CHOICES WE MAKE IN THE GLOBAL VILLAGE

A manual looks at how individual choices shape the future of society.

In this companion to his Coming of Age in the Global Village (1990), Cook offers a framework for describing the different viewpoints, mentalities, and ways of thinking about all aspects of human life—religion and spirituality, personal responsibility, systems of governance, consumption, the environment, and militarism, among many others. This framework is a way to understand and guide people toward making decisions that are optimal for their own lives and for the future of humanity as a whole. The author outlines these viewpoints through a series of 52 choices between opposing worldviews, detailed in the book’s appendix and on a companion website. Using his own preferences as examples, Cook explains how the combination of values and choices he has made has allowed him to pursue a sustainable lifestyle, reduce his carbon footprint, build a community of friends and relatives, and develop an authentic spiritual life. He provides his choices as an example for readers to adapt to their own circumstances. Drawing on the author’s scientific background as a professor and research specialist, the book also takes an analytical approach to climate change and other crucial topics, showing how and why humans can and should take steps toward sustainability. Although the prose can be meandering at times and the volume’s pacing could be tighter, readers will likely be willing to overlook occasional narrative shortcomings in favor of Cook’s enthusiastic and authentic storytelling. Throughout the text, he demonstrates a deep knowledge of wide-ranging subjects, and the book’s many references to Coming of Age demonstrate that the author has returned to his topics many times since 1990, refining and strengthening his analysis in the intervening decades. The manual makes a persuasive case for moving toward a more sustainable lifestyle—although few readers are likely to join Cook in “peecycling,” using their own urine to fertilize homegrown crops—and for making choices that are true to one’s values without demonizing those who follow a different path.

A thoughtful and well-reasoned guide to making lifestyle decisions.