CopyRight @ 1996
08/21/94 something about the future stable ECOLOGY AND ecology MINDSET
p9env -- it's short
Description of a Stable Human Ecology
This paper is written as a description of a "stable" human
ecology. In general this is a contradiction. Here, it means a
specie with relatively stable population size and resource
utilization characteristics. One of our biggest problems to
solve will be the disposal of wastes.
What kind of ecologies are we talking about potentially? We
have lived tribally, in agricultural villages and in cities.
Various humans seem adapted to features of all of these.
What about the biosphere beyond the human specie? What of
other flora and fauna? What will the environment of the world
look like? This relates to many other questions. Under what
conditions is the carrying capacity of the earth, in regards to
humans? What population density is human diseace tolerance
capable of handling? What choices will we try to make. Remember,
this only really considers potentially "successful" niches, with
some real recognition of comfortable results. This leads to a
view of two potential niches. One is in a sustained natural
environment and the other would be in a completly artificial
habitat. It seems likely that humans will inhabit both. It is
likely, dependent on "communication" that this could lead to
human speciation, due to the difference of these niches. The
artificial habitat niche is potentially larger. In many ways the
change from natural to artificial niches would be like changing
from tribal to city living. Some would change from natural
habitat to artificial habitat, but technologies will determine if
we reach other natural habitats.. that is, other livable planets.
This is written in the context of this solar system, but the
problems will eventually remain the same, even if we developed
some sort of cheap, efficient intersteller transport. Planets
will reach carrying capacity. Malthus says that artificial
habitats could not be created as fast as the population could
grow.
So what will the ecologies appear like? There is some degree
of limitation. There are all kinds of things that the speculative
fiction writers have considered, but in terms of biology, what
might it look like? This looks at some characteristics of both
systems, not so much to give a projection of what these two
ecologies will be, but as a contrast that will illustrate how
to analyse and characterise the future ecologies.
BELIEF PHILOSOPHY MORALITY -- CONCLUSION
I have seen the future... and it is possible.
So what does this all add up too? We need new mindsets and
institutions, especially one particular mindset and its
associated institution. The Druids were the priests of a religion
at the dawn of history. Because they had no writing, very little
is actually known of them and their age. This has provided
fertile ground for fiction writers that have portrayed them as
everything from bloody handed priests of savages to demonic
enchanters to benign hermits that worked to be part of nature.
They were undoubtably quite mortal and like others called
priests, their function was to help their people. Because of
primativeness, their worship of trees and other habits, one of
their depictions is of a hermit that could use the magic of the
trees and the holly to heal both humans, animals and nature. In
history and literature, they are one of the few groups that have
been described as a benevolent religion for people within the
context of the healthy environment. This is the only mindset that
can bring us to the future.
It seems quite likely that the future human and societies
will have to exist with a very significant balance of beliefs and
values. A balance must be struck between activity and inactivity.
The individual will have to balance tendencies of creativity,
tolerence and desire for peace against needs for agression and
defence.
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