What’s piqued my interest these last few days is the design of research methodology. The current research paradigm in the West still glows with the logical empiricism of early 20th century thought, divided into qualitative and quantitative research. Very limited methods of measurement and analysis are accepted. Thus, Science is rather lopsided, as it’s only [...]

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So, I’ve decided to read a book that’s irked me off for a while: Thumbs, Toes, and Tears: And Other Traits that Make Us Human by Chip Walter. But I started reading it in the bookstore, and saw another opportunity to dissect something….and to feed my book addiction, of course.
From the back cover:
Among the [...]

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Saw this video on TED talks today….about the cultural adaptations of crows to human environments…interesting although I’m not a huge fan of this presenter’s criteria of intelligence. And the notion that in order for the negative attitude surrounding crows to change, they must become useful to humans. Well…boo to that for obvious reasons.

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“I believe it’s naive to think modern technology is simply a tool. Rather, it’s a social system that springs from and also yields a particular relationship with the world.” -Christopher Manes

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A somewhat scientifically controversial idea put forth by Harvard entomologist E.O. Wilson, the biophilia hypothesis is the idea that humans evolved as creatures intricantly enmeshed with the intracies of nature, and this affinity is embedded in our genotype. According to this idea, humans have an intrinsic need for meaningful contact with other life-forms.
David Harmon takes [...]

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From this article in Journal of Clinical Investigation: www.jci.org/112/9/1291
Here are some snippets I thought were REALLY interesting:
“Until recently, bacteria were considered to live rather asocial, reclusive lives. New research shows that, in fact, bacteria have elaborate chemical signaling systems that enable them to communicate within and between species. One signal, termed AI-2, appears to be [...]

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For a while on my blog we’ve been talking about delusions of separateness and the pathologies it creates. What I’ve been thinking about lately is: what caused this initial delusion of separation from the rest of the world? What was that switch? A few have identified some of the trends, ideologies, and philosophies that push [...]

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From an interview by Derrick Jensen with Thomas Berry:
“How does the wind speak to us? A biting wind on a winter’s day tells the person of harshness and the challenge of existence. It wants to make a person strong. And the softness of a summer breeze tells us of the compassionate dimension of the universe.
“People [...]

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Why are we paying attention to interactions with other species?
By paying attention to how we communication and interact with other-than-human persons around us, we are helping to create emergent co-intelligent system in our bioregions–and ultimately, globally.
A natural system evolves and merges with larger supersystem when information or intelligence on that level is integrated. It then [...]

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(by SallyVon Vleck in Issue 5 of Gatherings)

The Council of All Beings is a ritual that grew out of the Despair and Empowerment work and the philosophy of deep ecology of Joanna Macy, Jonathon Seed and others. The purpose of this ritual is to look at the world through another species’ eyes and share this [...]

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