The tour moves on

This blog is over.

The infinite bold moves tour will be chronicled elsewhere (see below)

I decided I didn't like the format of long-post-once-a-week, and wanted to write short posts, more frequently, with a more coherent theme, but more flexibility. Thus, the new blog (still in the works, but functional), which I finally managed to get up and rolling about 3:30 AM this morning:

THE UNIVERSE WILL NOT BE CONTROLLED BY THE LIKES OF US
(http://theuniversewillnotbecontrolledbythelikesofus.wordpress.com/)

There are three posts up so far - check 'em out & please do comment, even if just two words. When you do, you'll show up as a "Collaborator" in the second column.

See y'all over there!

Resurrection & Negative Entropy

The Resurrection of Christ by Piero della Francesca (c.1420 - 1492)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Resurrection.JPG

Happy Easter, all!
In a recent passage in the novel, I meditated on the theme of resurrection, and compared it to re-greening a desert, and vice versa. This passage also comes right after an exploration of the concept of entropy, which is important. In general, "things fall apart" -- they go from a state of relative order (low entropy) to a state of increased disorder, or chaos (high entropy). However, things like resurrections and re-greening deserts seem to defy this trend. Please enjoy this interview with the late farmer-philosopher, Masanobu Fukuoka, who said in his book, The Natural Way of Farming, that his goal was to "resurrect a humanity divorced from God" by teaching them natural farming.
Love,
Graham

Greening the Desert

Robert: What have you learned in your 50 years of work about what people could do with their agriculture?

Masanobu: I am a small man, as you can see, but I came to the States with a very big intention. This small man becomes smaller and smaller, and won't last very long, so I'd like to share my idea from 50 years ago. My dream is just like a balloon. It could get smaller and smaller, or it could get bigger and bigger. If it could be said in a brief way, it could be said as the word "nothingness." In a larger way it could wrap the entire earth.

I live on a small mountain doing farming. I don't have any knowledge, I don't do anything. My way of farming is no cultivation, no fertilizer, no chemicals. Ten years ago my book, One Straw Revolution, was published by Rodale Press in the United States. From that point I couldn't just sleep in the mountains. Seven years ago I took an airplane for the first time in my life and went to California, Boston, New York City. I was surprised because I thought the United States was full of green everywhere, but it looked like death land to me... (read more)

Revolutionary Questions

Questions (earnest and open questions, not rhetorical questions) open up space for a kind of reflection and consideration that allows one to move forward (do you think that's true? It might not be; or, it might just depend.)
Here are some "revolutionary questions" I've been pondering lately, questions that I think have the potential to create significant positive change. I've organized them into different "horizons" or spheres of activity (hope the metaphor makes sense; this organizational scheme may be more a reflection of my own OCD, rather than any actual ontological features of human beings.)

Economic Horizon

- Where does my food come from? Where do I want it to come from?
- Where does my water come from? Where do I want it to come from?
- What do I use money for? How can I use money more efficiently? Do I want to use it more efficiently?
- If I stopped using money at all, what necessity would be most difficult to acquire?
- How can I give gifts more often? What kind of gifts do I want to give? What kind of gifts do I want to receive?
- How simple do I want my life to be? How complex?
- Besides nutritious food, clean water, shelter, and clothing, what else do I need?
- If I had to give away three things right now, what would I give away?
- What is my life's work? Have I begun it yet?
- To whom does my labor belong? To whom do I want it to belong?
- What do I spend the most time doing? What do I want to spend more time doing? What do I wish I didn't do at all?
- Do I have a safety net? Can I take risks? Do I want to take risks?

Social Horizon

- Who are my friends? Who are my enemies?
- How many friends and enemies do I have? How many do I want to have?
- Who partners with me on my life's work? Who is opposing me?
- How can I compete more? Do I want to be more competitive?
- How can I become more collaborative? Who do I wish would collaborate with me?
- What do I offer my friends? What do they offer me?
- What holds me back from loving others more? How can I turn my weaknesses into strengths?
- What kind of people do I like most? Who am I afraid of?

Somatic Horizon

- Are my body and I on the same team, or do we oppose one another?
- What nutrients do I need more of? What do I need less of?
- What kind of body do I want to have? What is within my range of control for shaping it?
- What are my skills? What skills do I want to have? What skills do I most appreciate when others have them?
- How are my resilience, flexibility, endurance, and strength? What do I want them to be?
- Do I feel balanced and orderly? What kind, and what amounts, of stress do I want to have?
- When do I feel strongest? Why?
- When do I feel weakest? Why?
- What kind of food makes me feel happy, clean, and healthy?

Spiritual Horizon

- Am I intentional about what I do? Do I want to be more intentional or less intentional?
- What motivations drive my actions? What motivations do I want to drive my actions?
- How patient, focused, poised, calm, grateful, and brave am I?
- Am I a curious person? What do I think of curiosity?
- How frequently do I feel sensations of awe? Can I feel awe more often? Should I?
- Do I take responsibility for my experience of life? Do I feel like my life is controlled by outside forces?
- Am I open to new ideas? How open? Do I seek them out? How do I express my openness?
- Do people look to me for guidance? Do I want them to? Do people feel reassured around me?
- Am I a creative person? Do I want to be? If so, what do I want to create?

Cosmic Horizon

- What animal do I love the most? What animal do I fear the most? What animal is most puzzling to me?
- What do plants and animals think about me? What do I want them to think?
- If I could live anywhere on earth, where would it be? If not here, then why am I not there?
- What's my opinion on the planet, its present, its future, and its past?
- How often do I look at the sky, in any given day? How often do I want to?
- Can I see the stars? Does this matter? If so, why? If not, why?
- Do I think there is a Creator? If so, how does this affect the way I live from hour to hour? If not, how does this affect the way I live from hour to hour?
- Do I think time is linear or cyclical (or both)? What are my feelings about time?
- What do I think of outer space? Does it have any meaning for my life?
- Is the universe chaotic or ordered, static or evolving, meaningless or meaningful, obvious or mysterious?

Horizon of Discovery

- What questions should we be asking that no one has asked yet?

Love,
graham

Interlude of a Story You Haven't Read Yet

When the air is fifty-five, and the sky a photographic blue, when all noises have ceased but the infrequent fluttering of a grasshopper, on his own, in a meadow (and even he travels sheepishly among the quietude); when the breeze is calm and gentle, and the seashells of your ears no longer shout the roar of oceans, but only whisper the placid ponds of beavers – do you feel as I do, dear reader, that the earth really is our home? Do you know in your heart, just as I know in mine (in this ephemeral bliss, before that knowing dissipates), that she actually likes us, and enjoys us, and wants us to be here?

I wish we could find a moment like that, you and I, and dwell in it everlastingly. Or, if not that long, long enough to look into each other’s eyes for awhile and refresh our souls in peace.

I am sorry I have been away for some time. When our dear brother left to make himself a soldier, I went away with him, and even now I cannot stay with you long. The air is hot; it swelters; our brother sweats in a desert tent; he sits with armed comrades …

… it is dangerous here. Bombs fly, bullets fall, women scream …

… the quiet trees of the Highlands are what I miss most, and the gentle folk, also … and Melodie …

You should know there is a girl here, too. She wears a blue scarf. Peter sees her on the streets sometimes, when he and his friends are on patrol, and their gazes sweep one another, like machine gun fire. But Melodie …

… I will return as soon as I can. I know you understand that someone must watch over our dear brother until he returns safely home, and I hope that Callistos has been taking good care of you in my absence. I hope that all is good and pleasant in the Highlands, as it always was, and always will be, and that Trinity gleams just as bright as ever in the east … the buildings are crumbled and dusty here, and I’m sick of them … the sun chars everything in sight … there are burnt bodies, in piles, grimace-locked teeth shining out of them … they … … I have to go away, they are calling me … give my love to Melodie, if ever you should see her …

(from what is currently p. 239 in my novel, and probably will be some other page when I'm done)

Love,

graham

Don't Believe the Double Bind

Anthropologist Gregory Bateson (et al.)'s theory of double binds provides a useful analogy for the economic conundrum we're in today (and this whole discussion will operate on the level of analogy - I don't know anything about psychology.) Bateson initially began to explore doube bind scenarios within the context of studying schizophrenia, and concluded that what is often diagnosed as schizophrenia is not so much a disorder of the brain qua biological organ, but is rather a kind of confused communication that is the result of repeated exposure to double binds during childhood. In essence, schizophrenia is something like a coping mechanism that attempts to handle impossible communication situations.

Several features constitute a double bind scenario:

1) The receipt of two messages or commands that are contradictory; to obey one means to disobey the other ("Do this, but only because you want to")
2) The contradictory messages are at different orders of abstraction (in the above example, there is a verbal command "Do this" but there is also a non-verbal implied command ['if you don't do this, I'll be disapointed in you, or I'll punish you']
3) The messages come from a respected person or a person of authority (the messages cannot be ignored)
4) The 'victim' of the contradictory messages is unable to perceive and comment upon the fact that they are contradictory (otherwise he or she could 'escape' the situation by saying 'Look, what you're telling me to do just doesn't make sense; get yourself straight or I'll just ignore you")

Repeated exposure to these kinds of impossible communication situations as a child often leads to schizophrenia, according to Bateson and his colleagues (of which hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized speech, etc, are symptoms.)

Ok, what does this have to do with our economic crisis?

1) We are receiving two contradictory 'commands': a) we need to restart consumer spending by whatever means necessary (trillion-dollar bailouts, tax breaks, etc) and b) we need to move beyond our culture of consumerism which is destroying the planet, and is ultimately responsible for the economic crisis. But we cannot try to re-accelerate consumer spending and thus rescue the economy AND stop being a culture of consumers; these are mutually exclusive activities.
2) These commands reside on different layers of abstraction, in a sense or they come from very different spheres of thought; the specialized discipline of economics tells us (via the mass media) that the 'solution' to the crisis is to induce consumer spending (i.e. demand). On the other hand, our conversations with our friends, our religious reflections, or 'big picture' meditations on 'what life is really about' tells us that consumer culture must end quickly, or deforestation, biodiversity loss, global warming, topsoil depletion, aquifer depletion, etc, will have gone too far.
3) We cannot ignore these messages. Implied with the command to restart consumer spending is the non-verbal threat 'Or we will all lose our jobs' or 'None of us will be able to retire' or, worse, 'We'll face food shortages because grocery stores and shipping companies and large-scale industrial farms won't be able to access credit.' And the command to transcend our culture of consumption carries with it the obvious injunction 'Or all of the ecosystems on which we rely absolutely will be destroyed.'
4) As a society, we seem largely unable to comment on the contradiction of these two commands.

The result is something like social schizophrenia - as a society we are experiencing hallucinations (e.g., visions of the recovery of the economy in 2010, renewable energy replacing fossil fuels, etc), delusions (believing we are smart enough to fix the system), and disorganized communication & activity (trying to restart the consumer economy with trillion-dollar bailouts, while simultaneously trying to build a renewable energy economy; recycling, buying 'green' and talking about the environment, while simultaneously hoping that the economy will recover, our investments will improve, etc.)

Let's call a contradiction a contradiction and begin having serious discussions. To start, we are afraid of the consequences of economic depression (we are unable to escape the first command), because we believe that our ability to secure our basic needs (food, water, shelter, clothing, community) depends on the health of the consumer economy. Right now, it does, for most of us, but it doesn't have to. We can actually all grow our own food, catch and clean our own water, build our own shelter with our own hands, and forge our own communities, all without the restoration of the "growth" economy (permaculture has proven this.) So let's ignore the first command. Now we have escaped the double bind and can talk rationally. We still want to stop consumer culture (the second command) and save the planet. Permaculture also does this.

Love,
graham

Nine Things that Icelanders Love

But first, I wanted to share this picture of a black bear spotted in our neighborhood. Just kiddin', it's only one of a several cats running a protection racket on Helgamagra Street.

Ok, things that Icelanders love, based on several weeks of careful observation by me:

- Cruising downtown in their Range Rovers, while casually munching ice cream cones

- Not making eye-contact

- Rolling up their pants, especially when it snows a lot

- (Related) Wearing sweatpants everywhere (and rolling them up when it snows a lot)

- Moving to Reykjavik

- Fishtailing on the icy streets at every opportunity, even when no one is watching to be impressed. They genuinely just love to fishtail on the ice. They love it for it's own sake. It's an end in itself.

- Drinking coffee and using their library voices at soccer games

- Leaving their strollers outside while they go inside for a cup of coffee and a chat with an old friend. Yes, the baby stays in the stroller, outside, in the snow, while mommy goes inside for "awhile." I'm not making this up. This has been witnessed many times.

- Flying airplanes during torrential downpours of snow and heavy wind (same impulse as fishtailing on icy streets)

- And last, but certainly not least, owning cats. They love owning cats. Everyone has a cat. That's just what they do in Iceland.

I'll keep my eye out for the tenth thing that Icelanders love, and will keep you posted ...

Love,
graham

Which Problems Are Human Problems?

So there's this spider called the European water spider, and throughout its long and illustrious history on our planet, it has faced what I call "European water spider problems" -- specific problems that it must solve in its daily life of being a European water spider. These problems are related to - and maybe almost identical with - problems that other creatures must solve, but because those other creatures aren't European water spiders (they don't have quite the same body structure, or anatomical advantages and pitfalls with which to face the world, etc), the problems they face aren't quite "European water spider problems." What are "European water spider problems" then? They are things like: 1) how shall a European water spider avoid predators? 2) how shall it provide for the safety of its eggs 3) how shall it breathe enough oxygen or 4) eat enough food, etc. The problems are many, and a European water spider must solve them in the context of its every day existential situation qua European water spider.

With that introduction, I wanted to point out one elegant solution the European water spider has developed to solve many of its problems: an underwater air bell woven from the spider's own silk. It stores oxygen in this air bell which it traps with tiny hairs on its legs, and is therefore able to live its entire life underwater - though, like other spiders, it breathes oxygen and doesn't have lungs. From the link I indicated above: "The silk membrane allows oxygen to diffuse in from the water and carbon dioxide to diffuse out, so the spiders do not have to replenish the air supply often." And this air bell system allows the European water spider to 1) avoid land-based predators 2) protect its eggs underwater 3) while also breathing the oxygen it needs and 4) eat its food in relative safety. Does the air bell solve every survival problem the European water spider faces? No, but it's an elegant solution to many of them. It is elegant in its simplicity, multi-purposeness, availability (the spider uses its own silk to create the air bell), ease with which it is spun, the little maintenance energy it requires, and effectiveness.

So what about "human problems"? We are faced with daily existential questions, such as: 1) how shall we avoid predators? 2) how shall we provide for the safety and health of our children? 3) how shall we breathe clean air? 4) where will we get food to eat? -- and many more. They are similar to "European water spider problems," but must be solved in a way that harmonizes with human nature rather than European water spider nature.

Thus far, we haven't developed many elegant solutions. For example, 25,000 people die every day from starvation. That is a failure of human problem-solving.

Are our problems more complex than that of the European water spider? I doubt it. Human politics, for example, is complex, but think about how many other species European water spiders must interact with. I don't think our problems are more complex - I think our solutions are, and that's the problem. Our "solutions" look something like the picture above, rather than like a silken air bell.

Where am I going with this? I think permaculture is an elegant human solution to complex human problems, something in the same vein as what the European water spider is capable of.

Love,
graham