Book 2, Post 2

For my Book 2 assignment, I chose The Wayfinders by Wade Davis. This book piqued my interest as it took a look into history from a broader perspective than most history classes teach. I wanted the opportunity to learn more about the history of different cultures and civilizations from a broader perspective, and this book offered exactly that. I would not consider myself a history buff, but I do enjoy learning about development and the steps the world has taken to shape itself to what I recognize today. The Wayfinders allows readers to gain this insight from a less traditional pathway and I appreciate this because a majority of my historical understanding has come from one (European) perspective. 

When I read the overview of this book, I was excited because Davis’ teaching approach reminded me a lot of a course that I had taken last semester – Comparative Genocide. I completely understand if you read that course title and had a few questions: why does this book remind you of genocide? What does genocide have to do with anything about this book? We have a genocide course at USC? That course taught me a lot about learning from multiple perspectives and that there are different sides to the same story. One case that we discussed was the Pol Pot genocide in Cambodia, a horrendous story that is also discussed in The Wayfinders. I found that link to be especially interesting and learned more about Buddhism and its core values. One sentence that especially stood out to me was: “a lama once told me that Western science and efficiency has made a major contribution to minor needs” (Davis, 183). It is a unique perspective on Western culture because it expresses how much Western society prioritizes making life convenient, but in doing so, creates so many minute problems that don’t have much of a significance in the grand scheme of things.

My mom had introduced me to Buddhism growing up and this book has helped me better understand some of her teachings. One takeaway for me was to meditate and slow down. I struggle with overthinking and getting too into my head, so practicing slowing my thoughts and speaking down has helped clear up problems that were right in front of me. Another thing I had learned was to not stress about every small thing so much. There will be good days and there will be bad days in life, so trying to make every day a good day will end up tiring you out a lot more than accepting the existence of bad days. The final takeaway for me was looking at other perspectives and trying to see situations from a different lens than my own. This has helped me when I am frustrated with someone and understanding why they are thinking differently than me. This combined with slowing down has helped me come to peace with a lot of situations that would otherwise be disastrous to me.