Comments on: Desilofication http://www.toddero.com/2009/11/desilofication/ Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:44:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: JG http://www.toddero.com/2009/11/desilofication/comment-page-1/#comment-656 JG Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:54:54 +0000 http://www.toddero.com/?p=97#comment-656 Todd, if you haven't already, you have got to read Capra's "The Turning Point." Also, if you can stomach a 2 hour heady pseudo-documentary on systems-theory, check out the film "Mind Walk". These sources really challenge the Newtonian/Cartesian method of examining the universe. We are trained that the natural world is like the inside of a clock with moving gears that can be replaced if necessary. (as a medical doctor you are no doubt familiar with Descartes' idea of the body as a machine). This completely ignores the complexity of the relationships found in nature. If you ask anyone to describe a tree, they'll tell you it consists of a trunk, branches and leaves. They'll completely ignore both what's unseen (the roots) and the relationships that are essential for a tree to exist (soil fungi, pollinators, the water cycle, etc.). Without these relationships you don't have a tree, you have a dead stick. When you consider this it becomes really difficult to draw a boundary around a tree and say "this is a tree." Our educational/economic/governmental systems function this way. They draw boundaries around things and ignore the relationships that are essential for their continued existence. Here's some other awesome readings on this subject if you're interested. - Jones, A. 1987. “From Fragmentation to Wholeness: A Green Approach to Science and Society.” (Part 1) The Ecologist 17:6:236-240. - Taylor, D. 1992. “Disagreeing on the Basics: Environmental Debates Reflect Competing World Views.” Alternatives 18:3:26-33. - Skolimowski, H. 1978. “Ecophilosophy vs. the Scientific World View.” The Ecologist Quarterly 227-248. - Regal, P. 1990. “The Illusion Organ,” Chapter 3, in The Anatomy of Judgment. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Todd, if you haven’t already, you have got to read Capra’s “The Turning Point.” Also, if you can stomach a 2 hour heady pseudo-documentary on systems-theory, check out the film “Mind Walk”. These sources really challenge the Newtonian/Cartesian method of examining the universe. We are trained that the natural world is like the inside of a clock with moving gears that can be replaced if necessary. (as a medical doctor you are no doubt familiar with Descartes’ idea of the body as a machine). This completely ignores the complexity of the relationships found in nature. If you ask anyone to describe a tree, they’ll tell you it consists of a trunk, branches and leaves. They’ll completely ignore both what’s unseen (the roots) and the relationships that are essential for a tree to exist (soil fungi, pollinators, the water cycle, etc.). Without these relationships you don’t have a tree, you have a dead stick. When you consider this it becomes really difficult to draw a boundary around a tree and say “this is a tree.” Our educational/economic/governmental systems function this way. They draw boundaries around things and ignore the relationships that are essential for their continued existence.

Here’s some other awesome readings on this subject if you’re interested.
- Jones, A. 1987. “From Fragmentation to Wholeness: A Green Approach to Science and Society.” (Part 1) The Ecologist 17:6:236-240.

- Taylor, D. 1992. “Disagreeing on the Basics: Environmental Debates Reflect Competing World Views.” Alternatives 18:3:26-33.

- Skolimowski, H. 1978. “Ecophilosophy vs. the Scientific World View.” The Ecologist Quarterly 227-248.

- Regal, P. 1990. “The Illusion Organ,” Chapter 3, in The Anatomy of Judgment. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

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