Who first told the story of the Garden of Eden? Could it have been a way to explain the unfolding Agricultural Revolution from the perspective of the people who were there? The Garden of Eden has been told and retold for thousands of years. Why do we keep telling it? With insight from modern biblical scholarship, we investigate the origins of this ancient story and what warning this active myth still has yet to be heeded today. It’s an adventure to the far flung lands of Alex’s 5th grade classroom as well as the lush old-growth forests of the Middle East (before all the desertification).  There’s parables, characters, and plenty of special effects. You’ll want to bring some popcorn for this one. And don’t listen to anything that serpent tells you on the way in. This episode is largely indebted to the research and writing of J. Snodgrass and his fascinating book “Genesis and the Rise of Civilization”. If you would like to learn more, you’ll find an exclusive interview with J. Snodgrass on the HNO Patreon. Citations Ishmael by Daniel Quinn (1992) Genesis and the Rise of Civilization by j. Snodgrass (2011) Sapiens by Yuval Harari (2011) Indigenous Continent: The Epic Conquest of North America by Pekka Hämäläinen (2022) The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race from Discovery Magazine (1999) Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io Produced By White Hot Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI  All rights reserved. 1.  Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop  https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B000QQXURI     2.  iTunes:  https://music.apple.com/us/album/celestial-soda-pop/3242445?i=3242425 3.  Spotify:   https://open.spotify.com/track/2THDVIVytLuGX7S7UghuC1?si=20ea63807bba401f

In this episode we take a step back from Ishmael to better view the philosophical context it was written in. We explore the history of the terms “civilized” and “primitive” and how their definitions have evolved over time. Topics include: Rome’s influence on Western European colonization, noble savage theory, primitivism, and the rise of the identity “indigenous”. When we say civilization who do we include and exclude? Who is civilized and what does that mean? If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcasts, leave us a review, and visit humannatureodyssey.com. Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes. Citations Ishmael by Daniel Quinn (1992) The Dawn of Everything by David Wengrow and David Graeber (2021) Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford (1620-1647) Indigenous Continent: The Epic Conquest of North America by Pekka Hämäläinen (2022) Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI  All rights reserved. 1.  Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop  https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B000QQXURI     2.  iTunes:  https://music.apple.com/us/album/celestial-soda-pop/3242445?i=3242425 3.  Spotify:   https://open.spotify.com/track/2THDVIVytLuGX7S7UghuC1?si=20ea63807bba401f

Ishmael theorizes our culture is held captive by a story, a mythology we take for granted, act out every day, and is leading to the destruction of the world. So in this episode we tell this story out loud, from beginning, to middle, to end.  Along the way we chat with a 6-year-old animal expert, discuss adult imaginary games, analyze the subliminal cultural messages conveyed in religion and philosophy, and meet a sassy imaginary top hat with a poorly performed Brooklyn accent. Taker Mythology, the grand sweeping narrative playing out behind the scenes of our culture, just might explain how we got here and where we’re going… if we don’t find a way to tell another story. If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcasts, leave us a review, and visit humannatureodyssey.com. Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes. Citations Ishmael by Daniel Quinn (1992) A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold (1949) Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (1651) Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI  All rights reserved. 1.  Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop  https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B000QQXURI     2.  iTunes:  https://music.apple.com/us/album/celestial-soda-pop/3242445?i=3242425 3.  Spotify:   https://open.spotify.com/track/2THDVIVytLuGX7S7UghuC1?si=20ea63807bba401f

Why can’t we seem to stop destroying the world? Like seriously though? Ishmael, the telepathic gorilla from Daniel Quinn’s philosophical novel, suggests we’re captives of a society where our individual society depends on our collective destruction. As we embark on our quest through the landscape of ideas in Quinn’s novel, we’ll travel to a dystopian future where Nazi Germany won the war, meet our long lost furry and feathery cousins, explore a sinister layer where villainous henchman plot the end of the world, conduct an investigation into a planet-wide crime scene, and meet the gorilla we’ve all been waiting for. If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcasts, leave us a review, and visit humannatureodyssey.com. Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes. Citations Ishmael by Daniel Quinn (1992) Gerta Keller, Professor of Paleontology and Geology in the Geosciences Department at Princeton University https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/world/sixth-mass-extinction-accelerating-intl/index.html https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/un-environment-programme_us_684562 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0959378094900035 Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI  All rights reserved. 1.  Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop  https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B000QQXURI     2.  iTunes:  https://music.apple.com/us/album/celestial-soda-pop/3242445?i=3242425 3.  Spotify:   https://open.spotify.com/track/2THDVIVytLuGX7S7UghuC1?si=20ea63807bba401f

We’re all on our own quest to live more meaningful, healthy, and fruitful lives. To more fully understand the situation we’re in, we’re going to have to expand our scope in geography and time. This is a sociological examination of the personal, and a psychological examination of the social. Alex takes you back in time to a fateful childhood summer when the world was a magical place to explore, yet seemed like it was ending just as he was getting to know it. It was then that Alex first read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, the book that begins the quest of Human Nature Odyssey. If you’d like to support Human Nature Odyssey, please subscribe wherever you enjoy your podcasts, leave us a review, and visit humannatureodyssey.com. Join us on Patreon and get exclusive access to audio extras, writings, and notes. Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI  All rights reserved. 1.  Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop  https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B000QQXURI     2.  iTunes:  https://music.apple.com/us/album/celestial-soda-pop/3242445?i=3242425 3.  Spotify:   https://open.spotify.com/track/2THDVIVytLuGX7S7UghuC1?si=20ea63807bba401f

You are living the latest chapter in a 10,000 year story. Join storyteller Alex Leff on a search for better ways to understand and more clearly experience the incredible, terrifying, and ridiculous world we live in. The first stop on our quest through a landscape of ideas and stories is the 1992 novel Ishmael by Daniel Quinn about a telepathic gorilla with great hope for humanity. Next episodes every month beginning May 4th, 2023. === Music: Celestial Soda Pop By: Ray Lynch From the album: Deep Breakfast Courtesy Ray Lynch Productions © Ⓟ 1984/BMI  All rights reserved. Amazon: Celestial Soda Pop  https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B000QQXURI      iTunes: Celestial Soda Pop  https://music.apple.com/us/album/celestial-soda-pop/3242445?i=3242425 Spotify:  Celestial Soda Pop  https://open.spotify.com/track/2THDVIVytLuGX7S7UghuC1?si=20ea63807bba401f