Zombie Motivation: How to Break Free, Get Motivated, and Live While You're Alive

by Jim Miotke
Zombie Motivation: How to Break Free, Get Motivated, and Live While You're Alive cover
Good Books rating 4.5
Technical
  • ID: 4825
  • Added: 2025-10-22
  • Updated: 2025-10-22
  • Reviews: 3
Reviews
goodreads.com · Unknown · 2025-10-23
insightful 4.50

The review discusses the book 'The One Straw Revolution' by Masanobu Fukuoka, highlighting its relevance to regenerative agriculture and natural farming. The author praises Fukuoka's philosophy of minimal intervention and its potential benefits for soil health and ecosystem balance, particularly in the context of modern agriculture and wine production.

The review delves into the book 'The One Straw Revolution' by Masanobu Fukuoka, emphasizing its significance in the realm of regenerative agriculture. Fukuoka's methods, which include no-till farming, no chemical fertilizers, no weeding, and no other chemicals, are praised for their ability to maintain soil health and ecosystem balance. The reviewer notes that these principles are increasingly being adopted in the wine industry, where producers are exploring low-intervention practices. The book is described as a delightful read, well-translated and concise, with short chapters that outline Fukuoka's reasons for leaving science for farming, his practical methods, and his broader philosophy. The reviewer also highlights the relevance of Fukuoka's techniques to modern agricultural challenges, such as the need to reduce agri-chemical inputs and promote sustainable farming practices.

Quick quotes

    Fukuoka’s light bulb moment may have been when he saw an abandoned field full of weeds, but with an ample crop of rice growing up among them.

    The key to Fukuoka’s philosophy and methodology lies in the ability of nature to carry on doing what it does without much help from humans.

    This small book is a delight to read, well translated, it’s a mere 184 pages long, made up of very short chapters.

thriftbooks.com · Unknown · 2025-10-23
brilliant 4.50

The reviewer found 'The One Straw Revolution' by Masanobu Fukuoka to be a brilliant and impactful book that critiques modern agriculture and advocates for natural farming. The book's principles and questions about food, sustainability, and human desires resonated deeply with the reviewer, who highly recommends it to anyone interested in food and environmental issues.

The reviewer was highly impressed by 'The One Straw Revolution,' describing it as a brilliant and hard-hitting book that critiques modern agriculture and advocates for a return to natural farming. The author, Masanobu Fukuoka, shares his personal experiences and four principles of farming—no cultivation, no chemical fertilizers, no weeding by herbicides, and no dependence on chemicals. These principles fascinated the reviewer, who has been studying food and nutrition for years. The book's emphasis on living in harmony with nature, growing crops according to the season, and eating simple, local, and wholesome foods deeply resonated with the reviewer. The questions raised about food, industrial growth, ambition, education, and sustainability expanded the reviewer's horizons. The reviewer particularly appreciated the book's revelations about the pricing of natural foods, challenging the common belief that natural food should be expensive. The reviewer found numerous powerful lines and phrases throughout the book and highly recommends it to anyone interested in food and environmental issues.

Quick quotes

    The consumer's willingness to pay high prices for food produced out of season has also contributed to the increased usage of artificial growing methods and chemicals.

    Until there is a reversal of the sense of values which cares more for size and appearance than for quality, there will be no solving the problem of food pollution.

    If we do have a food crisis it will not be caused by the insufficiency of nature's productive power but by the extravagance of human desire.

thriftbooks.com · Unknown · 2025-10-23
inspiring 4.50

The book explores Masanobu Fukuoka's journey from a scientist to a proponent of natural farming, inspired by a spiritual awakening. Fukuoka's ideas challenge Western dualistic thought and advocate for a harmonious relationship with nature.

Masanobu Fukuoka's book, 'The One-Straw Revolution,' published in 1975, initially faced skepticism from those embracing technological advances in agriculture. However, it resonated deeply with those questioning agribusiness's impact on the planet. Fukuoka's journey from a plant pathologist to a natural farming advocate began after a spiritual awakening during a bout of pneumonia. This experience led him to resign from his post and return to his family's farm to practice and advocate for natural farming. His ideas, rooted in Buddhist precepts, contrast with Western dualistic thought and emphasize the importance of living in harmony with nature. Fukuoka believed that humans should not dominate nature but rather be part of its cycles. His practical farming methods aimed to demonstrate that nature could provide enough food without excessive technological intervention.

Quick quotes

    Fukuoka saw people as firmly embedded in cycles of life and with no right (let alone duty) to dominate nature or to take from it more than they put in.

    Moreover, he believed that the human mind is not properly equipped to understand the mysteries of nature.

    Above all, perhaps, he believed that the contemporary attitude that nature could not provide enough food for people without huge technological input, was simply wrong.

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