Interview with Miles Richardson, author of Reconnection: Fixing our Broken Relationship with Nature
Miles Richardson, author of Reconnection: Fixing our Broken Relationship with Nature recommends a great group of books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Miles's book:
Description from Bookshop.org:
How did our relationship with nature become broken, why does it matter and how can we fix it? From a past in which we were embedded in the natural world, revolutions in farming, science and industry have seen the human bond with nature eroded with the promise of prosperity offering happiness and meaning in life. This mindset may have delivered comfortable living for many, but there is growing recognition that the root cause of wildlife loss and the warming climate is people’s disconnection from nature, which is also an important factor in our mental health. Yet solutions focus on technical fixes to treat the symptoms of that damaged relationship, such as reducing carbon emissions and increasing habitat. What we urgently need is a whole new way of thinking.
(All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
Reconnection: Fixing our Broken Relationship with Nature
Reconnection explores our hidden links with nature through the science of nature connectedness, setting out a way to revivify the relationship across society. Here is a route to a meaningful life that unites both human and nature’s wellbeing for a truly sustainable future. What's more, everybody has a role to play. From business leaders to conservationists, teachers to medics, from drivers to walkers, we can all reduce the damage we do and find new ways to bring nature into our lives. This timely book considers the problems scientifically, then offers simple, practical, positive steps for how we can all work towards a better world.
Buy On:
Easons €28.00
Bookshop.org UK £19.00
Bookshop.org US $28.60
Blackwells £17.27
Waterstones £20.00
Wordery $22.32
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
Several, but selecting one I'd go for The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World by David Abram. It weaves together philosophy, anthropology, and personal accounts that awaken the senses and ignite a deeper connection with the natural world. It was one of the first books I read that helped me see the boundaries between human and non-human dissolve - how our mind is both our body and the landscape. Abram helped me reevaluate my relationship with nature and appreciate the intricate interplay between perception, language, and the vibrant natural world around us.
Description from Bookshop.org:
David Abram draws on sources as diverse as the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, Balinese shamanism, Apache storytelling, and his own experience as an accomplished sleight-of-hand magician to reveal the subtle dependence of human cognition on the natural environment.
(All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World
He explores the character of perception and excavates the sensual foundations of language, which--even at its most abstract--echoes the calls and cries of the earth. On every page of this lyrical work, Abram weaves his arguments with passion and intellectual daring.
Buy On:
Bookshop.org US $16.75
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence by James Lovelock. I thought it was good, a compelling, at times slightly disturbing, exploration of the potential impact of hyperintelligence on our future. For such a topic it's accessible covering some of the intricacies of artificial intelligence and its implications for humanity. It has science, speculative imagination, and is an engaging short read about the evolving relationship between humans and technology.
Scientific leviathan James Lovelock describes how the next evolutionary cycle that heralds the coming of the singularity could involve humanity co-existing with the cyborgs for the good of the planet. A standout metaphor for me from the book is that the self aware AI race will see us the same way we see plants today. For some this could be science fiction, but for the creator of the GAIA theory and the CFC detector, this is reasoned and considered prediction. (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence
Buy On:
Bookshop.org UK £10.44
Bookshop.org US $15.76
Blackwells £8.99
Waterstones £10.99
Wordery $12.32
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
Yes, The Observer's Book of Birds from 1976. A simple guide book to birds in the UK, that I annotated, more scribbled in, as a young child.
Description from Abe Books:
Describing 243 Species With 100 Colour And 101 Black And White Illustrations (All links earn commission from purchases that help fund this site. Prices accurate at time of writing)
The Observer's Book Of Birds
Buy On:
Abe Books £1.73
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
Paper for me, yet to try an audiobook!
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
The Accidental Bookshop in Alnwick, mainly because of how close it is to Harry's Bar - a micropub serving fine ales.
Many thanks to Miles for recommending a great group of books! Please don't forget to check out Reconnection: Fixing our Broken Relationship with Nature.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: Pelagic Publishing (Reconnection), Vintage (The Spell of the Sensuous), Penguin Books Ltd (Novacene), Frederick Warne / Observer (The Observer's Book of Birds).
< Home
