Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Permaculture as science

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: jedd <jedd@progsoc.org>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Permaculture as science
  • Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 09:01:08 +1100

On Saturday 27 January 2007 5:06 am, Paul Cereghino wrote:
] world ever since. I have met scientists that are open minded and closed
] minded, but as a group they seem both open-minded and reflexively doubting.

Hi Paul,

I'd put that down to training, in part, and the original mindset that
probably drew them to science, for the remainder.

] I have encountered the term 'science-based' in many policy circles as
] well. It is a term I increasingly distrust. Scientists simply do
] science -- to gradually and incrementally grow a body of theory that

Ah, I didn't have your overloading of the phrase 'science-based', but
given the number of films I've seen that have been 'based on a true
story' (etc) I can grok the concern.

FWIW I meant it in the literal, original, sense.

In any case, there seems to be much bandying about elsewhere in this
discussion of the word spiritual, with much implied and much
asserted, little of which I feel comfortable with. Part of the problem
is doubtless the lack of definitions, and the likely misalignments of
what different people mean when they use the s-word. But most
of it is the generalisations and assumptions being cast far & wide.

As an example - being told that I necessarily have a religious
imperative, because I'm human, is moderately offensive. Come on
in, join us, the water's fine. I don't think Richard Dawkins has
written a handbook on how to struggle through life without an
invisible friend, but much of his writings do discuss the level
and nature of the delusions involved. But I digress.

Coming back to what you wrote ...

I get what you're saying about intuition, but don't see how that
implies anything specifically unscientific. Or rather, how our
usage of our intuition implies or requires spirituality.

] I think there is a substantial difference between understanding of a
] 'field of research' and 'understanding a place' encouraged by
] permaculture.

I think I disagree -- at least insofar as the level of commitment and
the payoffs that both parties anticipate as a result of putting that
much effort into understanding a particular *area* (physical or
meta). Yes, I'd imagine that some scientists that you could bump
into would be so focussed on their own patch of the latter that
they'd be insouciant about other areas of research, and you'd
probably have a harder time finding a permaculturist down the
road who had a comparably narrow field of view -- but I'd suggest
that's a combination of factors -- the mindset and subsequent training
of the typical scientist, and the far greater likelihood that the
permaculturist could gain from knowing or understanding how other
parts of the world utilised their design methodology.

] What is Godwin's Law?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

cheers,
Jedd.




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page