Coming Home to the Pleistocene

Coming Home to the Pleistocene

Publisher: Island Press
Number Of Pages: 237
Publication Date: 2004-02-01
Sales Rank: 297147
ISBN / ASIN: 1559635908
EAN: 9781559635905
Binding: Paperback
Manufacturer: Island Press
Studio: Island Press
Average Rating: 4

"When we grasp fully that the best expressions of our humanity were not invented by civilization but by cultures that preceded it, that the natural world is not only a set of constraints but of contexts within which we can more fully realize our dreams, we will be on the way to a long overdue reconciliation between opposites which are of our own making." --from Coming Home to the Pleistocene

Paul Shepard was one of the most profound and original thinkers of our time. Seminal works like The Tender Carnivore and the Sacred Game, Thinking Animals, and Nature and Madness introduced readers to new and provocative ideas about humanity and its relationship to the natural world. Throughout his long and distinguished career, Paul Shepard returned repeatedly to his guiding theme, the central tenet of his thought: that our essential human nature is a product of our genetic heritage, formed through thousands of years of evolution during the Pleistocene epoch, and that the current subversion of that Pleistocene heritage lies at the heart of today's ecological and social ills.

Coming Home to the Pleistocene provides the fullest explanation of that theme. Completed just before his death in the summer of 1996, it represents the culmination of Paul Shepard's life work and constitutes the clearest, most accessible expression of his ideas. Coming Home to the Pleistocene pulls together the threads of his vision, considers new research and thinking that expands his own ideas, and integrates material within a new matrix of scientific thought that both enriches his original insights and allows them to be considered in a broader context of current intellectual controversies. In addition, the book explicitly addresses the fundamental question raised by Paul Shepard's work: What can we do to recreate a life more in tune with our genetic roots? In this book, Paul Shepard presents concrete suggestions for fostering the kinds of ecological settings and cultural practices that are optimal for human health and well-being.

Coming Home to the Pleistocene is a valuable book for those familiar with the life and work of Paul Shepard, as well as for new readers seeking an accessible introduction to and overview of his thought.

Review:

A profound book

Although not an easy read, this profound book does a better job than any I have ever read to tell us who we are. His work is well supported by the best science and history have to offer, but speaks powerfully about human "spirit" in each of us.

Review:

A Feast of Important Ideas

Paul Shepard was a brilliant ecologist and an amazing original thinker. His final book is one of the most important contributions to the Earth Crisis discussion. It combines the best ideas from "The Tender Carnivore," "The Others," and "Nature and Madness." It leaves out his clunky ideas, and it's fairly easy to read. This book is a condensed version of the cream of Shepard's life work -- his masterpiece. Shepard died shortly after finishing it, so his wife did the editing cycle. Consequently, this is the most readable of his books.

In a nutshell, he sees that we are genetically wild animals from the Pleistocene. Our genes expect us to be living a leisured life in the wilderness, in small bands, eating wild foods. We are not designed to thrive in cities, eating [bad] foods, in overcrowded conditions. Living in the modern world destroys our bodies, minds, and spirits.

Shepard takes us on a fascinating voyage through human history, with extended discussions of plant and animal domestication, and the horror that these grave mistakes brought to humankind. He recommends beginning the voyage back to a Pleistocene way of life. Shepard has done his homework, and this book is filled with provocative and head-spinning ideas. If you want to know WHY we got to where we are today, this book is a treasure chest.

Review:

Brilliant concept

Shepard's work has been seminal to mine as a bioacoustician. I am only sorry I came to realize the importance of his efforts so late in the game. In particular, the ideas expressed in Coming Home...shed a very bright light on our otherwise muddled thinking about our ancient human roots and our current ecological struggles. At the same time, I can well understand why other readers might feel challenged. His ideas are sometimes difficult to grasp and expressed in ways that might otherwise be presented more clearly. However, if one has the patience and the perseverence, the walk is well worth the effort. I like to be made to reconsider my strongly held convictions. Shepard's work has never failed to add great value to my life in that regard.

Review:

Dismal .......... - a little learning can be a dangerous thing!

Yes, evolution is important. Yes, biological evolution is slow. So much is true.

However, hey-wow hippie fantasy that freefalls until it links to the latest jargon is not helpful - this book is simply this, sadly.

For a proper analysis of culture and its evolution [yes, evolution, it doesn't have to be biological] and hence a correction to the mistakes seen in this book, see 'The Meme Machine' by Susan Blackmore.

Review:

Think of it as a cornerstone, not a keystone...

This book is the culmination of one of the most important academic careers of this century. It is, to be sure, several decades ahead of the curriculum. It also offers an insightful perspective on the development of Shepard's thinking since his preposterous vision of a modern cynegetic society as laid out at the end of The Tender Carnovore. His recommendations at the end of this book are simple and realistic, and emanate a maturity and an acceptance that his earlier books lacked in all of their radical fervor! By recognizing some very broad truths and offering some very simple and realistic recommendations for the individual to follow, he clearly hopes to outline a path that will gradually change human societies for the better, within the realities and constraints of modern modes of existence. In this way, he has chosen only to offer a better laid foundation for the future of humanity (or at least to begin repairing the faults in the modern 10,000 year old foundation). To my mind, despite its posthumous publication, this is Shepard at his wisest and most conciliatory with his fellow human beings. I trust that the ideas accurately represent the culmination of his thinking by virtue of the fact that his wife edited the book shortly after his death. As for modern culture having "evolved", this doesn't fit into any current anthropological models. Technology has evolved quickly in reaction to problems generated by overcrowding and/or climatalogical change, and societies have shaped themselves around new technologies and economies. However, biology cannot change nearly as quickly as culture, and sometimes suffers as a result. By incorporating some of Shepard's ideas, we might be able to marry culture more closely to biology. Such modern evolutionary theory is truly exploding in several academic disciplines; if you subscribe in any way to the concept of biological adaptation, then you cannot simply dismiss thinkers such as Shepard, Piaget, H.L. Abrams, or others by accusing them of nostalgia or romanticism. They have provided some of the most empirically sound theories of our time, theories that continually gain confirmation and vindication. You can almost hear Shep saying, "See? I told you so..."

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