“The most important ally in creating a new sustainable world is one with hard skeptics that have a fully open mind to all possibilities. Pseudo-skeptics (of which the majority belong) are irrational in that they automatically dismiss anything that does not fit their highly specified worldview without even making a point of trying to read and understand anything outside their understanding. Richard Jurin
To To fix the world we have to fix ourselves individually first. And this has to be done both metaphysically and physically. Contrary to how people perceive the work of science, it is not self-correcting except in small increments. That is to say that science works through small increases of knowledge gains. Anything that becomes contrary to existing dogma is refuted and even ridiculed – this is scientism that is typical of much of mainstream science. Major changes in scientific thinking only come in the form of paradigm shifts when the evidence starts to overwhelm the established doctrines and can no longer be ignored. The old system falls away as the new is recognized. Our world seems chaotic but chaos is a good thing that allows change. And do we need change!
I have spoken of the need to be transformational and not just reformational. Reformists believe we can tweak our way to sustainability by imposing more tight and enforceable rules and regulations, thereby changing human behavior. Sadly, this approach only works for so long as people rigidly obey the rules, but what is often the case, is that out-of-sight out-of-mind is usually the observed result. Since the 1970s we have globally been trying to regulate human behavior and actions towards the environment. The science has become highly tainted in how it is funded, run and reported by money. It is NOT about overthrowing the current systems that control our world as transforming them, or more correctly, allowing them to transform. Chaos is seen as scary because it implies lack of prediction and control. Yet, whenever we observe major natural disruptions and upheavals (chaos) there is always the creation of a new system.
What we often see throughout history, through biology, physics, etc… is that deconstruction precedes reconstruction. Chaos is the norm for transformation. The new norms will be different from what we think is normal. When we look at the science of Acoustics – the branch of physics that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. Within that thinking arises the science of Cymatics. In 1680, scientists Robert Hook noticed that when he had plates of metal with fine sand on them and pulled a violin bow along the edge, the plate vibrated and the sand moved into intricate patterns on the plate. To the trained musical ear using tuning forks, he found that the higher the pitch of the vibration generated, the more intricate the patterns seen. More recently, when scientist Hans Jenny repeated the experiments using acoustic signal generators on a variety of vibration surfaces (e.g. mercury, water, plates with sand or iron-filings) similar patterns were also seen and again with increasing complexity as the pitch increased. What is notable is that as the signal pitch increases the observed and consistent vibrational patterns (to each frequency) fall chaotically apart before reforming into the next complex pattern. Chaos is a necessary intermediate state between each harmonious state. This is also seen in biology. In the example of metamorphosis, a caterpillar transforms into butterfly. The process of metamorphosis, however, is intriguing. The egg is laid, which then grows into a caterpillar (the larva). It promptly sets out to eat a lot and grows into a larger caterpillar. The pupa cocoon forms around the caterpillar and then the cells of the caterpillar start to turn into a biochemical mush inside the cocoon (chrysalis). The something odd happens, all the cells that were the larva start to transform. In the chrysalis stage the biochemical mush starts to differentiate into different kinds of cells that will eventually become the butterfly. Yet, if you look at the early pupa stage it is just a chaotic mush with no obvious indication of any organized organism arising out of it.
Chaos is a natural aspect of growth – whether it is physical growth or social growth – and should be embraced if we are to reach a future where sustainable living is the new norm. Technological sustainability, I believe, we will reach relatively easily if we can let go as a society of the outdated thinking of fossil fuels and ‘heat-beat-treat’ technological stagnation and transform with new technologies. Many of the options are already here but corporate control will not release many of them. They range from simple system innovation to whole new quantum ways of thinking about technology. The greatest challenge is one that we must face that really scares people – that of social and cultural transformation. We simply cannot live the way we have done for thousands of years and expect to Thrive as a species. The planet, let alone ourselves, cannot continue to suffer the abuses we casually toss out into the environment in the form of devastation, pollution and environmental neglect. Our current systems are so out of harmony with the planets ability to help us thrive we are rushing headlong down the road to perdition. I don’t say this to scare you to awaken you to the alternatives I have expressed often throughout this blog. Continuing as we are is accepting the last generations of humanity, while a new and better world in which humanity thrives is merely a choice away. To transform humanity is merely to accept that we are not the warmongering, greedy, competitive and fearful, resource limiting species we think we are, but a loving, caring, collaborative species with ample resources for all to enjoy.
We are in the middle of waking up to this transformation that is already occurring. We see it as chaotic as is evidenced by the global rising political chaos, the social upheavals, religious stresses and the cultural splintering. Yet, all of this is merely the Chrysalis stage before emergence of the new form.
“Just when the Caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.” How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a Caterpillar. Think about that metaphor, it really is describing our transformation into a sustainable system. Don’t quit before the miracle happens. TBC…..
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