Subject: abstract vs. concrete

Posted by Richard Plate on 2/9/2006
In Reply To:abstract vs. concrete Posted by Dela Robertson on 12/9/2006

Message:

Lees Stuntz’s questions do a great job of focusing the conversation, and I appreciate Della Robertson’s comments. I agree that a greater sense of connection to both community (and I would include flora and fauna within this community) and to the environmental and social systems that perform the services we need to survive.

I have expressed the ecological community and the environment as two separate ideas in order to emphasize two different kinds of connection that a systems citizen can feel.

With the environmental connection I’m referring to a more analytical or critical view of how our own actions can have significant effects on conditions that the non-systems citizen might take for granted (e.g. clean air, potable water, or civil liberties). A systems citizen knows that there are lots of ways to poison the proverbial (or sometimes literal) well.

By "community," I’m referring more to an affective sense of connection to one’s fellow community members.

But what does this look like?

Well, in terms of acting into a way of thinking, I think it means becoming more involved in community affairs, whether that community is a school, city, country, ecosystem, watershed, etc. I don’t interpret acting into a way of thinking to mean acting thoughtlessly as some have implied. To me it simply means that you don’t have to have everything figured out before you pick a direction to work toward.

I read about a group of citizens who wanted to improve their city by planting trees. They got support, organized an event, and managed to get thousands of volunteers planting trees around the city. It turns out they planted a species of tree not suited to the climate, so most of them died. The author relays the story as an example of thoughtless, useless action. I admit that lesson is there, but I would argue that that community still reaped benefits from acting as a community. (I haven’t followed the story, but hopefully they repeated the event the following year with a more suitable species.)

In terms of thinking before acting, I hope that systems citizens will be able to direct their actions to make use of positive feedback loops to direct change toward more desirable conditions (or at least vote for people who will). I think the concept of tipping points has much potential in empowering students.

In short, a systems citizen acknowledges, embraces, and fosters connections to her/his community and environment on a number of different scales.

If you've made it to the end of this, thanks for your patience.

Cheers,
Richard