Episode 6

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Published on:

28th Apr 2022

Wildfire Wisdom and Wildfire Ignorance: Dialogue with Chad Hanson, Forest Ecologist

The megafire narrative . . . Wherever you live, you likely depend on forest ecologies. Even though the western U.S. has gotten a lot of press for wildfires, fire affects us all, forest integrity affects us all, and ecological ignorance affects us all.

In this dialogue with Chad Hanson, forest ecologist and director of the John Muir Project, we confront the megafire myths and the bad science done in the name of forest ecology. Chad's book, Smokescreen: Debunking Wildfire Myths to Save Our Forests and Our Climate (University of Kentucky Press), serves as the framework for our dialogue.

This is a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it. It reads like a great mystery tale, and Chad gets to the bottom of the downright dastardly intrigues that perpetuate and sow seeds of ecological ignorance while putting us all at risk.

This dialogue covers some of the most important ideas in the book, and it serves as an excellent way to begin to heal from unskillful views and limited perceptions. You're in for a treat.

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About the Podcast

Dangerous Wisdom
Journey into Mystery
A podcast for wild souls who want to live with open eyes and an enlivened heart. The world needs dangerous wisdom, and our education system functions primarily to keep us away from it—to stop us from taking the journey into the mystery and magic of the world. Because of this, we have achieved a catastrophic level of confusion, anxiety, and ignorance—with boatloads of tame wisdom, false wisdom, and self-help nonsense that only adds to the challenges we face. The path of wisdom—the path of wonder—deals with how things really work, and how we can become skillful and successful. Following it leads beyond concepts to a wonderstanding that can heal us, and empower us to help the world, realize our hidden potential, and experience the profound meaningfulness of life. In this podcast, we turn toward the dangerous stuff, the wild stuff, and confront the need to handle authentic wisdom with skill and grace, making sure the medicine doesn’t become another poison. If you want an inspiring space to explore the big and sometimes scary questions, a space that opens up into insights that can change your life and the world we share, join us. Find out more at https://dangerouswisdom.org/

About your host

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nikos patedakis

“Vain is the word of the philosopher that heals no suffering.” ~ Epicurus

Following in the footsteps of Epicurus, nikos patedakis works with individuals, groups, and organizations, bringing to bear the most powerful and holistic teachings of the wisdom traditions in relation to our most daunting personal and global challenges. nikos works with the unity of Nature and Culture, drawing from the sciences, the arts, and the wisdom traditions.

His educational and consulting practice offers a genuinely holistic approach to creativity and critical thinking, ecoliteracy and true sustainability, achievement and excellence, mindfulness and attention, wellness and stress reduction, burnout prevention and recovery, and more.

This work encompasses the traditional areas of ethics, knowledge, meditation, creativity, beauty, being, and metaphysics, remaining rooted in the ancient Greek orientation of philosophy as a way of life, in which philosophy is seen as therapy for the soul and fundamental to the healthy transformation of self and society. This is the tradition of Western philosophy that influenced Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., and the approach of world philosophies that have shaped our world.

The philosophical traditions serve as a sacred storehouse of practical wisdom, trainable compassion, and effortless beauty that can help us resolve complex personal and global challenges, uncover our hidden potentials, and realize our highest ideals. Wisdom is what works.