Customer Reviews

Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect

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That the world we now live in is unsustainable goes without saying. Our skyrocketing population puts enormous pressure on the productive and absorptive capacities of the land, outstripping the natural carrying capacity of the planet by some twenty percent. As ever more fisheries collapse, forests shrink, rangelands deteriorate, soils erode, species vanish, temperatures rise, rivers run dry, water tables fall, ozone depletion expands and polar ice caps melt across the globe, the single most important question humanity has faced resonates ever louder: How can we live sustainably?

Orr argues that the ecological crisis is not technological problem that we can fix with some new-fangled gadgetry or updated economic models. Rather, the "disordering of ecological systems and the great biogeochemical cycles of the earth reflects a prior disorder in the thought, perception, imagination, intellectual priorities, and loyalties inherent in the industrial mind." In other words, ecological crisis is a crisis of education. And yet, as Orr makes so clear, "we continue to educate the young for the most part as if there were no planetary emergency."

The effects of our educational system are not only bad for the planet, according to Orr, but bad for us as well. Contemporary "education...alienates us from life in the name of human domination, fragments instead of unifies, overemphasizes success and careers, separates feeling from intellect and the practical from the theoretical, and unleashes on the world minds ignorant of their ignorance." In effect, we educate a society to get straight As and fail Life.

Rather than educating for upward mobility, globally competitive economic success or increased technological cleverness, Orr recommends that we need educate for "ecological design intelligence" in an effort to foster "healthy, durable, resilient, just, and prosperous communities." "The world does not need more rootless symbolic analysts," says Orr. "It needs instead hundreds of thousands of young people equipped with the vision, moral stamina, and intellectual depth necessary to rebuild neighborhoods, towns, and communities around the planet. The kind of education presently available will not help them much. They will need to be students of their places and competent to become, in Wes Jackson's words, "native to their places.'"

What would a sane, place-centered economy look like? "A sane civilization," says Orr, "would have more parks and fewer shopping malls; more small farms and fewer agribusinesses; more prosperous small towns and smaller cities; more solar collectors and fewer strip mines; more bicycle trials and fewer freeways; more trains and fewer cars; more celebration and less hurry; more property owners and fewer millionaires and billionaires; more readers and fewer television watchers; more shopkeepers and fewer multinational corporations; more teachers and fewer lawyers; more wilderness and fewer landfills; more wild animals and fewer pets." A sane civilaiton would not advocate unending economic growth at the expense of all planetary life. "Utopia?" he asks. "No! In our present circumstances it is the only realistic course imaginable. We have tried utopia and can no longer afford it."

Rather than offering utopian idealism, Orr sticks closely to the stark environmental consequence of our industrial society, the failures of our philosophical heritage, and the ecological crisis our educational system spawns, offering practical advice for change at every stage of the argument. From educating out-of-doors to redesigning schools to rehabilitating local habitats, Orr's educational vision is radical and necessary. Without implementing his pedagogical advice, one cannot expect things to get better.

Without a doubt THE BEST work on education I have ever read, yet one need not have any interest in education to appreciate the import of Orr's thesis. This book is critical for the health of our bodies, minds, and the greater economic and ecological systems those bodies and minds operate within.

Essential reading.

j.w.k.

Dr. Orr's analysis of the root causes of our environmental problems is powerful and pesuasive. Rather than trying to address the corrective actions for the symptoms (ozone holes and global warming, for example) he identifies their fundamental sources and focuses his proposed corrective actions on them. The lack of any meaningful educational content on what it means to be a citizen in a closed ecology on a planet with finite resources is at the center of why the environment continues to deteriorate. If you are serious about being part of the solution and not part of the problem, read this book! --and get others to do the same. I've bought twenty copies that I plan to send to the most influential people I know. If they will read it, they will be "hooked" as I was.

David Orr presents an intellectual schematic for bringing "Earth in Mind" into the forefront of Human Conscousness. The Essential Theme running through this incisive and thoughtful book might best be summarized through the author's words: "Commercial television, the breakdown of families, and the culture of violence have made the task of nurturing young minds and hearts far more difficult than it once was." He approaches this fragmation of America's Ideal by presenting a series of in-depth metaphors and perspectives, which answer his question, "How do you create good schools without first creating a good society that values the life of the mind and lives lived with heroism and high purpose? This book is a valuable contribution to the Ecological Literature of the times. Elliott Maynard, Ph.D., President, Arcos Cielos Research Center, Sedona, Arizona.

I once saw a lecture by James Randi, the skeptic and amateur magician who likes to debunk "miracles" and other mumbo jumbo. He was discouraged on this night, and he relayed his thoughts on how to save rationalism in a seeming advancing tide of superstition and magical thinking. He said something along the lines of, 'Forget trying to work with the adults, it's already too late for them. Concentrate on cultivating rational habits of mind among children, for whom there is still hope.'

This book by David Orr reminded me of that advice from Randi. While progressives and environmentalists make worthy efforts to control the worst aspects of industrial civilization through regulation and policy changes, what often gets short shrift is education. What is the use of treading water in the adult world of environmental destruction, if our children are still being taught to contribute to those very processes of civilization that do all of the damage? Orr reminds us that the most difficult change that needs to happen is one of mindset, of formative ideas. There are plenty of appropriate technologies out there to change the world, but we lack the political will and cultural mindset to implement what needs to be done.

The best way to create that ecological mindset, or worldview, is to teach children from the earliest age that they are part of a wonderful but fragile ecosystem, one that needs their help and devotion to survive. If we don't teach our daughters and sons that the earth is their home, and that processes that kill their home are ultimately suicidal, then all of the policy work and regulatory stop-gaps are worthless. This is good stuff, well worth reading.

David Orr is a hero in my mind. He is making a true diffence. In this amazing piece he explains how and why we must integrate ecology into every aspect of our educational system. He not only writes about this, he also practices what he preaches. This is evident at Oberlin college where he has built, with the help of Bill McDonough, John Todd and others, a building that acts like a tree. Great work David, keep it up.

David Orr's book is powerful. I hope that this would become a best seller because it opened me up to a whole new way of thinking about what we can do with the environmental mess we have gotten into. Essentially we need to be educating people how to think from a system perspective and give people the experience to appreciate the environment. I hope you buy this book and be part of the solution.

David Orr exquisitely puts into words a need for an environmental ethos in the classroom. As a high school teacher, I have long-intuited his insights about how to bring daily connections to students about the natural world that we inhabit. He is deeply passionate, articulate and practical. I'd love to see school boards, administrations, faculty and students alike be exposed to his clear thinking and real suggestions. He brings urgency without bringing despair.

Reading this book gave me a great peace of mind. I'm an environmental scientist, but I wanted to inspire people to reconnect with the world around them before focusing on objective science (which Orr claims, and I agree, is not really objective, but an objective method to verify and support subjective perspectives and passions).

He lists everything that is wrong and what needs to be corrected. A good follow-up book or study would be if someone took his advice to a school or set of schools and set up a curriculuum after his suggestions and measured how students responded.

first off, as promised by the reseller, the book was in great condition.

as for the contents of the book, it's a fantastic read if you are interested in the root of the sustainability movement. that is to say the foundations and meaning of our educational system which as critical public good, is in dire need of a re-examination.

David W. Orr is chair of the environmental studies program at Oberlin College in Ohio and is most often credited with coining the word "ecoliteracy" (similar to the renown biologist Garrett Hardin's "ecolacy") to describe the very important study and understanding of ecology and natural resource processes. He is also credited with the simple, but profound statement, "When we heal the Earth, we heal ourselves."

No wonder then that Prof. Orr is well suited to write on the importance of ecoliteracy being incorporated into all educational systems for a more balanced perspective of reality.
Contemporary education, Orr says "...emphasizes theories, not values; abstraction rather than consciousness; neat answers instead of questions; and technical efficiency over conscience." (p 8) and, "As a result, after 12 or 16 or 20 years of education, most students graduate without any broad, integrated sense of the unity of things." (p 11)

"This is not an argument against education but rather an argument for the type of education that prepares people for lives and livelihoods suited to a planet with a biosphere that operates by the laws of ecology and thermodynamics." (p 27)

"Intelligence would lead us...to protect biological diversity, but for reasons that go beyond the calculation of self-interest. The surest sign of maturity of intelligence is the evolution of biocentric wisdom, by which I mean the capacity to nurture and shelter life-a fitting standard for a species calling itself homo sapiens." (p52)

"...I propose a different ranking system for colleges based on whether or not the institution and it's graduates move the world in more sustainable directions. Does four years at a particular institution instill knowledge, love, and competence toward the natural world or indifference and ignorance? Are the graduates of this or that college suited for a responsible life on a planet with a biosphere? This is an admittedly difficult, but not impossible, task."

A sense of "biophilia", as the renown sociobiologist, E.O. Wilson has described as that innate feeling of connectedness to a biological world where our roots and sustenance lie, is critical for developing a deep sense of respect and care of our world. Biophilia and it's antithesis, biophobia are well covered in chapter 20.

"We need an ecological concept of citizenship roots in the understanding that activities that erode soils, waste resources, pollute, destroy biological diversity, and degrade the beauty of landscapes are forms of theft from the commonwealth as surely as bank robbery. Ecological vandalism undermines future prosperity and democracy alike." (p 168)
"The first bit of conventional wisdom denies the importance of place and environment in favor of global vandalism masquerading as progress." (p 160)

Indeed, and a deep understanding of natural life-support systems would help mend that twisted perception of reality. David Orr has very well delineated the educational path here to creating graduates with a sense of awe and respect for the fragile, but life-supporting planet they live on.