permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

Adam Donnison wrote:

> I too am disturbed by this thread.  There are a number of issues
> that really have me worried. There seems to me to be an awful
> number of people, and a large concentration of them within the
> Permaculture movement, that feel that formal education is the
> holy grail and we should all be qualified teachers in order to
> educate others.  This is patently ridiculous.  Formal education
> offers something only to those who can afford it and are of
> the mindset that can accept that sort of structure.  It is this
> description of educated vs. ignorant that results from this
> thinking.  Much like the platitudes of "the poor will always
> be with us" and the suggestion that starving people somehow
> have chosen to starve, I find this disturbing.
>
> We learn by different methods, at different times, under different
> conditions. But mostly we learn by doing, and we learn by observation
> and helping others.
>
> Think about this - how did you learn to speak?  Was it
> by someone "educating" you, or was it more as a process of being
> surrounded by words and a desire to be understood?  It was probably
> the latter, with a little of the former to tidy up the rough edges.
>
> I'm not saying that "education" is a bad thing, what I am saying
> is that by saying that we, the "educated", need to take on the
> mission of teaching them, the "ignorant" will result in the
> same sort of problems that colonialism embodies.   It is nothing
> more than mere arrogance.
>
> Adam

We can probably learn much from "the ignorant". By listening to and 
observing what _they_ have to offer, they learn by this process, as we 
do also, and we all learn how to communicate and share with each other 
what we each think the other should know.

This is the obvious when thinking of third world indigenous cultures 
with deep, ancient traditions, acquired skills and indigenous knowledge,
insights and perceptions. These people of the world have so much to 
offer and should be regarded as world treasures.