The Wayfinders Wade Davis Discussion

Wade Davis’s talk “The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World” covers topics like paradigm shifts and advancements in human consciousness. Davis also talks about the fiction of race and the genetic unity of all human beings. Using an anthropological approach, Davis shows how different cultures throughout time have always developed deep wisdom. Davis’s premise is that human wisdom is not linear or even progressive. Every culture is a “unique answer to a fundamental question,” states Davis. The Eurocentric view of the world is that “primitive” societies need to advance via urbanization or technological modernization, and this attitude has led to devastating results and genocide. Davis discusses dying languages and cultures, claiming that on average every two weeks a language dies. With the death of languages comes the death of culture, and with the death of culture comes the death of wisdom.
Davis is fascinated and in awe of Polynesia, especially the deft navigation skills used by Polynesians to understand their geographic positioning using stars, winds, and ocean patterns. The European explorers used to hug the shores, whereas the Polynesia used dead reckoning—boldly paddling through the Pacific Ocean to discover new islands. The title “The Wayfinders” refers to the Polynesian navigators who found their way through the seas. Then Davis shifts to the Amazon and the Anaconda, and their advanced methods of surviving and thriving in the rainforest. Davis, who is from British Columbia, talks about the difference in attitude of his people who cut down the rainforests versus the Amazonian people who understood how to live in harmony with their ecosystems.
The discussion has great implications not only for cross-cultural awareness but also for environmental sustainability. Given the crises besieging the planet and humanity, the need for harmony is more important now than ever. Some of the people in the Andes believe that climate change is actually their “fault,” because they have such a strong sense of personal responsibility for earth custodianship. This sense of responsibility can better inform future political policy and business practices. Davis coins the term “ethnosphere,” to refer to the collective wisdom of humanity disseminated through everything from language and ritual to myth and music. Some of the rituals and rites of passage Davis explicates are fascinating, if for no other reason then it has become difficult to preserve ancient cultures in the age of rapid globalization.
Davis speaks far too fast, but his words have also been transcribed into his book The Wayfinders. He flits from place to place, concept to concept, but all his thoughts and ideas are unified by the concept of the ethnosphere. In fact, the speed at which Davis travels through his ideas and concepts matches the theme of The Wayfinders. Davis wants his audience or his readers to understand the simultaneous, egalitarian beauty and wisdom of all people. Davis is known best for The Serpent and the Rainbow, his ethnography of voodoo in Haiti, and he goes into his research there in the video. With deep respect for other culture and worldviews, Davis urges readers and audiences to change their perspective about how to progress and advance human consciousness.
One of the goals of The Wayfinders is to completely undo the colonial mentality and to cease thinking that aboriginal people are primitive or backwards, especially in light of their far greater knowledge of the earth and how to sustain it. In fact, some non-European societies are far more socially advanced than European cultures. Davis is interested in piercing through the metaphysical mysteries of life, and different methods of perceiving reality. His appreciation for different cultures permeates his talk and is infectious, as well as serving as a wake-up call for humanity. The saddest part is his description of the decimation of the Borneo rainforest. Although all cultures are ethnocentric and xenophobic, it is still possible to develop a global consciousness.




References

Davis, W. (2009). The Wayfinders. Toronto: Anansi.
Davis, W. (2013). The Wayfinders. YouTube. Retrieved online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuJsbjKKh3E