EP61: Robin Reads - After The Great Forgetting

EP61: Robin Reads - After The Great Forgetting

From Eatweeds Podcast: For People Who Love Plants by Robin Harford

May 28, 2026 · 3 min · Episode 61

About this episode

This episode explores the transformation of perception and thought in relation to nature, influenced by historical figures like Descartes, Galileo, and Newton.

In the 17th century, Descartes, Galileo, and Newton transformed a living world into mechanical clockwork. Descartes drew the fatal line between mind and matter, rendering everything beyond the thinking self inert and available for measurement. This lens birthed science and medicine, but cost us what Goethean scientist Craig Holdrege calls living thinking - thought that is responsive, relational, and shaped by what it encounters. Goethe knew perception isn't passive: to truly see a plant, you must let it work on you. Through Domei's sustained attention, observer and observed dissolve into a meeting of subjects. This Episode Is Brought To You By Robin Harford Transcripts This episode Stay In Touch Website | Youtube | Instagram | Facebook Free Newsletters Domei Eatweeds Books Edible and Medicinal Wild Plants of Britain and Ireland Forage In Spring Forage In Summer Forage in Autumn The Eatweeds Cookbook Courses 30 Days of Domei Plant Practices Mindful In Nature The Green Path

People in this episode

Host: Robin Harford

Topics covered

  • philosophy
  • science
  • perception
  • botany
  • living thinking
  • historical figures

Keywords

  • Descartes
  • Galileo
  • Newton
  • living thinking
  • Goethe
  • perception
  • botany
  • Domei

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Domei

Books & works: After The Great Forgetting, Edible and Medicinal Wild Plants of Britain and Ireland, The Eatweeds Cookbook

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