|
Ecology - 8 / 24 / 2002
the web of life
interconnectedness
space ship Earth
closed systems
limited resources
evolution
survival of the fittest [only for a particular set of circumstances]
ecological niche
disaster / catastrophe
disease
the value of diversity
survival of some after catastrophic change
recent world-wide extinction of most mega-fauna
existence of land bridges between continents
kill theory
over hunting
chill theory
environmental changes due to weather
ill theory
species-barrier, crossing diseases
death
the food chain
decay
recycling
Gaea
earth goddess
Healing Gaia
James Lovelock - maverick
the Gaia hypothesis
life modifies its environment
super-organism
an entity with some of the properties of living organism
the people plague
the value of acting as if it were "true"
water cycle
oxygen cycle
nitrogen cycle
carbon / carbon dioxide cycle
sulfer cycle
symbiosis
chaos theory and complex systems [see Chaos Theory]
Ecological Imperialism
animals, plants & diseases
The First Eden
1) the making of the garden
2) the gods enslaved
3) the wastes of war
4) strangers in the garden
Ishmael
the law - defines limits of competition
natural law
the knowledge of the gods
of who shall live & who shall die
mother culture
takers:
unlimited growth
monolithic
the world belongs to humans
farmers plus food equals too many farmers
constant expansion
society
socially experimental
rapid rate of change
those who "know" good & evil
taker myths:
humans as exempt from the law
all food belongs to humans
the one right way
as bad as things are now, they're infinitely preferable to what came before
hunter-gatherers on the "knife-edge" of survival
humans should not be subject to the "will of the gods"
humans are the pinnacle of evolutions
leavers:
don't exceed the bearing capacity of your territory
diversity
humans as animals
humans subject to evolution
humans belong to the world
community
socially conservative - slow rate of change
those who live in the "hands of the gods"
the world as a taker prison
prison industry [consume the world]
Ecological Imperialism - Alfred W. Crosby
The First Eden - David Attenborough
Healing Gaia - James Lovelock
Ishmael - Daniel Quinn
Nature and Madness - Paul Sheppard
The Tender Carnivore and the Sacred Game - ibid
|
|