About this title: The author argues that much of what has gone wrong with the world is the result of inadequate and misdirected education that alienates us from life in the name of human domination, overemphasizes success and careers, and deadens our sense of wonder at the world.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Island Press, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9781559632959ISBN:155963295X
Description: Fair. 6" x 9" WATER-DAMAGED BOOK. This book has suffered water damage to the bottom right corner, extending about 2" up the spine, and 3" along the bottom; this damage does not affect the readability of the text. Otherwise, text clean & bright; binding sound; moderate wear to covers. 213 pages. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Island Press
Date Published: 1994-08-01
ISBN-13:9781559632959ISBN:155963295X
Description: Like New. 6th printing paperback, no marks noted in or on book, All of our products are cleaned with an disinfectant for your protection before shipping. read more
Edition: Third Printing
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Island Press, Washington, D. C.
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9781559632959ISBN:155963295X
Description: Fine. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. "As a rule economists understand economics, ecologists the enviornment, and educators teaching. David Orr is one of the rare authors who understands all three, and in these finely etched and admirable essys he delivers the revolutionary credo necessary, in my opinion, for the long-term survival of our species. " {Edward O. Wilson}. This book has 213 pages. The text contains NO internal marks whatsoever. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Island Press
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9781559632959ISBN:155963295X
Description: Good. COVER IS WORN, PREVIOUS OWNERS NAME AND OR INSCRIPTION WRITTEN IN FRONT OF BOOK, Clean, nice condition, good reading copy. read more
Description: Good. Light shelving wear with minimal damage to cover and bindings. Pages show minor use. Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read. Recycle and Reuse! read more
Description: Satisfaction Guaranteed. Shipped quickly. 1994. Paperback. 1 Ed. Used, very good. Very good overall with light to moderate wear. No dust jacket. read more
Binding: S Trade Paperback
Publisher: Island Pr, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9781559634953ISBN:1559634952
Description: Very Good. 221 PGS., COVERS AND SPINE ARE UNCREASED, APPEARS TO BE SIGNED AND PERSONALLY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR ON HALF TITLE PAGE (FIRST NAME ONLY) read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Island Pr
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9781559634953ISBN:1559634952
Description: Paperback. All text is legible, may contain markings, cover wear, loose/torn pages or staining and much writing. All text is legible, may contain markings, cover wear, loose/torn pages or staining and much writing. SKU: 25134767 All orders shipped within 1 business day. 14 day money back guarantee ISBN: 9781559634953 All text is legible, may contain markings, cover wear, loose/torn pages or staining and much writing. All text is legible, may contain markings, cover wear, loose/torn pages or ... read more
"I have had this book for a couple of years, and started reading it when I got it, but couldn't focus or stick with it at first. This time I was determined to finish, and while some of the essays are a bit thick with overly philosophical language, overall they are important, and down to earth, and really everyone should read them. Particularly with the current economic crisis. We are asking all the wrong questions and setting all the wrong expectations. David Orr is one of the great environmental thinkers and writers of our time."
"A must read for teachers and humans of all sorts, but especially teachers and anyone who wonders why they feel like a displaced person, despite a pleasant home and comfortable life. This one is a good kick in the ass. The book takes a critical look at the many myths of education, examines the values we're (not)taught in school, and how that plays out in grow up world. lots of thoughts on placelessness, the perversions that are science, rational thought, and modern existence, and more!
I read this in a hammock under a palapa on the beach in southern mexico while waiting for tides to shift. My favorite quote in the book is from an alcoholic dead beat dad turned trappist monk, namely Thomas Merton, to the effect of "Be anything you like, be madmen, drunks, and bastards of every shape and form, but at all costs avoid one thing: success" (11). Then the author goes on to talk about how the world has plenty of "successful" people, and what it needs now are peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of every kind. plus people who live well in their place. i love that one.
Thomas Merton also describes the education system as the "mass production of people literally unfit for anything except to take part in an elaborate and completely artificial charade." good one THomas! (He was later electrocuted in a bathtub while engaging in spiritual tourism in India.) Yes I am a cynical bastard. But I do like to think Thomas would approve of my knack for successlessness.
Another good quote is from gary snyder, who describes the true ecological criminals, who "make unimaginably large sums of money, people impeccably groomed, excellently educated at the best universities-male and female alike-eating fine foods and reading classy literature, while orchestrating the investment and legislation that ruin the world"(17). Ouch! Harsh words, but right on. Gary is my Hero.
The main thing I didn't like in this book was how David Orr goes off on Woody Allen for being a biophobe. i didn't find this line of thought to be very productive. plus i really like woody allen movies. especially annie hall. another downside is that the book is a collection of essays which tend to be repetitive. the first four will do you well.
if anyone wants to read this you can borrow it but be forewarned I do draw stars lines and arrows in the margins."
"How often do you read a book that inspires you to write the author? Probably never. Well this one inspired me to do just that, and he emailed me back! It's an easy read - short essays that look critically at education in the US, the history that led us to this point, even how economics involves environmentalism. I recommend checking this one out."
"I cannot think of a book that has had a more profound influence on how I live and how I see the world.
I came across Earth in Mind seven years ago, when I was doing a great deal of soul searching, trying to figure out what kind of life I wanted to lead, trying to understand our ecological crisis, and struggling to understand why we were doing such great harm to ourselves.
David Orr convinced me that an important part of being an environmentalist is loving and taking pleasure in the natural world, this world that I want to save for myself, my family, my friends, and future generations. As Orr points out, in order to fight for something, you must first love it.
And one cannot love that which one doesn't know. So, even thought I had always been an indoor person, this book inspired me to set aside my books, and go for a walk or a hike. I also began to pause before I made decisions to consider what the environmental impact would be.
David Orr argues that the answer to our social and environmental problems isn't simply ensuring that everyone gets a college education. We don't just need more education. We're currently learning the wrong things in school. We need to be passing on values and knowledge that will create a sustainable world. I, for one, graduated from college without the fainest clue how to live sustainably.
By spending nearly the entire school day indoors, educators are sending students the message that time in nature, experiencing it and studying it, is not important. It is vital that our educational system reflect values that will create a more sustainable society. It's essential that we study ecology and agriculture, know where our food comes from and know how to grow it sustainably.
Here is my favorite part of Earth in Mind:
"Were we to confront our creaturehood squarely, how would we propose to educate? The answer, I think is implied in the root of the word education, educe, which means 'to draw out.'
What needs to be drawn out is our affinity for life. That affinity needs opportunities to grow and flourish, it needs to be validated, it needs to be instructed and disciplined, and it needs to be harnessed to the goal of building humane and sustainable societies. Education that builds on our affinity for life would lead to a kind of awakening of possibilities and potentials that lie dormant and unused in the industrial-utilitarian mind.
Therefore the task of education, as Dave Forman stated, is to help us 'open our souls to love this glorious, luxuriant, animated, planet.' The good news is that our own nature will help us in the process if we let it.""
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