while, and was again impressed with how many important modernity-challenging ideas are packed into one novel.

I would dearly love everyone to read it. It’s not that I hold it to be flawless—to be treated as a divinely-inspired religious text. But it’s hard to think of a more powerful place to start for seeding incredibly important conversations and shifting awareness. It often transforms its readers, whether teenagers or retirees.

Options for reading the book include library access (also an audio version recently out), purchase (I recommend bookshop.org, where go to an independent book shop of your choice), or a few sites (1, 2, 3) that somehow make the text available. Being trapped behind a commercial “paywall” seems counter to the entire message of the book, which explicitly encourages sharing the message broadly.

I also suggest that you visit the site ishmael.org for more related content and FAQ answers from Daniel Quinn (who died in 2018). A recent podcast series called Human Nature Odyssey, by Alex Leff, does a fantastic job of presenting key ideas from the book.

As a poor substitute for the entire book, what I’ll do is create a series here on Do the Math that offers a relatively comprehensive version of the themes in the book. It won’t be as masterfully crafted as the actual book—but perhaps will be good enough to generate similar patterns of thought, and inspire greater readership of the original work.

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The Ball Comes to Rest

Surfing YouTube, I came across an interview of Ezra Klein by Stephen Colbert. He was promoting a new book called Abundance, basically arguing that scarcity is politically-manufactured by “both sides,” and that if we get our political act together, everybody can have more. Planetary limits need not apply. I’ve often been impressed by Klein’s sharp insights on politics, yet can’t reconcile how someone so smart misses the big-picture perspectives that grab my attention.

He’s not alone: tons of sharp minds don’t seem to be at all concerned about planetary limits or metastatic modernity, which for me has been a source of perennial puzzlement.

The logical answer is that I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed. Indeed, many of these folks could run cognitive/logical circles around me. And maybe that’s the end of the story. Yet it’s not the end of this post, as I try to work out what accounts for the disconnect, and (yet again) examine my own assuredness.

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Daylight Ravings Time

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Having just switched again to Daylight Savings Time (DST) in the U.S., it’s a good opportunity for me to express my misgivings on the matter. I’m not going to delve into the history or motivations: that’s what Wikipedia is for. The main take-away will be what it says about—and does to—our perceived relationship to the world.

The parents of my friend from Puerto Rico nailed it. He had moved to Rhode Island for college, and called them every week at a certain time. A few months in, he warned them that next week he’d be calling an hour later than normal (as they would perceive it) due to the time change. “What kind of arbitrary shenanigan is that?! You can’t go around just changing the clocks! Balderdash!” I’m sure that’s the exact translation from Spanish. In any case, I’m in total agreement!

The Phenomenon

Noon is loosely defined as the middle of the day, when the sun is at its zenith—crossing the north–south meridian. This was the cardinal moment of the maritime day, when sextants marked the apex of the sun’s daily journey across the sky and hourglasses were reset accordingly: eight bells; change of watch (not wristwatch, in this case). By comparing local noon to an accurate chronometer (clock)—set to Greenwhich time, for instance—one could ascertain longitude on the planet, which transformed navigation and quelled many anxieties about being blown onto a lee shore in the dark of night.

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Hall of Mirrors

Photo by ŠJů, Wikimedia Commons

The shock being experienced in Washington D.C. since January 20 is exposing gaping holes in the fantasies we told ourselves were rock-solid truths—lasting for whole (gasp) generations!. It is also important to admit that this is democracy working as intended: a popular majority said yes, and—let’s face it—might well do so again if a vote were held tomorrow.

Several of my recent posts have stressed the virtual reality aspects of modernity and our tendency to take refuge in flimsy mental models disconnected from biophysical and ecological reality. An earlier post cautioned against falling into the trap of aiming for fantasy political perfection. Here, we’ll look at the holes that are opening up.

As the Trump Administration rattles cages and turns things upside-down, I keep seeing headlines that effectively ask: “Is that even legal?”

Isn’t the mere fact that legal status is uncertain a glaring indicator that our legal system is little more than a bolus of small rocks held together by a few strands of spider web? No? Does that image fail to work for you: too random and specific? Whatever. You get the point.

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Views: 2275