Learning to Die in the Anthropocene

The author's premise is that the civilization we have now, largely based on capitalism and powered by fossil fuels, is doomed. Our planet is warming, and we're unable to come up with solutions that the world community can agree upon and implement. We are the problem, and there is no escape. Thus, we are going to have to learn to die, both metaphorically, in letting go of the fantasy that we can continue to have the standard of living to which the West has become accustomed, and literally, as the consequences of climate change start to worsen.

This book doesn't provide much in the way of advice about how to go about “learning to die.” It just asserts that it is necessary. However, the last part of the book argues that in order for humanity to survive, in addition to the physical conditions being right, we will need to have preserved our cultural memory, the art, knowledge, and wisdom of the past. It's implied that we will also find what we need to know about how to die, literally and metaphorically, in our cultural memory as well. The already-dead can tell us what we need to know.

As a librarian who specializes in the humanities, this argument speaks to my heart. However, I thought the book was a bit sloppy, especially toward the end. Ideas were not fully explained, so they seemed half baked. This was disappointing. On the plus side, a bibliography is included, so you can follow this book up with additional reading.

Really depressing but good to read and look at things from a philosophical view. Humans are fucked! Nothing we can do about it.