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Science is a
state of being, not just a way of thinking as is commonly taught since
the Industrial Revolution in our Anglo-American society. Science is a
state of being born of the experience of compassion with the requisites
for the experience of the scientific state being:
inclusiveness;
collegiality, openness and sharing;
inquiry;
honesty and trust;
generosity of time and reflection.
It is our
capacity to enjoy these requisites and thus the state of being of
science that enables us to develop all our arts, which includes
language, civics and all that we know as civilization.
In this context
we understand civics is born of science, which is in turn is born of
compassion. All remind us that whether we like it or not, we are
stewards amidst the universal flux. Every action we perform is
profoundly moral.
We are mortal
beings, transient forms, and thus we can never truly know the impacts of
our actions. Essentially the state of science is the art of living with
uncertainty while civics is the manifestation of this art in our daily
lives.
A profound
element of our state of uncertainty is caused by our incredible capacity for
self-deceit. Our ego abhors our mortality and our uncertainty in change.
It tends not to have the humility that enables us to embrace our roles
as stewards. This is because to embrace our roles as stewards we have
also to embrace the universal change and our mortality.
Our ego is
ingenious beyond the power of our thought to comprehend in the ways it
denies stewardship/change.
Thus a
fundamental of civics is the cultivation of humility and kind ways of
acknowledging the incredible ingenuity of our ego. Without this
awareness of our fallibility we remain bound by the limitations of our
ego. Any communication of the art of civics needs to include this
psychology.
Fortunately we
are gifted with ways of transcending the limitations of thought and our
ego. Over the millennia of human consciousness sages have tapped the
great wisdom of our cells, wisdom that has sustained our cells through
over a billion years of eonic change. These sages have explored beyond
the boundaries of thought and our ego.
Thus we inherit
wise guides in the great principles of psychology and physics. For
example the Conservation Principle of Energy has withstood the most
intense scrutiny the human mind is capable of. The Uncertainty Principle
of Energy enables the finest technology in existence. And if these great
principles hold then we may well have a wise guide in the Sustainability
Principle of Energy.
In particular the
Sustainability Principle reminds us that energy is the potential of the
universe(s).
Human beings are
of this potential and, just as the universal potential can be manifest
from as many perspectives as we can imagine, our human potential can be
seen from all those perspectives too. We are each manifest as a
multitude of beings. We can be symbolised as Electrical Beings, Chemical
Beings, Gravitational Beings, Water Beings, Ocean Beings, Social Beings,
Carbon Beings, Earth Beings, Solar Beings, Nuclear Beings, Thermal
Beings…
Thus civics
involves our active conservation of the potential of each of those
beings.
For example, as
Carbon Beings we act as stewards of our carbon potential by
acknowledging any use of we make of carbon affects the whole carbon
flux. We can never offset or neutralise it or be carbon zero – such
beliefs manifest major denial of change. We can however work to the best
of our ability to ensure we live in harmony with the carbon flows and
balances that sustain humanity. It is not sufficient to acknowledge that
the wealth in a drop of mineral oil burned becomes pollution. We need
also remain mindful of the wealth of other possibilities in that drop
are gone too.
For example as
Electrical Beings we act as stewards of our electrical potential by
acknowledging the myriad electrical phenomena that exist with all their
variant properties, giving each its own symbol. We ensure all our uses
of our electrical potential whether it be for heating, cooling or moving
things, which includes sharing ideas, is underpinned with democracy*. We
conserve and use
all the intelligence of our local electrical potential to sustain us so
as to conserve the global potential of our planet.
*Democracy is
understood to be a product of the scientific state of being and thus
involves inclusiveness, sharing, trust, honesty etc.
For example as
Solar Beings we act as stewards of our solar potential by ensuring we
conserve the solar potential of our buildings by legislating that no
dwelling shades its neighbours, we source food as locally as possible
and give premium value to all manner of devices that transform solar
energy directly into vital useful forms.
In summary, we are each many
beings of many potentials and each needs its own symbol so it can be
manifest. Ultimately the survival of humanity rests in our capacity to
more fully conserve the potential of these symbols. In conserving those
many potentials we are enabled to live in greater harmony with the
universal potential. Civics becomes a source of great joy.
Footnote
re Environmental Education.
Since the 1950s
much of the potential of the environment symbol has been
destroyed. It is now commonly associated with the narrow domain of
ecology. A large industry has developed around this limited domain. The
industry is characterised by a language generated by and reflecting the flawed
psychology of the Industrial Revolution.
This language has
occurred because in reacting to the excesses of the Industrial
Revolution many members of the self-styled environmental movement fail
to embrace their own roles in the excesses. It also occurs because those
who profit most short term from the excesses actively exploit the
naivety and vulnerability of members.
The
Environmental Education industry now plays a pivotal role in propagating
this flawed psychology into our schools and their communities. Its
advocates are often very well meaning and passionate people who speak of
the need for humans to embrace our roles as stewards. However very often
their language and their lifestyles teach the converse. In the process
they are destroying the state of science in our schools and thus civics.
The focus on ecology diverts school curricula and distracts people in general
from the more central psychology of civics.
A
result of the destruction of the state of science is a loss of
appreciation of the great principles of physics. Wonderful options are
obscured. Thus a central source
of inspiration is removed from our lives. Sensations of hopelessness and
alienation tend to prevail.
Our loss of insight into our
civic beings means we are less able to appreciate the interconnected
nature of all, in particular the ways that our mores, legislation and general
lifestyles affect aspects of our ecology. In brief: the Environmental
Education industry denies the change it calls for and it actively
alienates us from the environment.
As mentioned, the Environmental Education industry is born of a
reaction to the dangerous excesses of the Industrial Revolution. It is
replacing civics in our schools. When the study of civics is alive and
is the central focus of education then there is little need for the
Environmental Education industry to exist for people inherently embrace their
roles as stewards/change and live in greater harmony with our ecology.
They are supported in these roles by cultural mores and legislation founded in
civics.
This
all points to a far greater role for those who aspire to live as
stewards/change and be teachers in our schools and their communities. By
promoting the state of science, conserving the potential of our symbols
and embodying civics they will become true Environmental Educators. Once
again the environment symbol will be associated with all that we are
not. We will tend to be the environment. As
Maori in
New Zealand-Aotearoa say, Ko
au ko toku taiao - I am the environment
Ko toku taiao ko au - the environment is me
Page last updated:
Nov 2010
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