It's About Time
Time... For Some, Matters
Introduction
Where life science and environmental education has failed most miserably is in its teaching about the vastness of time. Sure... graphs, analogies and exercises abound to help instill a sense of timelessness but where is the full understanding and true appreciation for this infinite value of time?
I am a zoologist. I am not a physicist or mathematician but I have always had this almost disconcerting fascination with the concept of time. I believe most limits to an expanding understanding of our universe are due to our collective neglect of Time Study.
My particular concern has been the poor education of life scientists regarding the "immensity of time" as time is used to describe and discuss our physical and living world. There seems to be an enormous absence in science and education regarding both the essence and immensity of time.
A web search of Time Study or Time Theory yields very few serious sources on the topic.
I linked Kirchmann's Time Theory website even though it's contents go far beyond the point I am trying to make in this post. I applaud his unique and lonely inquiry. It's about time we understood time because a failed contextual concept of time is at the heart of many mistakes made by so-called earth managers and individuals, who poison their lawns to destroy those beautiful, but oh so deadly, dandelions.
-----
"Do We Need Nature?"
Shell Oil offered $20,000 to the winner of an essay on this question.
Frankly, that some have devolved to the point they consider this to be a valid question is quite disturbing.
It seems the single greatest factor responsible for differing views on environmental issues stems from lack of a consistent perceptual framework of geological and biological "time," nature’s own sweet time. Discussing environmental matters with folks and reading various opinions it is becoming increasingly clear that many do not have a clear understanding of “time.”
For example why would a relatively well informed environmentalist allow, not to mention promote, the use of herbicides/pesticides in designated wilderness and natural areas? The answer is found in that environmentalist’s perception of time.
Some, when discussing environmental issues, refer to time as though time began when it began in their own context, a warped context of topical convenience. Others view time as having begun with the dawn of man’s intellectual bloom.
Still...
Many believe time began with dear ol‘ mom and dad, and then there are those whose perception of time is only as encompassing as their personal memory allows.
Now, all this might sound trite but I am very serious. Passage of time is the essence of nature. It is time we understood time.
Where life science and environmental education has failed most miserably is in its teaching about the vastness of time. Sure, the graphs, analogies and exercises abound to help instill a sense of timelessness but where is the full understanding and true appreciation for this infinite value of time?
Everything we see and experience in our lifetime happens in less than the snap of a high speed camera shutter click. Humanity knows this but we do not make decisions involving the immediate and long-term health of our planet accordingly. We warp time to satisfy the topic of concern. We warp (or frame) real time to fit into whatever time frame that best serves humanity's perceived immediate needs.
No perceived human need better illuminates my point than the way humans panic over dandelions on their lawns and so-called exotic or invasive species.
Humans are content to poison their planet to acheive "weedlessness"NOW. We constantly artificially move plants and animals around the globe. In the blink of eye we begin to douse them with poison or otherwise declare war on them. Few express any concern for the "collateral damage" to earth, sea & sky. Perhaps this is true because it often takes time to reveal the damage. We have this insatiable urge to solve "perceived" problems "now" and almost no concern for our "problem solving" consequences that take time to emerge.
Don't just stand there... Do something! This is not just slogan. Modern man has made this a law. I wish to suggest... Don't just do something... Stand there!
Our good intentions are killing us... killing our entire planet. We need to take a breath and relax. We need to "allow" nature to cycle. We have become self-appointed neurotic parents of a rather well behaved, well rounded child... a child that is really our mother and father. Mother Nature. Father Time.
For Example
While humans depend, heavily, on constant species migration in the oceans we abhor the same on land.
Most of our planet is water. Vast geographical shifts in bio-mass occur routinely in our oceans. These have historically not been human induced shifts but, rather, shifts created by nature's overall cyclical dynamics. Weather patterns, more than man (for now), cause these shifts in marine bio-mass. Geographical shifts in biomass have gone on from the beginning. Fortunately, when is comes to the ocean dynamics we have left things alone.
I believe "Out of Sight - Out of Mind" has helped protect our ocean depth to date. Now, in our split-second human existence oceanic bio-mass shifts go on daily, mostly without notice. No one cares (thank goodness) if bio-mass shifts occur in the oceans, unless of course, these shifts begin to negatively affect human specific activities and/or their pocketbooks.
Many of our terrestrial “invasives” are the result of greatly increased human activity around the globe. It seems, on land, our knee-jerk reponse is to correct our mistake with mistakes. This uniquely human phenomenon happens over and over again.
Species, invasive or not, see an ecosystem weakness... they go for it. What do humans do? They declare war on the "invasives." In this author’s view, these so-called “invaders” should be considered heroic “ecological health indicators” but indicators that indicate in a precisely opposite way the "coal mine canary" operates. If a given ecosystem is unhealthy, these indicators thrive.
Maybe we should control them ? But we should first respect them for pointing out to us that which we cannot otherwise see... a weak or weakening ecosystem.
Is it too radical to conceive the idea that it could be the unprecedented levels of toxic chemicals (herbicides/pesticides and the like) in the air and soil that grant our so-called invasives passage into ecosystems that, before now, were comprised of natives tenacious enough to out-compete them? Many of our invasives are doing just that. They are indicating weaknesses in native organisms and/or their given habitat(s).
It is humorous that we refer to these biological indicators as “invasives” when, in fact, humans with their chemicals and machines are the true invaders. We must not forget, “every so-called invasive is a native somewhere.” Moreover, since when is an invited quest an invader? How often have humans invited an exotic species to a given region to later label it an “invader?” If we truly wish to control invasives, we should start with ourselves. We must call our mistakes "invaders."
Only if we recognize our mistakes can we correct them.
One Case in Point
Via the highly regarded RiverWatch Program, in Illinois (USA), a “biological memory" is being created. That is, until year 2000. I have confidence the program will be resumed. If not, chalk up another mistake to humanity.
One of the most widely accepted and reliable indicators of an unhealthy stream is an unqualified presence of algae. Is not exotic or prolific native algae merely an “invader” that should be eradicated? Would it not be better to respect the algae’s role as an indicator and commence to eliminate the root cause of its presence rather than its presence per se? Clearly, to eliminate invasive algae and to avoid use of toxic and poorly understood chemicals i.e., herbicides, the stream must simply be made healthy again by removing, not the algae, but the true invader(s).
The true invader is one or a series of human mistakes. So-called "invasive algae" cannot compete in a clean and healthy, i.e., undisturbed stream.
Does anyone think for a minute, world famous invasive, Kudzu, would have a snowball's chance in the Sahara Desert of taking over a healthy and mature Southern hardwood forest? Of course not. Kudzu could not withstand deep shade provided by a healthy and mature canopy. Kudzu must have an "edge" to begin its spread. Kudzu cannot spread from inside the heart of a healthy, mature forest. It is sad we have few such forests around to prove this point. A truly mature forest is all but extinct in the southern region of the USA.
Southern forests, by the time Kudzu became a problem, had been logged several times over and subjected to decades of acid rain and other forms of pollution. Global warming, before it was recognized, may have also played a key role in Kudzu's southern propagation.
We must employ, not more chemicals or any other band-aid approaches to achieve healing of our planet. We must employ self-examination and subsequent alterations of our behavior toward this one and only planet earth.
We Must Consider Our Ultimate Goal
Is our ultimate goal to eradicate species we are arrogant enough to label as invasives or is our ultimate goal to do what we can to help restore and maintain natural and healthy ecosystems by eliminating chemical toxins and other forms of pollution and to minimize human generated disturbances that open the door for those so-called invasives?
I think this latter approach would be called, “getting at the root of the problem.” The root of the problem... as painful as it may be to acknowledge... is us.
As my formally uneducated, but incredibly wise, Grandma Clark used to say as we strolled, mud between our toes, along the abused banks of the Ohio River, “time will tell.”
I believe Grandma. I believe time will tell... a time older than dirt.
Duane Short
Around the Turn of the 1st Millennium
(Human Time)
===========================
Introduction
Where life science and environmental education has failed most miserably is in its teaching about the vastness of time. Sure... graphs, analogies and exercises abound to help instill a sense of timelessness but where is the full understanding and true appreciation for this infinite value of time?
I am a zoologist. I am not a physicist or mathematician but I have always had this almost disconcerting fascination with the concept of time. I believe most limits to an expanding understanding of our universe are due to our collective neglect of Time Study.
My particular concern has been the poor education of life scientists regarding the "immensity of time" as time is used to describe and discuss our physical and living world. There seems to be an enormous absence in science and education regarding both the essence and immensity of time.
A web search of Time Study or Time Theory yields very few serious sources on the topic.
I linked Kirchmann's Time Theory website even though it's contents go far beyond the point I am trying to make in this post. I applaud his unique and lonely inquiry. It's about time we understood time because a failed contextual concept of time is at the heart of many mistakes made by so-called earth managers and individuals, who poison their lawns to destroy those beautiful, but oh so deadly, dandelions.
-----
"Do We Need Nature?"
Shell Oil offered $20,000 to the winner of an essay on this question.
Frankly, that some have devolved to the point they consider this to be a valid question is quite disturbing.
It seems the single greatest factor responsible for differing views on environmental issues stems from lack of a consistent perceptual framework of geological and biological "time," nature’s own sweet time. Discussing environmental matters with folks and reading various opinions it is becoming increasingly clear that many do not have a clear understanding of “time.”
For example why would a relatively well informed environmentalist allow, not to mention promote, the use of herbicides/pesticides in designated wilderness and natural areas? The answer is found in that environmentalist’s perception of time.
Some, when discussing environmental issues, refer to time as though time began when it began in their own context, a warped context of topical convenience. Others view time as having begun with the dawn of man’s intellectual bloom.
Still...
Many believe time began with dear ol‘ mom and dad, and then there are those whose perception of time is only as encompassing as their personal memory allows.
Now, all this might sound trite but I am very serious. Passage of time is the essence of nature. It is time we understood time.
Where life science and environmental education has failed most miserably is in its teaching about the vastness of time. Sure, the graphs, analogies and exercises abound to help instill a sense of timelessness but where is the full understanding and true appreciation for this infinite value of time?
Everything we see and experience in our lifetime happens in less than the snap of a high speed camera shutter click. Humanity knows this but we do not make decisions involving the immediate and long-term health of our planet accordingly. We warp time to satisfy the topic of concern. We warp (or frame) real time to fit into whatever time frame that best serves humanity's perceived immediate needs.
No perceived human need better illuminates my point than the way humans panic over dandelions on their lawns and so-called exotic or invasive species.
Humans are content to poison their planet to acheive "weedlessness"NOW. We constantly artificially move plants and animals around the globe. In the blink of eye we begin to douse them with poison or otherwise declare war on them. Few express any concern for the "collateral damage" to earth, sea & sky. Perhaps this is true because it often takes time to reveal the damage. We have this insatiable urge to solve "perceived" problems "now" and almost no concern for our "problem solving" consequences that take time to emerge.
Don't just stand there... Do something! This is not just slogan. Modern man has made this a law. I wish to suggest... Don't just do something... Stand there!
Our good intentions are killing us... killing our entire planet. We need to take a breath and relax. We need to "allow" nature to cycle. We have become self-appointed neurotic parents of a rather well behaved, well rounded child... a child that is really our mother and father. Mother Nature. Father Time.
For Example
While humans depend, heavily, on constant species migration in the oceans we abhor the same on land.
Most of our planet is water. Vast geographical shifts in bio-mass occur routinely in our oceans. These have historically not been human induced shifts but, rather, shifts created by nature's overall cyclical dynamics. Weather patterns, more than man (for now), cause these shifts in marine bio-mass. Geographical shifts in biomass have gone on from the beginning. Fortunately, when is comes to the ocean dynamics we have left things alone.
I believe "Out of Sight - Out of Mind" has helped protect our ocean depth to date. Now, in our split-second human existence oceanic bio-mass shifts go on daily, mostly without notice. No one cares (thank goodness) if bio-mass shifts occur in the oceans, unless of course, these shifts begin to negatively affect human specific activities and/or their pocketbooks.
Many of our terrestrial “invasives” are the result of greatly increased human activity around the globe. It seems, on land, our knee-jerk reponse is to correct our mistake with mistakes. This uniquely human phenomenon happens over and over again.
Species, invasive or not, see an ecosystem weakness... they go for it. What do humans do? They declare war on the "invasives." In this author’s view, these so-called “invaders” should be considered heroic “ecological health indicators” but indicators that indicate in a precisely opposite way the "coal mine canary" operates. If a given ecosystem is unhealthy, these indicators thrive.
Maybe we should control them ? But we should first respect them for pointing out to us that which we cannot otherwise see... a weak or weakening ecosystem.
Is it too radical to conceive the idea that it could be the unprecedented levels of toxic chemicals (herbicides/pesticides and the like) in the air and soil that grant our so-called invasives passage into ecosystems that, before now, were comprised of natives tenacious enough to out-compete them? Many of our invasives are doing just that. They are indicating weaknesses in native organisms and/or their given habitat(s).
It is humorous that we refer to these biological indicators as “invasives” when, in fact, humans with their chemicals and machines are the true invaders. We must not forget, “every so-called invasive is a native somewhere.” Moreover, since when is an invited quest an invader? How often have humans invited an exotic species to a given region to later label it an “invader?” If we truly wish to control invasives, we should start with ourselves. We must call our mistakes "invaders."
Only if we recognize our mistakes can we correct them.
One Case in Point
Via the highly regarded RiverWatch Program, in Illinois (USA), a “biological memory" is being created. That is, until year 2000. I have confidence the program will be resumed. If not, chalk up another mistake to humanity.
One of the most widely accepted and reliable indicators of an unhealthy stream is an unqualified presence of algae. Is not exotic or prolific native algae merely an “invader” that should be eradicated? Would it not be better to respect the algae’s role as an indicator and commence to eliminate the root cause of its presence rather than its presence per se? Clearly, to eliminate invasive algae and to avoid use of toxic and poorly understood chemicals i.e., herbicides, the stream must simply be made healthy again by removing, not the algae, but the true invader(s).
The true invader is one or a series of human mistakes. So-called "invasive algae" cannot compete in a clean and healthy, i.e., undisturbed stream.
Does anyone think for a minute, world famous invasive, Kudzu, would have a snowball's chance in the Sahara Desert of taking over a healthy and mature Southern hardwood forest? Of course not. Kudzu could not withstand deep shade provided by a healthy and mature canopy. Kudzu must have an "edge" to begin its spread. Kudzu cannot spread from inside the heart of a healthy, mature forest. It is sad we have few such forests around to prove this point. A truly mature forest is all but extinct in the southern region of the USA.
Southern forests, by the time Kudzu became a problem, had been logged several times over and subjected to decades of acid rain and other forms of pollution. Global warming, before it was recognized, may have also played a key role in Kudzu's southern propagation.
We must employ, not more chemicals or any other band-aid approaches to achieve healing of our planet. We must employ self-examination and subsequent alterations of our behavior toward this one and only planet earth.
We Must Consider Our Ultimate Goal
Is our ultimate goal to eradicate species we are arrogant enough to label as invasives or is our ultimate goal to do what we can to help restore and maintain natural and healthy ecosystems by eliminating chemical toxins and other forms of pollution and to minimize human generated disturbances that open the door for those so-called invasives?
I think this latter approach would be called, “getting at the root of the problem.” The root of the problem... as painful as it may be to acknowledge... is us.
As my formally uneducated, but incredibly wise, Grandma Clark used to say as we strolled, mud between our toes, along the abused banks of the Ohio River, “time will tell.”
I believe Grandma. I believe time will tell... a time older than dirt.
Duane Short
Around the Turn of the 1st Millennium
(Human Time)
===========================
posted by Duane Short | 7/13/2006 04:44:00 AM
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