Earth in Mind

On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect

By: David W. Orr

Narrated by: Christopher Hurt

In Earth in Mind, noted environmental educator David W. Orr focuses not on problems in education, but on the problem of education.

Much of what has gone wrong with the world, he argues, is the result of inadequate and misdirected education that: Alienates us from life in the name of human domination; causes students to worry about how to make a living before they know who they are; overemphasizes success and careers; separates feeling from intellect and the practical from the theoretical; deadens the sense of wonder for the created world.

The crisis we face, Orr explains, is one of mind, perception, and values. It is, first and foremost, an educational challenge.

The author begins by establishing the grounds for a debate about education and knowledge. He describes the problems of education from an ecological perspective, and challenges the "terrible simplifiers" who wish to substitute numbers for values. He follows with a presentation of principles for re-creating education in the broadest way possible, discussing topics such as biophilia, the disciplinary structure of knowledge, the architecture of educational buildings, and the idea of ecological intelligence. Orr concludes by presenting concrete proposals for reorganizing the curriculum to draw out our affinity for life.

©2004 David W. Orr (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

good insight. more ppl need this education

more ppl need this education in their lives. biophilia should be taught at all levels of life!

biophilia should become a part of all our lives.

the hard core truth is very necessary in our current world. why we have chosen not to listen to the experts on climate change ? as species die off by the droves; why we can not understand our own human demise is one of the greatest questions for our political, scientific and working class population . will a true leaders of the now step forward to change our "off course" actions. Demigogs the wealthy controller's of now problem funding and the intelligencia class must steer their collective focus now- if they have any real concern for their own fellow mankind and the geological and evolutionary history that brought us to our current existing.

A Rant

This kind of ridiculous rant goes a long way to discrediting environmental thinking. I would never have finished it if I'd been reading, but because I've heard and seen this referenced, I plodded through. He makes so many stupid sweeping generalizations that he undermines any credibility. He might have some good ideas buried in here, but it's certainly not worth the effort to find the needle in the haystack.

Empty

It feels like the author just sat down and wrote whatever he was thinking. He only discussed general surface-level facts and offers lots of statements with vague and abstract explanations. The book lacks any kind of rigour, substantial examples or novel insight.