Biology Week 9: Ecosystems and Deep Ecology

The "eight-point Deep Ecology Platform" definitely states some good points, but there are a group of people who really care about the environment, who will easily agree and/or adhere to this, and then a group of people who is not worried about the planet, and I don't think these words will even phase them. So, as much as I like the idea of this, I don't see it making any sort of significant change.

Ecosystems are both strong and fragile because it's many small pieces that work together to make up the bigger system. This means that if you take one thing away, everything will change in that ecosystem (making it a fragile system), but it will usually survive and adapt to the new, probably harsher environment (making it strong).

The end goals of social ecology are a beautiful set of ideas fostering sustainability, but I'm not sure how we could impliment these, for they are lofty. Not too lofty for me, because well-being, health, equity and social justice are things that I want to have and for myself and my community, but too lofty in the sense that there isn't a route mapped out for us in how to do this. I like the idea of thinking about a big picture but acting in small, meaningful ways. I think this is one of the only ways we really can make a change.

Biology and Physics Week 7: Loafing around without feeling guilty

I enjoyed this assignment! In the past few years I have come to respect "doing nothing" much more than I ever thought I would. Acknowledging the need for this and figuring out ways to make it a priority has helped my health and well being tremendously. I am so thankful for stillness. Being back in school though, I feel the guilt of doing nothing slightly creeping back into my conscious. There's always something I could be studying, always something more I could be learning, but this past week or two I've really been recognizing the need to step back from the workload and remember that life is not just about learning information, it's about experiencing what is.

Physics Week 8: Classical Physics

Newton's Three Laws and me

I never really understand when people say "Physics explains the way life works." because I can't seem to relate classical physics to anything that I see. An example would be with Newton's Three Laws.

First Law: Objects at rest remain at rest, and objects in motion remain in motion in a straight line at constant velocity. A force must be applied to change the state of motion of an object.

Well hmmmm, I don't live in a world where I see this anywhere because this world is abiding to friction and gravity.

Second Law: The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the force acting on it, and inversely proportional to its mass.

This one I get, but because we have different ways to move things, that save energy (in the form of force), with pullys, motors, etc, I feel like I don't see this either.

Third Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Apparently force always comes in pairs, meaning whatever one objects pushes against another, the other object will have equal force back. I saw an example of this with a rocket ship. The rocket pushes against the ground, and the ground pushes back. I'm sorry people, do I just not get this?? How? What? This is not a natural conclusion of what I see. To me, this is not the way life works. But maybe I'm not comprehending correctly.

Our Energy Efficient Culture

According the laws of thermodynamics, we cannot be energy efficient or wasteful, because no matter what, energy is conserved.

Descartes has a lot to answer for

Descartes did seem to have a lot to say. I like when people think outside of the mainstream system, like he did and push boundaries. But I can't say I agree with much of it. I think artistically tho, mathematical accounts of natural phenomena are beautiful. I would actually love to see an art show with some of Cartesian graphs. I bet they are incredible. He must have had so much passion for these mathematical geometric graphs and I bet it really comes out onto the paper. Lovely.

Biology Week 8: HIV and AIDS

The western approach to AIDS is like most other western approaches in medicine, for the most part they are treating the symptoms, or overriding the body's system causing other imbalances like Truvada. But western medicine does offer forms of feeling better and I think that's really important to acknowledge. Yeah, pain pills, NSAIDS, steroids, etc might be addicting or bad for your health, but I am really happy they are here for people who feel they really need them.
I think in the way of research and finding "a cure" like we have for so many diseases is a good thought, but probably way more of a business than anything.

TCM can be a great way to strengthen your immune system. Through herbs, qi gong, acupuncture, massage, and diet great leaps can be made.