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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Is permaculture easy? (was Peak Oil)

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  • From: Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Is permaculture easy? (was Peak Oil)
  • Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:15:29 -0700

An additional thought: I'm here at the Bullock's amazing homestead, and was just talking with Sam and Douglas about whether some teachers make permaculture look too easy. I realized that there is a problem of perception. In this culture, people are familiar with, say, math. So they can watch a math professor work through a complex proof while making it look easy and enjoyable, but they would never believe that the professor is implying that math is easy, even if she is doing it with smiles and jokes. We know it's hard work. However, few people are familiar with ecological design; it's not an innate part of our education the way math is. So if a Pc teacher explains guilds or ecovillage design, and does it in an enjoyable and easy-to-understand way, we're liable to make the error of assuming that an easy presentation and an obvious love of the subject means that the subject itself is easy. I think that's what's happening here. I suppose I ought to stud my presentations with "don't try this at home, kids" and "this stuff is really hard even though I make it look simple," but that seems insulting.

It surprises me that anyone thinks becoming proficient or making a living at anything is easy. Getting good at anything, whether permaculture, the guitar, math, or ping-pong, takes a lot of work, takes making every mistake in the book, and takes dedication and self-sacrifice. Whether the learning experience is an enjoyable ride or a merciless pounding by a harsh teacher I think depends mostly on the personality of the student, so it's possible that the teacher or the subject is not to blame.

Toby
http://patternliteracy.com




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