Doors of Perception weblog: Whole, whole on the range - 0 views
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This new approach to science has been called holism or emergentism. Holism is the idea that things can have properties as a whole that are not explainable from the sum of the parts that reductionist science, ai its crudest, studies in isolation. The principle of holism was concisely summarized by Aristotle in the Metaphysics: "The whole is more than the sum of its parts".
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frank smith on 01 Jun 10holism defined
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Viewed holistically biodiversity loss, desertification, and climate change, are not three issues, they are one, he explains. “Without reversing desertification, climate change cannot be adequately addressed. “The more humid and biologically productive regions of the world will have to develop agricultural models based on small, biodiverse farms, imitating the natural, multi-tiered vegetation structures of these environments. This is where most of the grain, fruits, nuts, and vegetables will be produced, as well as most of the dairy products, and some of the meat".
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prediction
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The Green Revolution was based on high input, industrial agriculture. It involved massive inputs of petro-chemicals and herbicides, monoculture cropping, and confinement animal feeding operations. It increased global food production tremendously - but it has also tended severely to degrade its ecological and socio-cultural capital base in the process. “The Green Revolution has not been characterized by ecological or social integrity—quite the contrary”. Charges Savory. “Horrific soil erosion, dead zones at the mouths of rivers, severely depleted levels of biodiversity, impoverished rural communities, soil fertility loss, and oxidation of soil organic matter have been exacerbated by the Green Revolution”.
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problem background
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Whole, whole on the range My toughest work this year has been serving on the jury of this year's Buckminster Fuller Challenge. Our work has been tough because we've had to assess high quality entries that range from the use of social media to organize urban food systems, and transforming Chicago into a giant water treatment machine; to helping Indian women solar electrify their own villages, and the use of cattle to reverse the spread of deserts around the world. But the experience has also been uplifting. As a jury, we were instructed to look for a "bold, visionary, but tangible initiative that addresses a well-defined need of critical importance" - and we have been spoiled for choice. Our winner, who will be announced on 2 June at the National Press Club in Washington DC, will receive a $100,000 prize to support the development and implementation of their work. I can't be there myself, so my contribution is write about some of the finalists over the coming days and weeks - starting with....
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good to have a metric of grazing animals and how they are being managed
