"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
A crash course in changing the world.
The Living Economy - using the currency of the real world
Biomimicry!
In solving problems that one individual or species is having, use the solutions that another individual or species has already come up with.
It works.
It works even for complicated things like economics.
In fact, it works even better for complicated things like economics, because nature is the most experienced systems engineer in our universe.
And while it might not immediately sound easy to use nature's solution to the task of effectively allocating resources to where they are needed the most, it turns out that you already know how to do it! It's how your body works. And it's how most families and friends work. When one part of your body or family is lacking something, the other parts do their best to provide it, and vice versa. Each individual offers what it can to any other individual that needs it. There is no artificial score keeping. There is just giving what you have more than enough of, and taking what you need from what's available.
It's the economics of life, and it's just what you do when you realize that you're a valuable part of a larger wh***.
And, it's even simpler than bartering, because it's simply living, which even a child knows how to do quite expertly! :-)
Offer what you have more than enough of, to whomever needs it, and take what you need, to be your best, from what is offered to you.
In solving problems that one individual or species is having, use the solutions that another individual or species has already come up with.
It works.
It works even for complicated things like economics.
In fact, it works even better for complicated things like economics, because nature is the most experienced systems engineer in our universe.
And while it might not immediately sound easy to use nature's solution to the task of effectively allocating resources to where they are needed the most, it turns out that you already know how to do it! It's how your body works. And it's how most families and friends work. When one part of your body or family is lacking something, the other parts do their best to provide it, and vice versa. Each individual offers what it can to any other individual that needs it. There is no artificial score keeping. There is just giving what you have more than enough of, and taking what you need from what's available.
It's the economics of life, and it's just what you do when you realize that you're a valuable part of a larger wh***.
And, it's even simpler than bartering, because it's simply living, which even a child knows how to do quite expertly! :-)
Offer what you have more than enough of, to whomever needs it, and take what you need, to be your best, from what is offered to you.
Views: 19
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Comment by Turil Cronburg on April 1, 2010 at 4:26am
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And for an amusing and just slightly uncomfortable (but not in the way you might imagine) video on the living economy, from evolutionary biologist Elisabet Sahtouris, check out Body Economics.
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Comment by Jane McGonigal on April 1, 2010 at 4:38am
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The idea of applying biomimicry to economics is fascinating and not one I've come across before. (I have seen a lot of biomimicry in materials design and architecture.) Is this happening already -- that would be exciting! if so, can you post links to help us find out more? Or are you proposing a new idea completely (That would be so cool!) If so, I'd love to hear more thinking out loud about how this would work. It's a very creative idea.
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It's not a new idea, it's just me applying a popular term to an old idea, really.
Lots of folks studying systems theory have looked at both biology and economics, and, as Dr. Sahtouris talks about in that silly video I linked to in my previous comment, it's something that at least some developmental theorists are aware of and specifically talking about.
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Oh, and probably the easiest way to do this would be to think of everyone in the communities you live and work and play in as being a good friend or beloved family member. (The Dalai Lama suggests thinking of everyone you meet as being your mother, but that might not work so well for everyone.) Then when you hold that idea in you mind, you begin to naturally see how you can use your extra resources to help them, and the more you give useful things to others, the more you naturally tend to be given things that you need.
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Comment by ninmah on April 1, 2010 at 5:05am
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The vision that this post creates for me, of a world where people give and take naturally but without avarice or expectation, is so enticing. I wonder, could it actually work on a large scale? Do you think so?
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Comment by Wintermute on April 1, 2010 at 5:23am
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Essentially you are arguing for a commune system. The best commune system is a family because the strong bond of kinship allows for truly selfless sharing. On a mass scale these systems are not feasible at this time.
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I am not trying to shoot the idea down, just because an idea has not work yet doesn't mean that it can't work. I am interested in seeing where you take this idea.
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Comment by Richard S on April 1, 2010 at 10:53am
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Bah, If you assume it will fail, it often will. You've got to put your heart into it. I believe Turil's idea will work. We just have to figure out how. Everybody has something somebody else needs or wants, all you've got to do is figure out who has what, and what you can do for them. If you're willing to give of yourself to help others, more than likely they'll be willing to do the same.
I'm a bit tired, so I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense. I apologize in advance ;)
In a way, it actually worked with money itself, back in high school. Everyone eats the same things, everyone needs money to get it. If one of my friends needed a dollar, or five, I'd give it to them if I have it. we'd pool our resources to help whomever had lost their lunch money, or just didn't have any. I usually had money of my own, but on the rare ocasion that I left it at home, or maybe I just didn't have anything that week, One of my friends would help me out, remembering the action I had taken in the past. Even when we had no money to spare, most of us were willing to give up at least part of our lunch for someone else. We were willing to live on half-rations, (as one may put it) sometimes less. If it can work in a group of about 20-25 students, it can work on a larger scale. We just need a system.
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Sorry, Winter. I'm not trying to sound confrontational. I just have a lot of faith in empathy. I also think that the sooner we try something, the sooner we'll get it right. trial and error may not be the most direct course, but it often seems to work out for the better.
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It already does work on a global scale. And if you don't see it already, I have just one word for you:
Haiti.
Our other parts were seriously lacking something, and so we did what we could to get it for them. Not because they would pay us back, but because they are us.
We do this all the time. Sometimes consciously, but most of the time unconsciously, because it's wired into our genes to take care of ourselves.
And sure, we can do it on a planned community kind of thing like a commune, but it's far more effective when we do it naturally, simply because we are unconsciously aware of our part in the larger wh***.
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