2.20.2003
For some reason, my last post is missing a big chunk out of the middle, and editing (on Blogger) isn't fixing it, so I'm reposting. Sorry for the inconvenience.
I'm reading a book called BioMimicry by Janine Benyus. This new field, BioMimetics, takes lessons from nature and applies them to other disciplines: design, agriculture, computer science, medicine, knowledge and commerce. Nature has developed systems and structures that have been honed by selection, improved over millennia. We can learn by observing these systems at work and applying the lessons to our own processes. Velcro was designed based upon the grappling hooks of seeds, and the Eiffel Tower from the structure of the femur.
But the ideas that interest me the most are when biomimetics studies systems. A prarie is a system of mostly perennials which used to cover much of the midwestern United States. Some plants in a prarie are nitrogen-feeders, other nitrogen-producers; while one is suseptible to a particular insect, another isn't, where certain plants thrive in a year with little water, others would do well in flood years. Year after year, while one species rose, another fell. No human intervention was needed: no fertilizers, no insecticides; and just as important, there was precious little runoff, no loss of topsoil and no depletion of nutrients over time. Compare this with the state of our agriculture which erodes the topsoil with tilling and row planting, diminishes the nutritive value of what remains, and which is creating a monoculture of seed varieties in some cases dependent upon a particular brand of herbicide.
Ecologists and botanists at the Land Institute are working to apply the lessons of the prarie to agriculture. How to create a system that thrives without the input of oil-based products, one that nurtures and feeds us and the land over time, not just for tomorrow.
As I read this book and think about the lessons we can learn not just from nature, but from our own human past, I have a hopeful vision. I see a world where what's good and valuable is being nurtured, remembered and protected by people who care on the fringes of disciplines, on the fringes of political parties, and on the fringes of society. Like the Russian Ark, at sea protecting the heritage of art, history, and cultural memory while the world is unsafe for these treasures, people are saving what's precious in our culture from the reckless forces of thoughtless commerce and blind ambition. These treasures are being held for a time when they can be used, and remembered for a time when they will be needed again: heirloom seeds; native rituals and practices; mentoring; mediation; organic farming; poetry and art; bartering; community-living; and reading.
Save something.
posted by Lisa Thompson on 1:28 PM link | comments []
2.17.2003
I'm reading a book called BioMimicry by Janine Benyus. This new field, BioMimetics, takes lessons from nature and applies them to other disciplines: design, agriculture, computer science, medicine, knowledge and commerce. Nature has developed systems and structures that have been honed by selection, improved over millennia. We can learn by observing these systems at work and applying the lessons to our own processes. Velcro was designed based upon the grappling hooks of seeds, and the Eiffel Tower from the structure of the femur.
But the ideas that interest me the most are when biomimetics studies systems. A prarie is a system of mostly perennials which used to cover much of the midwestern United States. Some plants in a prarie are nitrogen-feeders, other nitrogen-producers; while one is suseptible to a particular insect, another isn't, where certain plants thrive in a year with little water, others would do well in flood years. Year after year, while one species rose, another fell. No human intervention was needed: no fertilizers, no insecticides; and just as important, there was precious little runoff, no loss of topsoil and no depletion of nutrients over time. Compare this with the state of our agriculture which erodes the topsoil with tilling and row planting, diminishes the nutritive value of what remains, and which is creating a monoculture of seed varieties in some cases dependent upon a particular brand of herbicide.
Ecologists and botanists at the Russian Ark, at sea protecting the heritage of art, history, and cultural memory while the world is unsafe for these treasures, people are saving what's precious in our culture from the reckless forces of thoughtless commerce and blind ambition. These treasures are being held for a time when they can be used, and remembered for a time when they will be needed again: heirloom seeds; native rituals and practices; mentoring; mediation; organic farming; poetry and art; bartering; community-living; and reading.
Save something.
posted by Lisa Thompson on 6:16 PM link | comments []
Confessions of A Neo-Peacenik or ...George Bush Made Me An Activist
The people have spoken, and they said No War. Doesn't it make you proud of humanity? It does me. People are taking to the streets by the millions, even apathetic Americans like me. In London, either 1 or 2 million people demonstrated on Saturday. That's either 1-in-60 or 1-in-30 of the Great Britain's population. I don't think Colin Powell was very convincing when he finally showed the world all the evidence they supposedly had that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction. I'm not convinced, the Inspectors aren't convinced, and the U.N. Security Council isn't convinced. I think the dead Presidents we honor today would be proud of what happened around the world this weekend.
From the streets of San Francisco, I can report that the peace movement here is alive and kicking. I was with a group of friends, we marched about halfway up Market, and then stayed by the side of the road singing and drumming as the people passed by. We started marching at 11:00, and it took four hours for the end of the march to go by. Even the police are estimating 150,000 people took part. It felt bigger than last month's march, but how can I tell a thing like that? I looked into so many faces yesterday, because I was passing out postcards about our event this weekend. I must have made eye contact with several thousand people yesterday: black, white, asian, native american, indian, arabic, oldsters and toddlers, hipsters and tricksters, punkers, hippies, suits, families, and teenagers.
This sign reads, "More Treats, Less War", but an alternately popular doggy sign read, "Leash the Dogs of War"
and lastly, an R-rated costumed Emperor George...please only click here if you have your parents' permission!!
posted by Lisa Thompson on 1:20 PM link | comments []
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