A web of connection

Exploring the ethnosphere

“Sacred network”

Here is an insightful observation.

“The brilliance of scientific research and the revelations of modern genetics have affirmed in an astonishing way the essential connectedness of humanity. We share a sacred endowment: a common history written in our bones...

…the myriad of cultures of the world are not failed attempts at modernity let alone failed attempts to be us. They are unique expressions of the human imagination and heart, unique answers to a fundamental question: what does it mean to be human?

When asked this question the cultures of the world respond in 7000 different voices, and these collectively comprise our human repertoire for dealing with all the challenges that will confront us as a species over the next 2500 generations, even as we continue this never-ending journey.”

Wade Davis, The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World (2009:19).

Davis, used this work (based on his 2009 CBC Massey Lectures) to argue for the profound value of the ethnosphere—the sum total of all thoughts, beliefs, and myths offered by every culture in the world.

Wade Davis is the bestselling author of several books, including the Serpent and the Rainbow, Light at the Edge of the World, One River, and The Clouded Leopard. He is an award-winning anthropologist, ethnobotanist, filmmaker, and photographer, and his writing and photographs have been widely published. Davis currently holds the post of National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, and divides his time between Washington DC and northern British Columbia.

Let’s be aware of, celebrate, and use the web of connection we weave with our fellow inhabitants of our planet. We can learn from the wisdom and experience of others.