The Web of Life Article II
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The “web of life” networks are in part open to the flows of energy and resources; their structures are determined by their histories of structural changes; they are intelligent because of the cognitive dimensions inherent in the processes of life. We need to revitalize our communities — including out educational communities, business communities, and political communities — so that the principles of ecology become manifest in them as principles of education, management, and politics.
Since the 1970s, thanks in large part to new computer technologies that allowed scientists to model dynamic living systems (which revealed surprising patterns beneath the seemingly chaotic behaviour of non-linear structures), the outlines of a coherent theory of living systems, coupled with the proper mathematical language began to emerge.
Humankind and the Web of Life
Humanity could be described as work in progress. It may die, returning the planet to an earlier evolutionary age, or develop to where we can transcend our current problems to reach a higher state of knowledge and understanding of what it is to be human.
As far as we know humankind has what no other species has, that is a kaleidoscopic of facilities that over three billion years of life and evolution has made us creative in the arts including music, painting, literature etc., again in the sciences, philosophy, architecture and so on. We reflect on the nature of the Universe as well as on subatomic nature of matter itself. Indeed, inquisitiveness is part of the human condition as it is in many other species. And although every animal leaves traces of what it was, and sometimes transforms its own environment, humankind alone, at least in relation to story-telling along with the arts and sciences, leaves traces of what it has created.
All too often the large oil and mining companies, along with large commercial organizations, governments and those who think in terms of progress at the expense of people’s well-being and that of the natural environment. It is a huge arrogance. It is expedient. It has nothing to do with learning and understanding, nor sustainability regarding our future and that of future generations.
In many ways we could say that human intelligence has been taken prisoner by political, ideological and commercial structures, and sadly over many generations we have become increasingly prone to accumulating wealth and to the acquisition of power simply for the sake of power thus the instability that exists throughout much of the world. More seriously, we seem to have forgotten that the most important thing in life is life itself, including of course human life. We could also say that the human condition is taking a direction which is not the ideal direction with regards to ensuring a fairer and more sustainable world for ourselves and the life that sustains us.
Meanwhile ‘Systems Theory’ recognises that human biology is part of a total interconnected system. From the natural biosphere to gravitational pull ‘the web of life’ is one huge interconnected system fully interlinked just as human cells connect to form our organs, and our organs connect to form our bodies that in order to survive need to have access to the Earth’s natural resources.
The idea of bringing about an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet – the first question is: What kind of world is our modern way of life actually leading to? Such a world will not be achieved by a single individual nor indeed a group of individuals. Instead, it will be the result of people everywhere working together in order to take the necessary steps to remove the man-made barriers that for too long have prevented us from building a fairer, saner and mutually supportive world.
However, unlike our Hunter-Gatherer ancestors we have for the past 10-13,000 been years and certainly in the past 2-300 years, have unfortunately been attempting to dictate to the world and thus in many ways have separated ourselves from the complex life forms that surround and sustain us. We think that everything is for us. It is such a selfish idea. The fruits of that idea are in so many ways destroying our connections with the rest of the planet.
All too often the large oil and mining companies, along with large commercial organizations, governments and those who think in terms of progress at the expense of people’s well-being and that of the natural environment,. It is a huge arrogance. It is expedient. It has nothing to do with learning and understanding, nor sustainability regarding our future and that of future generations.
In many ways we could say that human intelligence has been taken prisoner by political, ideological and commercial structures, and sadly over many generations we have become increasingly prone to accumulating wealth and to the acquisition of power simply for the sake of power thus the instability that exists throughout much of the world. More seriously, we seem to have forgotten that the most important thing in life is life itself, including of course human life. We could also say that the human condition is taking a direction which is not the ideal direction with regards to ensuring a fairer and more sustainable world for ourselves and the life that sustains us.
Meanwhile ‘Systems Theory’ recognises that human biology is part of a total interconnected system. From the natural biosphere to gravitational pull ‘the web of life’ is one huge interconnected system fully interlinked just as human cells connect to form our organs, and our organs connect to form our bodies that in order to survive need to have access to the Earth’s natural resources.
The idea of bringing about an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet – the first question is: What kind of world is our modern way of life actually leading to? Such a world will not be achieved by a single individual, or group of individuals. Instead, it will be the result of people everywhere working together in order to take the necessary steps to remove the man-made barriers that for too long have prevented us from building a fairer, saner and mutually supportive world.