In Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures, Wade Davis coined the term ethnosphere to remind people that cultural diversity is as important to human sustenance as the diverse life forms that make up the biosphere. “You might think of the ethnosphere as being the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, intuitions and inspiration brought into being by human imagination since the dawn of consciousness,” he says. This is humanity's great legacy, and the Ethnosphere Project at the National Geographic Society aims to understand and preserve it. This conversation with Wade Davis, photographer Chris Rainier, and Aurora Forum director Mark Gonnerman examines environmental and other challenges posed to vanishing cultures and explores ways a healthy ethnosphere contributes to human well-being.
"To know that other, vastly different cultures exist is to remember that our world does not exist in some absolute sense but rather is just one model of reality. Reinventing the poetry of diversity is the most important challenge of our time." —Wade Davis