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.