Sunday, May 02, 2004
Question: Is a "state of sustainability" a new concept in the process of being invented, or an old concept in the process of being rediscovered?
You can call sustainability a state, philosophy, concept etc. All of these and more. But the real power comes from understanding the deeper meaning: Sustainability is hot-wired into your make-up, and needs discovering. The ability to enjoy the taste and pleasure of food has been around for ages, and that spawns all kinds of concepts, philosophies, models, etc. Not to mention restaurants, dishes etc. Sustainability is a sense waiting to be, dare I say, enjoyed more.
Look at any child’s drawing and you will see an innate understanding of sustainability. (They all draw house, sun, sky, garden, tree, water, people, and animals.) The ability to function as part of a balanced system is genetic, part of the survival mechanism in the human make-up.
The built – in instinct to behave in a sustainable way can be over-ridden. For example, when a person believes that FOR THEIR OWN IMMEDIATE SURVIVAL they must drop an atom-bomb to wipe out a whole island, or for the near immediate survival of their loved ones they must earn wages at a job in a highly polluting corporation. (This goes back to what I said about stress. Stress any system enough and sustainabilty is over-ridden as survival is the most powerful instinct.)
You can call sustainability a state, philosophy, concept etc. All of these and more. But the real power comes from understanding the deeper meaning: Sustainability is hot-wired into your make-up, and needs discovering. The ability to enjoy the taste and pleasure of food has been around for ages, and that spawns all kinds of concepts, philosophies, models, etc. Not to mention restaurants, dishes etc. Sustainability is a sense waiting to be, dare I say, enjoyed more.
Look at any child’s drawing and you will see an innate understanding of sustainability. (They all draw house, sun, sky, garden, tree, water, people, and animals.) The ability to function as part of a balanced system is genetic, part of the survival mechanism in the human make-up.
The built – in instinct to behave in a sustainable way can be over-ridden. For example, when a person believes that FOR THEIR OWN IMMEDIATE SURVIVAL they must drop an atom-bomb to wipe out a whole island, or for the near immediate survival of their loved ones they must earn wages at a job in a highly polluting corporation. (This goes back to what I said about stress. Stress any system enough and sustainabilty is over-ridden as survival is the most powerful instinct.)
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Definitions comments
How do we know which "state of being" is sustainable and which is not?
Firstly, sustainability is primarily valid from the point of view of
1) community
2) company
3) human (health, length of life)
4) environment,
These are sustainable if they exhibit the following characteristics:
That stress levels fall within tolerable limits. For humans eg, that includes physical, mental, toxic stress. For companies, rate of growth, fiscal stability,
Risks are at a manageable level ( related to stresses)
That for any given physical area under analysis, the aspects 1-4 are in balance, i.e. they do not put undue stress on one or the other. (Example, the human population does not exert a huge ”footprint” on the environment.)
That systemically the parts work together with the whole.
(Stafford Beer describes a sustainable model for organizational structure)
Natural systems are self-regulating and exhibit characteristics including homeostasis, feedback, etc.
You can diagnose systems to identify weaknesses using Stafford Beers models.
End Defintion comments
How do we know which "state of being" is sustainable and which is not?
Firstly, sustainability is primarily valid from the point of view of
1) community
2) company
3) human (health, length of life)
4) environment,
These are sustainable if they exhibit the following characteristics:
That stress levels fall within tolerable limits. For humans eg, that includes physical, mental, toxic stress. For companies, rate of growth, fiscal stability,
Risks are at a manageable level ( related to stresses)
That for any given physical area under analysis, the aspects 1-4 are in balance, i.e. they do not put undue stress on one or the other. (Example, the human population does not exert a huge ”footprint” on the environment.)
That systemically the parts work together with the whole.
(Stafford Beer describes a sustainable model for organizational structure)
Natural systems are self-regulating and exhibit characteristics including homeostasis, feedback, etc.
You can diagnose systems to identify weaknesses using Stafford Beers models.
End Defintion comments
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