'Too Smart for Our Own Good' Book Discussion

Join us for the second discussion of "Too Smart for Our Own Good"

We will continue to discuss Craig Dilworth's unique history of our species written from the perspective of the failure of technology to ultimately solve our deepest problems:  "Too Smart for Our Own Good:  The Ecological Predicament of Humankind".  In this book the author presents the thesis, the "Vicious Circle Principle", that from the beginning of Homo Sapien's existence our species' development from the first rock tools has consisted of an accelerating movement from situations of scarcity, to technological innovation, to increased resource availability, to increased consumption, to population growth, to resource depletion, to scarcity once again, and so on, leading after more than 200,000 years to today's population overshoot, extreme environmental stress, and approaching resource limits. 

In this session we will discuss chapter 5, "The Development of Humankind", from the perspective of Dilworth's Vicious Circle Principle.  We will see what contemporary humans have in common with early hominids and the first humans in the way we are dealing with population stress, then look at the development of horticulture, agriculture, and finally industrial society in response to population and ecological stresses.

If you appreciate the study of anthropology, ecology, and history, and if you understand that we humans are not doing well at solving our deepest problems with development of yet more complex social structures and technology, then this discussion is for you!