What Ancients Cultures Have To Teach Us About Being Human And Happy with Wade Davis

Jun 29, 2022

Wade Davis, a renowned writer, photographer, and anthropologist, dives deep into the wisdom of ancient cultures and their harmony with nature. He discusses the tension between modern technology and traditional practices, emphasizing how indigenous perspectives can reshape our understanding of community and morality. Exploring psychedelics, he shares their potential for personal healing and connection to nature. Davis ultimately argues for reconnecting with ancient knowledge to navigate today's complexities and reclaim meaning in our lives.

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INSIGHT

Individualism vs. Collectivism

Western culture prioritizes individual liberation over collective well-being.
This separation from community contrasts with other cultures that value reciprocal relationships with nature.

ANECDOTE

Logger to Activist

Wade Davis worked as a logger to understand industrial forestry's impact.
This experience gave him credibility in later environmental activism.

INSIGHT

Separation from Nature

We've separated individuals from the collective and humans from nature.
We see nature as a resource to extract, not a reciprocal relationship.

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This episode is brought to you by Gut Food, Cozy Earth, InsideTracker, and Rupa Health.

Many of us are feeling a crisis of meaning; feeling we’ve lost our way amongst the stressors and distractions of modern life. We are more isolated, divided, and sick than ever before. Personally, I always turn to nature when I’m feeling lost. And in traveling, talking to interesting people, and learning about the world, I’ve found that ancient cultures and their relationships to nature can teach us volumes when it comes to rediscovering connection, health, and meaning.

Today, I’m excited to share a conversation I had with Wade Davis, all about culture, the depth of the natural world, belief systems, ethnobotany, psychedelics, and more. Wade Davis is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker. Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society from 2000 to 2013, he is currently Professor of Anthropology and the BC Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of 23 books, including One River, The Wayfinders, and Into the Silence, and he was the winner of the 2012 Samuel Johnson prize, the top nonfiction prize in the English language. His latest book is Magdalena: River of Dreams. Wade’s many film credits include Light at the Edge of the World, an eight-hour documentary series written and produced for the NGS.

This episode is brought to you by Gut Food, Cozy Earth, InsideTracker, and Rupa Health.

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Here are more details from our interview (audio version / Apple Subscriber version):

Wade’s early experiences that first got him interested in anthropology (5:56 / 3:24)
Why western culture is actually an anomaly, not the norm (7:57 / 5:23)
Our misguided understanding of the purpose of culture (18:00 / 15:50)
Why ancient wisdom matters in the modern world (20:40 / 18:57)
The nature of life (22:48 / 20:50)
Human commonalities among all cultural expressions (27:30 / 23:08)
The value of language and storytelling (29:36 / 24:28)
Why biologically, the concept of race is utter fiction (31:27 / 27:06)
Psychedelics and our relationship to nature and plant medicines (37:27 / 33:20)
Communicating with plants (1:01:22 / 39:35)

Learn more about Wade Davis at daviswade.com.