--- product_id: 6505815 title: "The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World (The CBC Massey Lectures)" brand: "wade davis" price: "297.47 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/6505815-the-wayfinders-why-ancient-wisdom-matters-in-the-modern-world store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World (The CBC Massey Lectures) **Brand:** wade davis **Price:** 297.47 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World (The CBC Massey Lectures) by wade davis - **How much does it cost?** 297.47 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/6505815-the-wayfinders-why-ancient-wisdom-matters-in-the-modern-world) ## Best For - wade davis enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted wade davis brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Every culture is a unique answer to a fundamental question: What does it mean to be human and alive? Anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis leads us on a thrilling journey to celebrate the wisdom of the world’s indigenous cultures. In Polynesia we set sail with navigators whose ancestors settled the Pacific ten centuries before Christ. In the desertcart we meet the descendants of a true Lost Civilization, the people of the Anaconda. In the Andes we discover that the Earth really is alive, while in the far reaches of Australia we experience Dreamtime, the all-embracing philosophy of the first humans to walk out of Africa. We then travel to Nepal, where we encounter a wisdom hero, a Bodhisattva, who emerges from forty-five years of Buddhist retreat and solitude. And finally we settle in Borneo, where the last rainforest nomads struggle to survive. Understanding the lessons of this journey will be our mission for the next century. For at risk is the human legacy — a vast archive of knowledge and expertise, a catalogue of the imagination. Rediscovering a new appreciation for the diversity of the human spirit, as expressed by culture, is among the central challenges of our time. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Dimensions | 5.25 x 0.75 x 8 inches | | Edition | First Edition | | Isbn 10 | 0887847668 | | Isbn 13 | 978-0887847660 | | Item Weight | 9 ounces | | Language | English | | Print Length | 280 pages | | Publication Date | October 13, 2009 | | Publisher | House of Anansi Press | ## Images ![The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World (The CBC Massey Lectures) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71ZAEiSujPL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Fascinating Constellation of Cultures *by on Reviewed in the United States June 5, 2016* Birdcalls echo in the rainforests of Borneo as the Penan hunter crouches before a kill. Inuit glide across the wind-scoured ice. Kogi priests traverse Colombian coral reefs and cloud forests to learn contours of the landscape entrusted to their care. In the published edition of his five Massey Lectures, Wade Davis seeks to answer the question “What does it mean to be human and alive?” with portraits of culture spanning centuries and terrain. It’s a rare work of anthropology illustrating the vitality of human imagination from Himalayan peaks to the southern sea; Davis brings new attention to peoples still practicing ancient arts and writes with the voice of a lyrical novelist. Anything but a detached textbook, it remains a work as fascinating as it is beautiful to read. And in depicting new dreams of the Earth, Davis presents one of his own.Why do we speak the languages we do? How did humanity journey out of Africa millennia ago and come to settle every corner of the habitable world? In examining the planet’s constellation of cultures, Davis argues that thousands of languages and millions of lifeways are as threatened as species comprising the biosphere. The loss of either has equal significance for the flourishing of our world. To read his book is to discover a love letter to our species and develop a new understanding of the diversity of human endeavor. The images are robust: San sipping water from ostrich eggs beneath the sweltering Kalahari sun, a steadfast wayfinder aboard the open-decked Hokule’a crashing through waves on a journey across the Pacific and into the Polynesian spirit, travels into the jade canopy of the Amazon rainforest - realm of the jaguar shaman. A former National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Davis writes from firsthand experience based on decades of fieldwork and creates a sense of eyewitness any travel writer would envy while never deviating from scholarly precision.As a historical text, the book is exhaustively researched and includes an annotated bibliography with years of reading material for those interested in anthropology and natural history. While acknowledging Western culture’s triumphs and contributions, Davis also explores the consequences of colonialism. Losing connection with other ways of living carries environmental and psychological costs, and the character of culture is inextricably linked to the spirit of place. The Tendai marathon monks of Japan, Andean pilgrimages, or Songlines of Aboriginal Australia represent exquisite achievements in human thought, and Davis interrogates the extent to which a singular culture produces a singular mindset. Yet the book remains hopeful. Why does Davis have faith in our ability to mend ages of destruction? Because of the tenacity and ingenuity of the human journey he himself celebrates. An unforgettable read both for the energy of its author and the poetry of its language, The Wayfinders inspired me to pursue anthropology more than any other text. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A captivating book *by on Reviewed in the United States September 3, 2012* Davis seems to have been EVERYWHERE, but never loses that sense of awe and wonder that pushes the reader to genuinely think about human experiences beyond his/her own. He notes that cultures and languages are being lost at a rate greater than biodiversity loss, and the wonders of human achievements and resilience are being wiped out. Culture is a funny thing: It can unite societies, but it is immensely fragile. Thousands of years of adaptations, oral history and knowledge, can be be wiped out within a single generation of ignorance and neglect.The book explored the various ways different cultures found their way in the world. Some examples: Aborigines practiced environmental stewardships for TENS of thousands of years, although they have no need for the concept of linear time. Polynesian navigators became human supercomputers in order to find specks of land across the vast Pacific Ocean without compasses, sextants, and GPS's. Nomadic tribes in Northern Kenya accrued huge herds of cattle as an adaptation to a land of recurring drought. These practices were all woven elaborately into the customs and traditions of each unique culture; it's all very fascinating stuff.In modern times, we have a tendency to dismiss these incredible and ingenious achievements that allowed indigenous people to survive and thrive. Sometimes it's unintentional; other times it's outright disturbing. Heyerdahl of the Kon-Tiki fame, ignited the public's imagination with his voyage across the Pacific, but dismissed the reams of evidence that pointed to this great achievement was of Polynesian origins. An Australian politician in the 20th century declared that "there is no scientific evidence the the aboriginal is a human being at all", a commonly held notion that led almost to the extinction of one of the oldest and continuous ways of life in the world. Development agencies, with the noble intentions of helping nomadic tribes settled, destroyed a culture that was developed around surviving drought.All of these intriguing insights address the central question of the book: Why are cultures worth saving? I'll leave with one of the most powerful passages of the book:"Were I to distill a single message from these Massey Lectures, it would be that culture is not trivial. It is not decoration or artifice, the songs we sing or even the prayers we chant. It is a blanket of comfort that gives meaning to lives. It is a body of knowledge that allows the individual to make sense out of the infinite sensations of consciousness, to find meaning and order in a universe that ultimately has either. Culture is a body of laws and traditions, a moral and ethical code that insultates a people from the barbaric heart that history suggests lies just beneath the surface of all human societies and indeed all humans. Culture alone allows us to reach, as Abraham Lincoln said, for the better angels of our nature. (p. 198)"Powerful stuff.I highly recommend this book. As modern Western culture continues to grapple with issues of depression, meaning, and what it means to become an adult human being, I can't help but feel that there are things we can learn from other ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fascinating reading *by on Reviewed in the United States February 6, 2011* Proabably a little premature to review this when I am only up to chapter 4 .... but I am very much enjoying this book. Not only am I finding it hard to put down but am also reading out paragraphs to my husband. I often feel that we have more than proven ourselves as incredibly intelligent but that along our way to proving this we have lost our wisdom. Davis puts this focus of ours into a cultural context as he shows ways in which non-western peoples have focussed their own intelligence in ways that have had just as incredible results as our own with our focus on technology. From the navigational expertise of the Polynesians to the spiritual memories of the Aborigines of Australia, Davis shows us that every population across the worls has something uniquely miraculous to contribute to the story of human intelligence. Now we just have to learn to repect others and be a littlw more humble about our own .... hopefully he will cover some of that by the end of the book. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/6505815-the-wayfinders-why-ancient-wisdom-matters-in-the-modern-world](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/6505815-the-wayfinders-why-ancient-wisdom-matters-in-the-modern-world) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-07-30*