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