Believing Cassandra by Alan Atkisson

Book Critique

“Believing Cassandra” by Alan AtKisson

“Believing Cassandra” is a book written for the scholar or the soccer mom. It is meant to inform the reader about the world’s past, current, and future environmental issues that need immediate attention. Alan AtKisson wrote this book to inspire people to make changes for the betterment of the world and to take action to preserve what is left of nature. The over-arching theme is that of transformation.

To embrace sustainability and restore the world requires a transformation in every area of our social and economic lives. (AtKisson 200) Rather than using scare tactics (although he believes it somewhat necessary) to push humanity into frenzy, AtKisson presents case studies, humorous anecdotes, and facts and figures, to communicate the importance of our reality. He has formulated a book that conveys necessary background information for the problems we face including the cause of the problems. He shows how past global trends and signals have been ignored. He introduces a useful feedback system that is failing because we are either not listening or need to update it with better technology. As the final piece to the puzzle, AtKisson unveils his conclusions formulated in a “how to” format of sustainability. The needed transformation reveals a growing economy that is more equitable and creative while halting the growth of population. Global sustainability requires acts of personal dedication and radical innovation.

When I finished this book, I could not help but fall into a state of deep reflection. I absorbed his words and related them to my own life. I am slightly comforted to know I am on the right track and doing my part in society, but I know I can do more. AtKisson introduced a process called innovation diffusion, where the “innovator” is the person who invents a new idea. The idea is then passed to “change agents” who explain, promote, and sell the idea, and finally transformers are the leaders of the mainstream population who adopt the idea who are then imitated by the rest of society.