The Myth of Modernity

Western thought teaches us that progress is linear; modernity is the peak of humanity and technological innovation grows in relation to time. But the more I travel and learn about the world, the more I question these assertions. 

The first time I came to Peru, I learned about Incan building techniques - stone walls that have withstood centuries of earthquakes without mortar, their precision and durability still unmatched. Spanish colonizers later built structures that collapsed under the same seismic forces. How is it that the supposed "primitive" methods proved stronger than colonial ones? What does that tell us about whose knowledge we value?

Even before the Inca, nations like the Cuyabas in the Colca Valley were cultivating crops at altitudes modern systems struggle to match, let alone approach, an agricultural brilliance that was displaced and forgotten through colonization.

As the impacts of climate change become worse and we see an increase in natural disasters, critical infrastructure we need to survive is at risk of collapse. Instead of looking towards future innovations for answers, perhaps we need to rethink what types of knowledge we deem valuable. Maybe the answers aren’t in future technologies but in past wisdoms we've ignored or erased. What might we discover if we centered the knowledge of the people who have always lived in relationship with the land?