On Jun 2nd, in a piece called Now for a Little Climate Perspective, I took us up to space to show, in a single glimpse, what I mean by “the climate according to life.” There we could see Earth in its planetary context, a living flower amongst a collection of stone flowers.
Thanks for this historical look back, Rob. I remember that article on "The Death of Environmentalism" and the stir it caused then--really interesting to go back to it now with what's happened/happening since. I'm with you that we desperately need all living systems --not just the human ones--now. Thanks for your always interesting and often wise insights on this critical topic.
Thanks Rob. I have only recently joined this blog, so can you please elaborate (maybe point me to a past post), but is what you mean by ‘This Earth is a living thing…’ the same as the Gaia hypothesis? For those out there where it is compatible with their worldview, please don’t forget the power of prayer!
Hi Jeff. I don't really mean living thing in a Gaian sense, as a giant organism. What I mean is it's obviously alive. If it's not alive, then it is dead, and it's certainly not that. The physical science basis treats the Earth as a machine, which it isn't either. It, and it's climate, behave more like living things, or processes: dynamic, intelligent, alive.
I'd never deny anyone the power of prayer. But to say a prayer requires breath, and lets not forget where that comes from. Life.
Rob, again, thank you for a thoughtful essay. Unfathomable complexity seems always to underlie our approaches, simplistic to sophisticated. Your essay reminds me that even the two leg metaphor is reductionist. You show how limited any perspective is, and even though science is the language we use to make sense of our environment, our science is grade school compared to the unending genius of nature.
Rob - thank you so very very much for your inquiries into and writings of this story. Your craft is beautiful: powerful and yet inclusive and soft.
Great questions about how to communicate in ways that capture and honour the unfathomable complexities within and around us…in order to offer space for unconsciously-learned reductive perceptions to expand towards perceptions and responses of process/movement/change/relationing…
I wonder about the role of visual and artistic representations and guided experiential learning…so that people can see and feel, for example, when looking at the world around us - it is only words and language that have created these separations….that soil, land, water, forests, plants, rain, rivers, microbes, clouds are not nouns or things but are just ‘human created concepts’ and might actually be better conceptualised and described as verbs, and inter-steeping verbs at that…This is what your writing does, thank you.
Your history of the the climate change movement dropping one leg in favour of the reductionist approach is very similar to the history behind the Club of Rome - where a complex process was dropped in order to do a simplistic, reductive modeling of the limits to growth. If you are keen to see the similarities, let me know and I’ll send through a summary of this.
Thanks, Rob, I am finally understanding surviving the Climate Crisis is moving past our human love for an easy life with immediate energy at our beck and call.
I got a lot from this piece, and agree completely with the way you've framed it. It's really quite straightforward, isn't it, when you see that preserving large-scale, complete ecosystems is the key to it. Funny that we posted pieces on the same day that addressed this ... some truths are trying to be spoken right now. :)
Thanks for this historical look back, Rob. I remember that article on "The Death of Environmentalism" and the stir it caused then--really interesting to go back to it now with what's happened/happening since. I'm with you that we desperately need all living systems --not just the human ones--now. Thanks for your always interesting and often wise insights on this critical topic.
Thanks, Holly. Good to hear from you. Hope it's going well.
Thankyou.
Thanks Rob. I have only recently joined this blog, so can you please elaborate (maybe point me to a past post), but is what you mean by ‘This Earth is a living thing…’ the same as the Gaia hypothesis? For those out there where it is compatible with their worldview, please don’t forget the power of prayer!
Hi Jeff. I don't really mean living thing in a Gaian sense, as a giant organism. What I mean is it's obviously alive. If it's not alive, then it is dead, and it's certainly not that. The physical science basis treats the Earth as a machine, which it isn't either. It, and it's climate, behave more like living things, or processes: dynamic, intelligent, alive.
I'd never deny anyone the power of prayer. But to say a prayer requires breath, and lets not forget where that comes from. Life.
Rob, again, thank you for a thoughtful essay. Unfathomable complexity seems always to underlie our approaches, simplistic to sophisticated. Your essay reminds me that even the two leg metaphor is reductionist. You show how limited any perspective is, and even though science is the language we use to make sense of our environment, our science is grade school compared to the unending genius of nature.
Thanks, Jeff. That's right. Imagine what a millipede would think of a two legged theory, or a snake or whale for that matter.
Rob - thank you so very very much for your inquiries into and writings of this story. Your craft is beautiful: powerful and yet inclusive and soft.
Great questions about how to communicate in ways that capture and honour the unfathomable complexities within and around us…in order to offer space for unconsciously-learned reductive perceptions to expand towards perceptions and responses of process/movement/change/relationing…
I wonder about the role of visual and artistic representations and guided experiential learning…so that people can see and feel, for example, when looking at the world around us - it is only words and language that have created these separations….that soil, land, water, forests, plants, rain, rivers, microbes, clouds are not nouns or things but are just ‘human created concepts’ and might actually be better conceptualised and described as verbs, and inter-steeping verbs at that…This is what your writing does, thank you.
Your history of the the climate change movement dropping one leg in favour of the reductionist approach is very similar to the history behind the Club of Rome - where a complex process was dropped in order to do a simplistic, reductive modeling of the limits to growth. If you are keen to see the similarities, let me know and I’ll send through a summary of this.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Katie. What you say about the Club of Rome sounds most interesting. Please do send along.
Cool - I will! Where can I find an email to reach you?
earthcraftpainting@gmail.com
Thanks, Rob, I am finally understanding surviving the Climate Crisis is moving past our human love for an easy life with immediate energy at our beck and call.
I got a lot from this piece, and agree completely with the way you've framed it. It's really quite straightforward, isn't it, when you see that preserving large-scale, complete ecosystems is the key to it. Funny that we posted pieces on the same day that addressed this ... some truths are trying to be spoken right now. :)
I think you're right. Richard Heinberg just posted a piece yesterday called Restoring Nature is Our Only Climate Solution." https://www.resilience.org/stories/2024-07-01/restoring-nature-is-our-only-climate-solution/?mc_cid=24eb99a6ca&mc_eid=987e4859d2
Btw, I didn't see the piece you said you posted today on your sight.