Central inquiry: How can we humans -- individually
and collectively -- best collaborate with the natural world of
which we are a part?
Forms of co-intelligence particularly useful in this field
(see Five Dimensions
of Co-Intelligence): Here we need to focus on collaborative
intelligence between people and nature, informed by the evolved
collaborative wisdom that's inherent in ecosystems. We also need
human wisdom to embrace and work with the awesome, complex dynamics
of natural systems.
Sample projects in this field: Individually and
collectively we can: Understand the larger natural stories in
which we're embedded. Improve the alignment of human activities
with natural cycles. Increase material efficiency by designing
synergy and re-use cycles into products and systems.* View living
organisms and systems as allies in co-creating fruitful, mutually-beneficial
environments. Honor the sacredness that resides deep within --
and among -- everything living. Cultivate a culture of elegant
enoughness -- with minimal waste and want.**
Comments: Many tribal societies knew (and know)
how to live in harmony with nature. Industrial societies have
an more complex task, which is becoming increasingly urgent as
our ability to cause ecological harm expands. Paradoxically, technological
and economic activity, two factors largely responsible for our
ecological destructiveness, are also two of our most powerful
tools for change. Our biggest challenge may be to create technologies
and economics based on collaboration with nature, so we can live
bountiful lives that support ecological health. This transformation,
if it occurs, will likely be part of a larger shift from a paradigm
of control and prediction to one of participatory co-creation
and collaboration.
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* A good example of this is the proposal to design cars and other
large equipment so that they can be taken apart easily and most
parts used as-is in later models. Instead of purchasing such a
piece of equipment, consumers would purchase (and re-sell) the
right to use it. When no one else wanted to use it, it would be
returned to its owner/producer for deconstruction into parts for
re-use.
** "Elegant enoughness" describes an ideal whereby only
the exact amount of material, force, attention, etc., is applied
-- in exactly the right array or manner -- to achieve a particular
result. I call it elegant because productive simplicity tends
to be beautiful. For example, there is something elegant about
the simple life of someone who owns only what they need, love,
and have time to use and appreciate fully; there is no excess
clutter and no sense of poverty -- and little needs to be sacrificed
to keep them alive and happy.