The name of this blog, Rainbow Juice, is intentional.
The rainbow signifies unity from diversity. It is holistic. The arch suggests the idea of looking at the over-arching concepts: the big picture. To create a rainbow requires air, fire (the sun) and water (raindrops) and us to see it from the earth.
Juice suggests an extract; hence rainbow juice is extracting the elements from the rainbow, translating them and making them accessible to us. Juice also refreshes us and here it symbolises our nutritional quest for understanding, compassion and enlightenment.

Tuesday, 29 October 2024

History For Tomorrow (Book Review)

On page 2 of History For Tomorrow Roman Krznaric quotes the German philosopher and poet Goethe. ‘He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living hand to mouth,’ wrote Goethe in 1819.

Roman Krznaric’s book is certainly not written hand to mouth. It is meticulously researched and eloquently written.

Krznaric’s essential thesis in this book is to present ideas from the past that may hold keys to how we deal with issues in the present. The historical events that he chooses at first seem illogical and unconnected to the modern-day issue. His comparisons are reminiscent of one of Edward de Bono’s (the Father of Lateral Thinking) exercises in which two unrelated concepts are thrown together to see how they might inform each other.

For instance, the problem of social media might seem like an uniquely modern issue. Krznaric shows how an understanding of the history of the invention and production of the printing press is of benefit when attempting to tackle the myriad troubles of social media. The treatment of witches in the 16th and 17th centuries is also presented as having some lessons for 21st century social media. So too, does the coffeehouse culture in England from 1650 onwards. (England’s first coffeehouse is just down the road from where Krznaric live, in Oxford.)

On first glance, none of these – Gutenberg’s printing press, witch hunts, and coffeehouses – would seem to have much to offer methods to deal with the difficulties of social media. But Krznaric skilfully shows that they can.

History For Tomorrow tackles a number of modern-day issues, from water shortages to genetic modification, from inequality to artificial intelligence. How can we kick the consumer habit, or how do we restore faith in democracy? History, as Krznaric shows, is replete with possible remedies.

Reading this book I was often surprised, and then delighted, to read of the historical events that Krznaric laid in front of a present-day issue.

Towards the end of the book Krznaric quotes another writer, the American author Mark Twain. Twain is often noted for some of his pithy sayings. In Chapter 9 (of 10) one of those sayings is quoted: ‘History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.’

Roman Krznaric has done an excellent job of discovering and presenting to us the rhymes of history.

Note:

1. Roman Krznaric, History for Tomorrow: Inspiration from the past for the future of humanity, W H Allen, London, 2024

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