permaculture

[Paul Cereghino <paul.cereghino@comcast.net>]

I have found that there is a very interesting relationship between 
permaculture and science (love hate comes to mind).  Scientific theories 
and data are useful is specific situations, and permaculture is strongly 
informed by theories, axioms and hypotheses that have emerged from 
scientific practice, but I would say with confidence that permaculture 
is not science, and while founded on 'colloquialized' axioms transfered 
from ecological sciences, permaculture practice leans heavily on an 
intimate, intuition based relationship to land that is not systematic, 
replicable, or even transferable.  Permaculture practice, while 
developing and redeploying some technologies, hasn't added to any 
network of scientific theory or advanced a scientifically defensible set 
of hypotheses except by borrowing and promoting work by scientists in 
agronomy.... and that is OK.  The Third Reich had some great scientists 
at work too... and science is piss poor and inefficient at working on 
some kinds of problems.

Furthermore I would suggest that permaculture incorporates an ethical 
system about 'right relationship' between people and land and the limits 
of technological fixes.  Dick Cheney is focussed on 'getting the job 
done' too, he just has a different 'job' in mind.

Paul Cereghino

> I would also point out that permaculture is science and results
> based and belief systems and politics are specifically omitted
> from the sphere of permaculture. Permaculture is focused on
> "getting the job done".
>