| John Hopkins via nettime-l on Wed, 17 Apr 2024 18:28:51 +0200 (CEST) |
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| Re: <nettime> Swipe, a Smart Phone Movie by Mieke Gerritzen/Next Nature |
However, having formally finished eight years exploring localized geosystems, unless invoking a god/goddess-factor, I more-and-more view human presence as simply one element in *the* whole cosmological 'natural' system. We are 'of' the materials of the planet; we alter the materials of the planet (not unlike all Life that we know of); we came into being at one moment in time of the planet's limited existence; we will vanish in a relatively short time. Traces will remain, as much of Life leaves both tangible and invisible traces of its passing. Everything we know, again, aside from a 'super-natural' god/goddess-factor suggests that everything is transitory.
This way of thought—one influenced deeply by that immersion in geoscience/deep-time perspectives—places little dominion in the abstracted monuments and detritus of thoughtless power we have built and will build to ourselves: they are as transitory as everything else.
The conflict between these two thought-systems, in my existence, is ongoing and without conclusion, apparently until I conclude that existence, at which point I will either know, or I will simply not exist except for the remaining, momentary negentropic energies I temporarily harnessed while be-ing a transitory form of Life.
I think we share that ambivalence, you with a bit more faith(?) in the potential for altruistic relief within the species.
cheers, John On 4/17/24 9:36 AM, Brian Holmes via nettime-l wrote:
MP asked: "Or everything is natural in our culture?" I am currently reading about biomimicry. You probably know a lot about it, curious to hear your ideas. The concept suggests both a distance between humans and nature, and a possible rapprochement. To me that's intuitive. I can't accept the idea that there is no difference between humanity and nature. Sure, if you adopt a (fictional) distance of a million miles away, then our little planet is going through a typical, natural ecological overshoot phenomenon that will lead to a typical, natural period of forest fires, rising oceans and perhaps eventual disappearance of water and oxygen. But as a situated being, I see an ever-diversifying and intricately self-regulating biological world that is mostly subject to intrusive human violence, but which can also be understood, imitated, stewarded and so on. Conversely, the full-on postmodern idea that humanity has artificialized everything and nature is a social construct seems to me wrong and disproven by the storms of the Anthropocene. This is why I really appreciate Christian's statement that "whatever we mean by nature it is necessary to keep the discussion about the meaning of 'nature' possible." Nature is somehow an Other with whom we must compose. Which doesn't just mean leaving it alone. When the American agronomist Wes Jackson proposed "nature as measure," it was in view of transforming the agricultural system through the creation of perennial grains. Biomimicry, in short.
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