There is great creative power where science, art and action meet.
Historically, the combination of science, art, and action have always been the root of cultural evolution. If I wished to tease out the most efficient and effective action towards broad scale change, I decided I needed to immerse myself in scientific theory and its ever evolving perspective. Allowing my curiosity to roam through books and dialogue, while giving my creative mind time to meditate and still, I came to some very important conclusions on the change I so passionately am seeking. Below I have organized my conclusion in a bulletted and linear form, but this is not how I think. These ideas are far more interconnected and overlapped, but for the sake of clarity I have greatly simplified.
*I offer the usual disclaimer: I am not a scientist, but a curious, creative, imperfect mind that has formed some ever-evolving and expanding ideas and here they are:
There is no such thing as a limitless system. Systems designed without limits collapse into chaos. We can anticipate coming chaos because of economic and climate instability, and we can use it to usher in new localized systems of being that make sense in a world gone mad. Violence and manufactured anarchy is not only unnecessary for revolution, but would be a counter productive waste of energy.
Creation is born from chaos. From chaos, after just a few simple organizing principles are applied, new emergent orders of beautiful, complex, resilient systems, or patterns of b can form. We should not over think or over plan the recreation of resilient systems, but instead let the demands of each ecological and cultural niche steer how we insure continued access to abundant and healthy food, shelter, warmth and water.
Life is like those nesting wooden Russian dolls. From macro back to micro, patterns and form repeat themselves on all scales. According to complexity theory, it is the micro that defines the macro. If we wish to repattern the world then we must first repattern our communities, which is counter intuitive to solving a global crisis but true all the same.
According to living systems theory, broad scale social change/evolution is dependent on healing feedback loops. Recreating functioning community and local economies is essential to healing and reconnecting feedback loops that have become too stretched or removed from everyday life.
When working to repattern our communities we must design for resiliency. This requires us to reevaluate our systems critically since they are designed for a limitless, growth economy completely dependent on one energy source, fossil fuels. A system tailored to limitless growth is exclusively designed to maximize convenience, control, and ultimately profit. Our current system is completely dependent on fossil fuels because there is no equivalent source that comes any where near providing similar outputs of energy. One barrel of oil contains the same amount of energy as one man shoveling non-stop through a forty hour work week for almost four years. When designing for resiliency we must create systems that emphasize efficiency, require less energy and place new importance such elements as diversity and redundancy.
Resilient design will look different where applied because it is defined by the parameters and demands of individual communities and their individual geographical, environmental and cultural niches. Solutions will NOT be found in imposed world order.
*I offer the usual disclaimer: I am not a scientist, but a curious, creative, imperfect mind that has formed some ever-evolving and expanding ideas and here they are:
There is no such thing as a limitless system. Systems designed without limits collapse into chaos. We can anticipate coming chaos because of economic and climate instability, and we can use it to usher in new localized systems of being that make sense in a world gone mad. Violence and manufactured anarchy is not only unnecessary for revolution, but would be a counter productive waste of energy.
Creation is born from chaos. From chaos, after just a few simple organizing principles are applied, new emergent orders of beautiful, complex, resilient systems, or patterns of b can form. We should not over think or over plan the recreation of resilient systems, but instead let the demands of each ecological and cultural niche steer how we insure continued access to abundant and healthy food, shelter, warmth and water.
Life is like those nesting wooden Russian dolls. From macro back to micro, patterns and form repeat themselves on all scales. According to complexity theory, it is the micro that defines the macro. If we wish to repattern the world then we must first repattern our communities, which is counter intuitive to solving a global crisis but true all the same.
According to living systems theory, broad scale social change/evolution is dependent on healing feedback loops. Recreating functioning community and local economies is essential to healing and reconnecting feedback loops that have become too stretched or removed from everyday life.
When working to repattern our communities we must design for resiliency. This requires us to reevaluate our systems critically since they are designed for a limitless, growth economy completely dependent on one energy source, fossil fuels. A system tailored to limitless growth is exclusively designed to maximize convenience, control, and ultimately profit. Our current system is completely dependent on fossil fuels because there is no equivalent source that comes any where near providing similar outputs of energy. One barrel of oil contains the same amount of energy as one man shoveling non-stop through a forty hour work week for almost four years. When designing for resiliency we must create systems that emphasize efficiency, require less energy and place new importance such elements as diversity and redundancy.
Resilient design will look different where applied because it is defined by the parameters and demands of individual communities and their individual geographical, environmental and cultural niches. Solutions will NOT be found in imposed world order.
Concluding Reflection...
Detail of Descend to Ascend, titled Reflection.
Reflection: Change and chaos are certain.
Can we proactively create
systems of being that can
channel this change into
positive transformation? Can
we create local systems that are
not dependent on the global
exploitation of Earth
and her people?
We can.
Can we proactively create
systems of being that can
channel this change into
positive transformation? Can
we create local systems that are
not dependent on the global
exploitation of Earth
and her people?
We can.