The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World | Wade Davis

Anthropologist Wade Davis is one of the world's great story tellers, with personal adventures to match. An Explorer-in-Residence at National Geographic, he specializes in hanging out with traditional peoples and exploring their religious practices.
He first came to public notice with his discovery of the reality of zombies in Haitian voodoo and the substance used to poison them---chronicled in his 1985 book, "The Serpent and the Rainbow". He is the author of 13 books, including "One River" and "Shadows in the Suns", and has hosted, written, and starred in numerous television specials, including "Earthguide," "Light at the Edge of the World," "Spirit of the Mask," and "Forests Forever." This talk is based on the prestigious Massey Lectures that Davis gave in Canada in 2009.
"The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World" was given on January 13, 02010 as part of Long Now's Seminar series. The series was started in 02003 to build a compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking from some of the world's leading thinkers. The Seminars take place in San Francisco and are curated and hosted by Stewart Brand. To follow the talks, you can:
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[@riekabosman7894]

What an incredible man! An asset to humanity. Feeling impressed with a diverse aliveness

[@kennethmcrae1387]

Correct and awesome.

[@omyogagal]

I have endless admiration to this great scholar. Wish all the other so-called intellects could hold 10% of the deep humanity he has for all cultures in this world.

[@melissac.matthis2397]

This was the most significant impactful video I have ever watched. So beautiful. I learned so much. Love this ❤

[@lennon_richardson]

4:30 super long Intro finally ends

[@PabloMayrgundter]

He's the most lucid thinker I've ever heard. A lot of the sentence fragments are surely highly practiced (and you can find many on KZbin) but the sheer force of his cadence of monologue is befitting the kind of culture he is relating. He really learned something from them

[@MichaelFlynn0]

his cadence of monologue is something

[@cwfilli]

"Basic humility" - that's my key takeaway. Very, very impressive knowledge and ability to share it.

[@nilanthi83]

One of the most incredible things I have ever listened to. I feel inspired and in awe.

[@VillageTechnologies]

Right?

[@kennethmcrae1387]

I love Wade Davis. I first listened to him on the CBC radio in Moncton Newbrunswick in 2003. While was at school. He paints new thoughts, expressions, ideas and innovations with a descriptive skill on a grand scale like artwork. But how few there are to interpret his canvas. And reciprocate what he teaches. People in our common society dont know how to communicate and properly convey the hidden meanings and lost words of expressions locked within our brain's. But more importantly for me their ability to teach with a finite verbal skill to others. Our society could be in a linguistic state of decay I don't know. I do know that Mr. Davis is simply awesome. Thank you!

[@markmulholland-writer4415]

Wonderful. Insightful. Champion of the ethnosphere . . . 'the ethnosphere as being the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness. The ethnosphere is humanity's great legacy. It's the symbol of all that we are and all that we can be as an astonishingly inquisitive species.'

[@feralfoods]

two hours never flew by so fast! i was lucky enough to see wade davis in person back in the 1990s at the St. Louis Botanical Gardens (he even signed my copy of One River!), and he's still the same awesome person today. great talk, amazing stories, true wisdom.

[@Badlighter]

Amazing, thanks for the upload. Jeewa

[@thishandleistacken]

Breathaking lecture.

[@christopherjameslee3341]

I have a copy of Shadows in the Sun. It's one of my favourite reads.

[@user-ip8uo3kc9l]

It seems we still have hope ! Thanks, Wade Davis !

[@missh1774]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[@NikkianaJones]

So great!

[@Exmirror]

Fantastic lecture.

[@qwmusicaderelaxmichaelgold7277]

Muchas gracias

[@Yodetgherezart]

I loved the presentation. But in the Q&A you can see he doesn’t get the whole picture.

[@BlckJohnnyQuest]

Wow!

[@zagfan44]

No kidding! The guy knows his subject inside and out.

[@wildhumans8116]

If you want ancient wisdom, seek contact with a sasquatch. Very wise, they also have psychic abilities. They can effect your dreams, give you visions (project images), remote view, astral project and even cloak. Pretty wild

[@kennethmcrae1387]

Humans are beautiful!

[@nmarbletoe8210]

1:02:15 lol "go back to Tucson and have a drink"

[@miguelquevedo615]

Que pena no poder traducirlo.sé,lo que me pierdo.

[@MacacoLBN]

Let's get him on the Joe Rogan podcast! More people should hear this!

[@VillageTechnologies]

I have been thinking the exact same thing for years. This man is amazing.

[@ludwigvb1216]

20:00 la ciencia hace las preguntas equivocadas

[@ludwigvb1216]

1:09:00 interesante la filosofía de los australianos. De las filosofías más congruentes que ha producido la humanidad! Al menos viven en la naturaleza y tienen un objetivo: Sólo mantener la naturaleza, y ser.

[@ludwigvb1216]

1:44:00 deficiencias de la sociedad Americana moderna desde un punto de vista antropológico

[@bethtucker5275]

He starts talking 6 min. In if you want to skip some of the intro

[@divinejustice536]

😉

[@MichaelFlynn0]

Food - the great rejoiner.

[@billthompson7072]

so who discovered we are all brothers and sisters, a realisation that I have supported before it became fashionable, and that the concept of the thing we point at using the word race is not there to point at in the way it was once thought of as correct, i.e. it is no longer correct; the brilliance imho, of the work you do is somewhat spoiled by not including such matters in your philosophy imho

[@jaygee863]

I wonder what other societies think of numbers... who invented them?..

[@nmarbletoe8210]

perhaps numbers were discovered long ago by an early vertebrate