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Timeline Email Edition September/October 1998 - No.…
Tags: anne ehrlich, blips, creativity, edition september, evolution, global community, human predicament, information book, john wiley sons, landmark book, living on the edge, million years, premise, recent discoveries, remarkable drama, species extinction, spirit, stardust, symbiotic relationships, world wide web,Pages: 18
Language: english
Created: Thursday, September 24, 1998 9:33:57 AM
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Timeline Email Edition
September/October 1998 - No. 41
A Publication of the Foundation for Global Community
http://www.globalcommunity.org
timeline@globalcommunity.org
Phone: (650) 328 7756 Fax: (650) 328 7785
In this Issue:
A Walk Through Time
Anne Ehrlich: The Human Predicament
Living on the Edge of Evolution
Donella Meadows
Blips on the Timeline
Will Keepin: Science and Spirit
A Garden Beyond Paradise
©1998 Foundation for Global Community
A Walk Through Time precipitating what could rapidly become
the largest species extinction in 65
From Stardust to Us
million years.
Imagine a walk where every foot
All along the way, readers are informed
transports you a million years in time.
of the most important recent discoveries,
Just such a mind-expanding premise
exploring, for example, the exuberant
inspired this landmark book, developed
creativity of early life forms and learning
from the acclaimed Walk Through Time
about their surprisingly cosmopolitan
exhibit on tour around the world.
lives, interconnected in a teeming web of
symbiotic relationships described as the
Just published by John Wiley & Sons, the
first "world wide web" of information
book portrays the remarkable drama of
exchange; the many mysteries being
the history of the universe and life on
unraveled as scientists probe the code of
Earth.
DNA; how the universe coalesced into
galaxies and planets; and how
Over 150 beautiful four-color
microscopic animals can survive in such
illustrations and an absorbing narrative
superheated environments as deep-sea
highlight significant events and themes in
vents in the ocean and deep inside Earth.
Earth's life story. The original exhibit
Most importantly, it becomes apparent
itself is recreated as a timeline that runs
that we can no longer perceive Earth as
throughout the book, pinpointing key
an inert lump of rock with an assembly of
stages in the evolutionary drama and
different life forms, but must understand
where they fall in the vast sweep of time.
that our planet is comprised of one
comprehensive, intricately woven life
Readers will gain a new appreciation of
system.
the rich complexity of the life processes
of the planet eons before the appearance
Those who read A Walk Through Time
of large-scale plants and animals. On the
will gain a new understanding of the
mile-long scale of the original Walk, for
wondrous history of the development of
example, microbial life appears a little
life, a feeling of awe and inspiration for
more than 1000 feet after the Walk
the complexity and beauty of the
begins and remains the sole life form for
processes that have made life possible
most of the mile. Humans appear in the
over billions of years, and a greater
last three feet!
appreciation for the growing impact the
human species is having on the future of
By relating life's story according to the
all the myriad forms of life, including our
true timeline of evolution, A Walk
own.
Through Time highlights just what
latecomers we humans are to Earth's
The preface and epilogue for the book
family of life, and shows the surprising
were written by Sidney Liebes, Ph.D., a
ingenuity and stamina of the microbial
physicist with research and teaching
life that preceded us and still supports the
careers at Princeton and Stanford
life all around us. The book also reveals
Universities. He recently retired as a
the stunning effects the human species
research manager and senior scientist at
has wrought in so short a span of time,
©1998 Foundation for Global Community
TIMELINE
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories. Dr. The Human Predicament:
Liebes was the initiator and creator of
the original Walk Through Time exhibit. Where Do We Stand Now?
A Cosmic Prologue was written by Brian Excerpts from a talk
Swimme, Ph.D., a mathematical by Anne Ehrlich
cosmologist, author of The Universe
Story (with Thomas Berry), and creator Anne Ehrlich is a senior research
of the video series, Canticle to the scientist in biology at Stanford
Cosmos. Dr. Swimme is a member of the University. She has co-authored ten
graduate faculty of the California books, the most recent of which is The
Institute of Integral Studies in San Betrayal of Science and Reason, which
Francisco. she says that she and her husband, Paul,
wrote to counteract the large body of
The main narrative for the book was misinformation that they call
written by Elisabet Sahtouris, Ph.D., an "brownlash." She serves on several
evolutionary biologist and consultant to boards, including the Pacific Institute
the United Nations. She has taught at the for Studies in Environment,
University of Massachusetts and M.I.T. Development and Security, and the
and served as a science writer for the Sierra Club. The following are excerpts
Horizon/NOVA television series. from a talk Ehrlich gave earlier this year
at the Foundation for Global
Copies of the 224-page hard-cover Community's Center in Palo Alto.
volume will be in bookstores nationwide
this fall in time for holiday gift-giving. I am going to talk about the human
Readers of Timeline can order books predicament in general and where we are
directly from the Foundation at the right now, looking at population,
special price of $25.00 which includes resources, and the environment situation
tax and shipping. of the world at this interesting time. The
Cold War is over. Much has changed in
If you have access to the internet, you the last few years, some things for the
can get current information about the better, some for the worse. If nothing
book as well as the Walk Through Time else, the world is much more aware of
exhibit and its future appearances at the problems that we face, and that
http://www.globalcommunity.org/wtt/ obviously is the first step to solving
them. So that's part of the good news.
Also good news is that, although we
have a population explosion, it's not
going as fast as it has been or as fast as
we thought it might only five years ago.
In fact, the slowdown is fairly dramatic if
you look at it over a long time span.
Back in the 1960s, the global population
was growing at more than 2 percent per
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©1998 Foundation for Global Community
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year. It dropped to only about 1.7 that? Will the population reach a peak
percent in the 1980s and sort of hung and then begin to decrease? Will it peak
there without much change during that sooner? We don't know. But in any case,
entire decade. And then in the '90s, it if we are wise we had better make plans
began dropping again. Now we're down for accommodating those additional
to about 1.5 percent per year, maybe people, not only up to 2050 but for the
slightly below, and birth rates are falling centuries after that.
rather rapidly. Interestingly enough,
they're falling virtually everywhere in the What are the conditions of life for people
world, particularly in the developing on this planet today? They're not all rosy
world, which is, of course, where they everywhere, as I'm sure you know, but
have been high in recent decades. Even in there are some positives. Though the
the part of Africa south of the Sahara, income gap between the richest and
which until almost1990 showed the poorest people in the world is still
absolutely no sign of a slowdown, rates widening, things have improved in the
are dropping in quite a few countries, last 40 years even for the poorest people
and in some they're dropping rather on the planet. Fewer people in absolute
rapidly. terms and as a percentage of the total
population are undernourished today
However, the population explosion is not than 30 or 40 years ago. Access to safe
over yet. We still have many decades of drinking water is a serious problem in
growth ahead of us because of a many poor countries, but is slowly
phenomenon called "population improving. Access to sanitation is also
momentum." If you have a population improving but it is still too low.
that has been growing rapidly in the past,
it takes a long time to wring that growth Infant mortality has been dropping
out because each generation is larger steadily. Literacy rates have risen, though
than its parent generation or the in many countries not far enough. Life
grandparent generation. And all those expectancy has continued to increase.
children have to grow up and become Use of contraceptives has spread around
parents themselves. And then they live the world, even though there are at least
for a generation or two before they begin a hundred million couples who still lack
to die of old age. access to contraceptives. The fact that
more than half of the world's women are
So in spite of lower birth rates, world using contraceptives is a major victory.
population will still pass six billion some
time in 1999. Thus, if the United What about food? The outlook is not
Nations' population projection proves encouraging. Production of major grains
accurate, we will be adding three and a in the world has virtually tripled since
half billion more people to the world in 1950, a really spectacular record when
the next 50 years--not exactly an you think about it. But there has been no
inconsiderable number! How are we increase in grain production per capita
going to manage that extra three and a since about 1985, an ominous fact that
half billion people in the next 50 years, most of the world hasn't particularly
and what do we do in the 50 years after noticed, in spite of Lester Brown [of
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WorldWatch Institute] who keeps telling burn it or sell off the logs if they can,
us we're in trouble. Moreover, most of and plant crops. They raise crops for five
the grain increase has gone to the richer years perhaps, and then their soil is
half of the population, not to the poorer; exhausted. Maybe they can raise cattle
and much comes to us indirectly in the for a little while longer, but then the soil
developed countries because we is so degraded that it's of no use for
consume our grain by feeding it to cows anything, and it's abandoned. Meanwhile,
first--a very wasteful way to do it. And, there are settlers opening further land.
as people around the world become more The forests are being cut down in this
prosperous, they add more meat to their process at a rapid rate for very little gain.
diets. This means that world grain
production has to increase even more On lands that are productive and can
rapidly than it would just to meet the sustain agriculture over a long term, the
demand for a growing population. Green Revolution did succeed in
doubling, tripling, and even quadrupling
Food production depends not only on yields in the major crops. The optimists
high-yield crops, fertilizers, and pest are out there saying "Oh, yes, we'll
protection, but also on the resources that double and triple grain yields again--
underpin the whole system--land, soil, don't worry." But there's no encore in
water, and natural pest control. Studies sight that matches that kind of
by UN agencies have found significant performance. What we can do is extend
degradation of productive land-- Green Revolution technology to other
cropland, pasture, and forest--on every crops, more obscure ones, particularly
continent. The UN studies found levels ones that are grown in the tropics. But
of degradation as high as 65 percent on that's a relatively small contribution.
Africa's land and as high as 75 percent in Biotechnology is often mentioned as the
Central America. Slight degradation of hope of the future, but what it's good for
the land can be repaired with time and is doing things like improving pest
effort, but with extreme degradation, resistance or resistance to drought or
there's just no hope of ever recovering tolerance to saline soils--things that will
productivity on the land; it's basically make marginal increases here and there
destroyed for practical purposes. Land but are not going to double or triple the
degradation undermines our attempts to global grain crop in the foreseeable
raise food production; it's a serious future. One way that might increase food
problem and is increasing everywhere. production fairly rapidly without a
lengthy scientific program that takes
Much of the land that has been put to the years of crop development and field
plow recently is in tropical, moist forests, testing is to improve the way food is
which cannot long sustain agriculture. stored in developing countries, where up
Earlier attempts to farm arid lands in the to 50 percent or more is lost to insect
former Soviet Union failed disastrously. and rodent pests.
In the moist tropical forest, particularly
in places like Brazil but also in Africa, Altogether, we face a crunch in the food
what you see is a pattern like this: situation in the next few decades. As yet,
settlers move in, cut down the forest and this crisis hasn't gotten much public
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attention. I suppose what it's going to number of species in the world by 2020.
take is a big failure or a shortfall in the Imagine the potential values we haven't
crops in a vulnerable year, such as we yet discovered among the many
have right now. If that happens, you can organisms that are out there. Other
expect that, first, food prices will go up. cultures may know, but we need to
That won't hurt Americans very much, explore what those cultures know before
but it will hurt the poor of the world the organisms themselves disappear. And
because they are already living on the the drug companies are very interested in
edge. They are hungry simply because what happens in tropical forests, which is
they can't afford to buy enough food. a great source of new drugs.
But a worldwide food shortage will
create a problem for food aid, too: if But the most important potential loss, to
supplies are short, who's going to supply biologists at any rate, and the one that
free grain for the poor? Nor will the food the general public knows least about
increases come from the ocean: Seventy and appreciates least, is that of
percent of our marine fisheries are fully ecosystem goods and services which
or over-exploited. organisms interacting and functioning
within the ecosystem provide for us.
The rate, the scale, the combinations of These include such things as the
changes that we are exerting on this composition of the atmosphere--the
planet, are completely unprecedented. gases that we like to breathe. Indeed,
Small wonder we're losing biodiversity; oxygen itself is the result of biological
small wonder we have endangered activity over billions of years. Another
species! We're paving over, plowing service is moderation of climate and
under, cutting down, poisoning and weather, including the hydrologic cycle.
flooding natural ecosystems, while So when we cut down the forests in a
blocking movement or transporting alien watershed, streams may dry up, the
specimens. And now we're adding weather changes, it is hotter and drier,
climate change to the things that we do we have floods and droughts that we
to all the other organisms we share the didn't know we could have. Natural
planet with. Tens of thousands of species systems also help recharge aquifers. If
are lost every year. Most of them are you pave over an area, it's a funny
obscure; you never hear of them. They're thing--the water doesn't get down to the
different kinds of worms or insects or water table. But when you deforest an
mites, little creepy, crawly things you area, rainwater doesn't soak in and reach
wouldn't even think of as having any the water table either; it runs off in
value. Yet they do. They're part of an floods, eroding soil and silting up the
ecosystem. Many of those tiny creatures rivers.
live in the soil, and they're what makes it
fertile. Biologist E. O. Wilson calls them Another service is soil building, nutrient
"the little things that make the world cycling, and waste disposal, which are all
work." functions of the cycles run by organisms.
We have learned to harness some of the
It's been estimated by biologists that we same organisms to do it for us in our
will probably lose 10 percent of the sewage treatment plants. This cycle of
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nutrients allows us to grow our crops preserve the remaining fragments of
and maintain an agricultural system. natural ecosystems the planet has and
Without it, no agriculture. Detoxification strive to restore some of the degraded
is also a natural process. Most of the ones while it's still possible? Will we
toxic substances that we so wantonly protect and restore our oceanic resources
spew around in our environment are or drive the fisheries to extinction?
broken down by organisms. The vast
majority of pests and diseases that could These are the choices we have to make
attack us are controlled by nature. Too now in order to avoid spoiling this
often, in fact, we use pesticides and beautiful, unique, and amazingly livable
antibiotics so freely that they lead to the planet. We need to educate our
development of resistance and make the politicians, our business leaders,
pest and disease problems much worse everyone, as well as our children. On this
than they might have been. Finally, imperative I hope you will help. The
natural ecosystems provide us with food, good news shows that we can
wild game, fish, forest products, and the accomplish miracles when we understand
vast genetic library that is the source of what needs to be done.
all these goods and services and of the
dazzling variety of life that one finds in
nature.
Most of our environmental problems
increasingly are global ones, as is our
economy and, to some extent, our
culture. As communications improve, we Living on the Edge of
can e-mail someone around the world in Evolution
a flash. We can see people around the
world when we turn on TV. The world is "My biggest insight was that the
being knit ever closer together. In some intellectual work concerning values to
ways it's a danger, but in many ways it is guide cultural change was secondary to
a key to the future, and a key to solving the fact that the very effort was already
our problems together. The world is in transforming the people involved --
our hands in a very real sense, as is the understanding that every person was
future of our children and our essential: each held a part of the
grandchildren. Will we continue to answer."
encourage smaller families everywhere? A seminar participant
Will we try to make our food production
system more sustainable even while we Five years in development, a new
have to keep expanding our harvests? program entitled Living on the Edge of
Will we develop a more sustainable, Evolution was recently launched in a
efficient energy system and help the rest three-day training seminar for course
of the world to find it, too? Will we leaders at our Sequoia Seminar retreat
encourage our industries to move facility in Ben Lomond, California.
towards a zero emissions behavior--no
more toxic wastes? Will we act to
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The program consists of a day-long
introductory workshop, eight weekly "All culture is ultimately rooted in our
meetings, and a weekend seminar. It understanding of who we are, where we
involves a variety of experiences and have come from, and where we are
approaches, including lectures, small and going. We believe the root of our
large group discussion, individual and cultural crisis is that our current answers
group exercises, reading, daily practices, to these age-old questions are obsolete.
and meditation. A printed invitation to What information--from science, the
the new program describes its purpose wisdom traditions, and contemporary
and goals. thought--can help us discover more
adequate answers?"
"The power of culture over our lives is
pervasive. It influences practically Living on the Edge of Evolution is a
everything we do--from the trivialities of participative exploration of how,
what we eat and how we dress, to the together, we can evolve an integral
profundities of how we try to achieve culture.
meaning and purpose in our lives.
Attending the training seminar in August
"In our culture, the prevailing attitudes, were 47 people from California,
values, and beliefs that guide our Colorado, Georgia, Maryland,
collective behavior--from unbridled Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, and
materialism to rampant individualism -- British Columbia. If you live in one of
are devastating the life systems and these areas and would like to attend a
human communities of the Earth. The Living on the Edge of Evolution course,
American Dream has become a global please write to Amy Beare or Joe Kresse
nightmare. at the Foundation for Global Community,
222 High St., Palo Alto, CA 94301 or
"But with this crisis comes profound call (800) 707-7932.
opportunity. A whole new population --
more idealistic and globally oriented-- Another training seminar for course
has emerged in the world in the last leaders is planned for 1999. If you
decade. These people share a number of would be interested in attending, contact
attitudes and beliefs: an interest in self- either Amy or Joe.
actualization and spirituality; a desire to
live a simpler lifestyle; a need for society
to rebuild communities; a sense of nature
as sacred; and a concern for the global
environment. Attitudes and beliefs like
these form the basis of what is called an
integral culture. A leading study suggests
there are about 25 million Americans
who think this way, presenting a real
possibility of positive cultural change.
Our mission is to make this possibility a
reality.
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Putting a Price Tag on It's also, quite pragmatically, our life-
support system. Measuring it in dollars is
Mother Nature like calculating the rent you owe your
by Donella Meadows mother while you're still in her womb.
As ecologist David Ehrenfeld said to The
Well, folks, now we know. Nature is New York Times, when asked to
worth $33 trillion a year. That's a comment on the new nature-valuation, "I
medium estimate. The real value could be am afraid that I don't see much hope for
as low as $16 trillion or as high as $54 a civilization so stupid that it demands a
trillion. quantitative estimate of the value of its
own umbilical cord."
To put those numbers in perspective, the
value of the entire output of the world Or, as E.F. Schumacher said two decades
economy each year is $18 trillion. That ago, "To press noneconomic values into
comes to $3,000 a year, on average, for the framework of the economic calculus
each human on the planet. Nature is a procedure by which the higher is
provides goods and services worth some- reduced to the level of the lower and the
where between $2,600 and $9,000 per priceless is given a price. All it can do is
person per year. The calculation was lead to self-deception or to the deception
made by a team of ecologists, of others; for to undertake to measure
economists, and geographers from 12 the immeasurable is absurd. What is
prestigious universities and laboratories worse and destructive of civilization is
in three countries. It was published in the the pretense that everything has a price."
journal Nature.
There are, of course, plenty of people
If you are uncomfortable with this who are stupid or soulless enough to
exercise, if you are thinking, "Hey, wait a think that everything has a price. They
minute, there's something wrong with are the ones who do cost-benefit analyses
the whole concept of putting a dollar to prove that an old-growth forest is
value on all life," good for you. You are worth more as logs than it is standing
a sane person in a crazy world. and living. They can't see why a billion-
dollar gold mine should be stopped just
The most obvious wrong is taking some- because it would poison waters for miles
thing that is so clearly beyond value and downstream. They look at soaring land
reducing it to money terms. It's like values in San Diego County and have no
valuing the Taj Mahal or St. Peter's trouble with the concept that
Church by yearly tourist revenues. It's a condominiums are worth more than the
confusion of value with price, beauty creatures that still live in the remaining
with numbers, the sacred with the scraps of coastal sage scrub.
profane.
Let's admit it, there's some of that
Furthermore, the living biosphere is more crassness in all of us when it comes to
than a magnificent creation (or the building our homes, driving our cars,
product of 12 billion years of evolving earning our livelihoods. We're products
wisdom) that many of us consider sacred.
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of our civilization. We all succumb to the native habitat.) Food and raw materials,
delusion that we live from dollars. lumber, paper, fish, game (one of the few
items on the list that has established
That's why the scientists who tried to market values). Maintenance of the
calculate nature's value did it. They mind-boggling library of genetic
know they're trying to measure resources. Then there's the imponderable
something that is invaluable, and they are category the authors call "cultural"--the
also well aware that scientifically their aesthetic, artistic, educational, spiritual,
attempt is full of heroic assumptions. and scientific value to us of our living
Their paper is full of caveats and world.
cautions, the most important of which is
that their estimate is certainly much too The number the scientists came out with
low. for the value of these services is not even
close to a good measure of their real
They did the best they could. They value. It is, however, a clear measure of
divided the Earth up into 16 categories, the desperation of the scientists. They
such as coastal ocean, open ocean, have been trying to tell us for decades
tropical forest, and grassland. For each the value of what we are thoughtlessly
they estimated the value of 17 kinds of destroying. Now they're trying to speak
"ecosystem services" supplied by that in a language they think we can hear.
type of land- or seascape. That list of
services is their most useful contribution, They admit that their estimate is rough. It
because it reminds us of what nature could be too low by a factor of 10 or a
does for us without charge. hundred or a thousand or a million. But
it's much more accurate than the value
Pollination, for example. Imagine having the market now gives to the natural
to go out and carefully brush, one by systems that support us--zero.
one, against the gazillions of apple
blossoms that open in the orchards of Donella H. Meadows, a systems analyst,
New England. Waste treatment--what author, and adjunct professor of
would happen if countless bacteria and environmental studies at Dartmouth
other critters didn't eagerly consume our College, writes a syndicated article each
sewage, whether in a treatment plant or a week to "present a global view, a
running stream? Soil formation--I connected view, a long-term view, an
suppose we could grind up rock and environmental and compassionate
throw fertilizer into it, but that wouldn't view." Timeline readers who feel that
be living, self-perpetuating, renutrifying these articles deserve the widest possible
soil. distribution are encouraged to contact
their local newspaper editor and suggest
Here are some of the other ecosystem the paper carry them. Meadows can be
services on the list. Climate regulation. reached at The Global Citizen, Box 58,
Nutrient cycling. Control of pest Plainfield, NH 03781.
populations. Species protection. (Think
of what it costs to keep an endangered
animal alive in a zoo, compared to a
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Blips on the Timeline shareholder advocacy campaigns on
issues such as apartheid in South Africa,
The term "blip" is most often used to the sale of tobacco to American youths,
describe a point of light on a radar environmental degradation, and the use
screen. Gathered with the assistance of of slave labor abroad. Public pressure
Research Director Jackie Mathes, here and strong media interest in the case
are some recent blips which indicate resulted in defeat of the proposed new
positive changes toward a global regulations, and new ones were approved
community. that will let shareholder resolutions,
including corporate employment issues,
Protecting Species be put to investor votes at annual
meetings.
A complete list of the world's 1.5 million
known species, with links to relevant Aiming Higher
scientific papers, should be available on
the World Wide Web by early next As a Stanford University freshman,
century. Known as the Global Biological Chris Bischof became a volunteer mentor
Information Facility (GBIF), the $300- and tutor for high school students in the
million project is the most ambitious ever neighboring community of East Palo
in biodiversity conservation, and will link Alto. For his senior thesis he created
information stored in museums and Shoot for the Stars, a successful program
research institutes around the world. that linked participation in an after-
"Most countries do not even know what school basketball program with
bio-diversity they have, so they can't attendance at daily study hall sessions.
mobilize their scientific resources After earning a master's degree in
effectively to conserve it," said Jim education, Chris started to work on his
Edwards of the U.S. National Science dream to open a college preparatory
Foundation, who chairs the working school. "The concern is that many
group. With the global information students in this community are not
readily accessible, it is expected that rich having high expectations set out for
nations, which hold the most biological them," said Chris. "If you have low
information but are home to relatively expectations, you're most likely going to
few species, will cooperate to assist settle for that lower norm. There was a
poorer countries where most species are tremendous need to be able to offer a
found. challenging academic environment for
students in the community." In 1996,
Public Pressure Eastside College Preparatory School
opened with eight eighth grade students.
The Securities and Exchange Now there are 20 students, three
Commission (SEC) packaged a set of teachers, several volunteers, and a
proposed new regulations that would principal--Chris. It could have been
stifle the ability of any shareholder to difficult for Chris as a white to sell the
challenge corporate misconduct. The idea in a predominantly minority area,
proposed rules would have made it but to Eastside parents, what matters is
virtually impossible to sustain critical the quality of education offered.
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He is co-director of the Shavano
Corporate Cooperation Institute in Boulder, Colorado, where he
manages the project "Leading with
Thirteen mega-corporations with world- Spirit: Transformational Leadership for
wide revenues of $340 billion are Social Change." Recently, Keepin gave
breaking ranks with industry and teaming the following talk on the physicist David
up to sound the alarm about global Bohm at a Foundation workshop.
warming and climate change. The new
coalition, called the Pew Center on At the cutting edge of science now, there
Global Climate Change, includes British is a cross-disciplinary theme that's
Petroleum, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, emerging in field after field--in biology,
Toyota, 3M, United Technologies, physics, nonlinear dynamics, artificial life,
Whirlpool, Sun Oil, Enron, Maytag, and complexity theory. This new idea is that
three electricity firms. Financing will beyond the physical realm, there exist
come from a grant by Pew Charitable invisible patterns and principles that
Trusts, a leading environmental somehow organize what we observe and
philanthropy. The center will focus on experience. This development is very
educational programs and advertising exciting, because it is pointing western
campaigns about global warming. science in an unprecedented direction
toward the existence of a realm beyond
the observed, material, empirical world.
Science is discovering that something
transpires behind that which appears.
I want to talk about this development in
one particular field, physics, and the
Science and Spirit: work of David Bohm. Bohm was a
Integrating the Sacred colleague of Einstein's at Princeton
and the Secular University. But he lost his job at
Princeton and had to leave the United
A talk by Will Keepin States during the McCarthy hearings era
because he refused to testify against
Will Keepin, Ph.D., is a mathematical Robert Oppenheimer, with whom he'd
physicist. He was Hewlett Fellow at gotten his Ph.D. Because of that he was
Princeton University and research essentially exiled. He went to Brazil for a
scholar at the Royal Swedish Academy while, and Israel, and ended up in
of Sciences and the Energy Foundation. London for the last 35 years of his life.
He has completed the Grof Most of his work was done at the
Transpersonal Training and has University of London.
extensive group facilitation experience,
having led over 80 experiential Bohm was driven by a deep passion to
workshops in the United States and understand the nature of the Universe.
abroad. He has published 25 articles He felt this was the true purpose and
and is on the adjunct faculty at the spirit of science--a quest for deep
California Institute of Integral Studies. understanding of the truth of existence.
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He was disturbed by the fact that many Contemplating this, Bohm asked, "Well,
scientists saw science as a kind of what do these two branches of modern
discipline for prediction and control of physics have in common? What is
the Universe, or of its systems, whereas unifying here?" And the answer emerged:
he felt that its primary purpose was in wholeness. Both theories proposed that
effect a kind of spiritual quest. the universe is an integral whole, and that
the laws of physics apply everywhere,
In Bohm's own work, he not only delved from the microscopic to the macrocosm.
into scientific experiments and theories-- So, he said, let's start with wholeness
and he was a master at both--but he also itself, and build a theory from that
carried his quest into other disciplines. foundation which is consistent with the
He looked into art, for example, to try to data of both Quantum Theory and
understand the order in art and to glean Relativity Theory.
which aspects of reality artists are trying
to capture. He also had extensive And what he came up with--over a
dialogues with spiritual masters, thirty-five year period--was a proposal
including a twenty-year dialogue with that the essence of the universe is what
Krishnamurti, the Indian sage. He had he called the holomovement.
many conversations with the Dalai Lama "Movement" meant that the nature of
and other masters, exploring their existence is a process of continual
epistemologies of inner inquiry--their change, and "holo" meant that it has a
"way of knowing." In addition to the kind of holographic structure, in which
scientific way of knowing, he wanted to each part contains the whole. To quote
explore these other ways so that he could Bohm precisely: "The cosmos is a
"triangulate," so to speak, on the nature single, unbroken wholeness in flowing
of reality--taking into account the movement." Notice that the
broadest possible range of data and holomovement is similar to a synthesis of
forms of inquiry. two ancient spiritual principles: (1) the
Buddhist teaching of impermanence--the
Bohm had noticed a fundamental notion (also from Heraclitus) that the
contradiction in modern physics which nature of manifest existence is perpetual
didn't seem to concern most physicists: change, and (2) the microcosm is the
The twin pillars of modern physics, macrocosm, as characterized for example
Quantum Theory and Relativity Theory, in the Hindu mythological image of
were contradictory at their foundation. Indra's Net, wherein reality is
Quantum Theory required the nature of represented as an infinite lattice of
reality to be discontinuous, nonlocal, and glistening jewels, each of which reflects
noncausal. In contrast, Relativity Theory all the others.
required reality to be continuous, local,
and causal. So here were these So for Bohm, the nature of the cosmos is
fundamental properties of the nature of a single, unitive process--an unbroken,
the Universe that were in utter flowing wholeness in which each part of
contradiction. the flow contains the entire flow. Each
part of the flow replicates the totality of
the flow--a structure analgous to
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"holons" as discussed extensively in the drop has been lost--rendered chaotic--
work of Ken Wilber. and the ink appears to be randomly
distributed throughout the glycerin in
Furthermore, Bohm proposed that there microscopically small particles. However,
are two fundamental aspects to the if you now rotate the inner cylinder in
holomovement: the explicate order and the opposite direction, the ink structure
the implicate order. Now why--after will begin to reappear very faintly, and as
we've just said it's a single wholeness-- you keep rotating, it gets stronger and
are we introducing two aspects to it? thicker and eventually comes all the way
Does this mean we are creating a duality back--the ink droplet reconstructs itself
in what is actually a unity? No, because completely.
the explicate and implicate order only
appear as distinct--although Bohm used this example to illustrate the
convincingly so--because of our relationship between the explicate and
perceptual limitations. Human beings implicate order. Before rotation begins,
have five fundamental senses plus the the ink drop is plainly visible, its order
thinking mind, and the subset of the is explicate, or "unfolded." After
wholeness that is directly perceived by sufficient rotation, the ink drop dis-
these human faculties constitutes what appears, yet its order is still preserved,
Bohm calls the explicate order. albeit hidden. The order is now
Everything else--that which we don't "enfolded" in the glycerine, or implicate.
directly see, hear, taste, feel, touch, or The key point is that the order may not
think--constitutes the implicate order. be visible, but it is there nonetheless.
Human perception is limited and so there Thus Bohm posits a vast realm called
needs to be this distinction between what the "implicate order" that lies beyond
is directly perceptible and what isn't. what we directly perceive in the physical
universe. Indeed, throughout science,
To illustrate the relationship between the often times we see certain processes that
implicate and the explicate order, we don't understand, or in which we
consider the following example that don't see any order, or where we observe
Bohm himself articulated. Take two what we call "random" behavior. But this
concentric cylinders, one larger than the is no guarantee that what we're
other, and fill the annular column observing is random. There may be an
between them with with a thick underlying hidden order, which may (or
transparent liquid like glycerin. Now may not) by some process become an
place a small droplet of ink on the top explicate order perceptible to our
surface of the glycerine, and begin scientific instruments. In Bohm's
rotating the inner cylinder (while the eloquent words, the key lesson here is
outer cylinder remains fixed). As the that "a hidden order may be present in
rotation continues, the ink droplet gets what appears to be random."
stretched out and becomes longer and
thinner, and ever fainter. Eventually, it At first blush, it's natural for us to
disappears altogether. At this point, the suppose that the implicate order is some
natural conclusion to draw is that the kind of secondary, ethereal reality--
order, or organization, of the original ink floating around somewhere in space,
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whereas the primary reality is the there is a third element. He gave it a
physical universe as our senses perceive simple name: "meaning." For Bohm,
it and science describes it. However, for meaning is as significant as matter and
Bohm, precisely the opposite is the case. energy.
The implicate order is the fundamental
reality, and the explicate order is So Bohm proposes a tripartite structure
secondary. The explicate order is akin to to reality: matter, energy, and meaning.
the foam on the waves of the ocean, and Moreover, each of these basic notions
the implicate order is the ocean itself. enfolds the other two.
The implicate order is profoundly vast,
with a kind of interpenetrating wholeness Thus, "energy" consists not only of
that far transcends the known physical explicate energy, but also includes
universe. implicate matter and implicate meaning.
Put another way, energy "enfolds" both
The implicate order thus extends matter and meaning. Similarly, matter
throughout space and time but also enfolds energy and meaning. And finally,
beyond space and time. This is very meaning enfolds both matter and energy.
important. Space is not some giant
vacuum through which matter moves. In Bohm's words, "Each of these basic
For Bohm, matter and empty space are notions enfolds the other two. This
intimately interconnected, and they are implies, in contrast to the usual view,
both part of the explicate order. The that meaning is an inherent and essential
implicate order is beyond space and time part of our overall reality, and is not
altogether, although it's accessible at merely a purely abstract and ethereal
every point in space-time. It's present quality having its existence only in the
everywhere, but visible nowhere. You mind." What we call the evolution of
can think of the implicate order as a consciousness is basically the unfolding
synonym for the unseen realms, for that of meaning as it becomes manifest in the
which is neither manifest nor visible to explicate order.
our five senses--in short, a synonym for
the spiritual realm. We don't directly So the idea here is that the invisibles of
perceive it except through inner life--purpose, yearning, intention, love,
intuitions and contemplative forms of despair, all of the intangibles of life--
practice. are no less real for being intangible.
They are just as real, but they cannot be
There is another vital aspect of Bohm's measured in the scientific laboratory.
thinking. He says that the nature of Scientific instruments are nothing more
reality has three fundamental than the extension of our five
components. Science has generally dealt perceptions. Microscopes and telescopes
with only two of them: matter and are just bigger eyes. Microphones are
energy. These two are equated in the bigger ears. What Bohm is saying is that
famous equation from Einstein: E = mc2. these instruments perceive only a tiny
This equation essentially affirms that portion of the totality of existence.
energy and matter are different forms of Conventional science misses the
the same thing. What Bohm said is that implicate order altogether. Meaning lives
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in the implicate order and is just as real amidst this vast expanse. Now, imagine
as matter and energy. that you explore your interiority, via
meditation and other spiritual inquiry,
Another aspect of Bohm's model is the and through this process you discover
holographic aspect. To illustrate, your true nature; you discover the
consider an example from mathematical fundamental process that gives rise to
physics--fractal geometry--called the your existence. In this case, that would
Mandelbrot set (Zn+1 = Zn2 + Z0). mean that you discover the underlying
simple equation, or process, that gives
The Mandelbrot set represents a modern rise to your form. And then you suddenly
scientific discovery of an ancient have a major insight, a major "Aha!"
principle from alchemy: "As above, so You realize the process that gives rise to
below." In physics, this phenomenon is your particular existence is none other
called "nested sets of self-similar than the very same process that gives rise
structures." Yet it has been known by to the entire cosmos. You discover that
mystics for eons: "As within, so your true nature is identical with the
without." Deeply embedded within underlying spiritual nature of the cosmos.
universal structures are a series of You and the cosmos are one.
complete replicas of the original, on
vastly smaller scales. The microcosm I know this example is a metaphor, but it
replicates the macrocosm. represents the actual nature of spiritual
awakening in tradition after tradition. For
Let us pause to reflect on the example, in Hinduism, the "Atman"
implications of this for the philosophy of represents the spiritual nature of the
reductionism in science. Reductionism individual, and "Brahman" is the spiritual
says you can understand a thing by nature of the cosmos. The fundamental
breaking it down into its fundamental enlightenment experience is that Atman
parts; you can fragment reality into is Brahman--the two are identical. In
elementary building blocks. Yet here we Zen, the great master Dogen says: "We
see that the part is as complex as the study the self to forget the self, and when
whole! So the entire philosophy of we forget the self, we become one with
reductionism is put into serious question the ten thousand things." The self we
here. forget is just our physical and
conditioned forms--it's our body,
To pursue the spiritual implications of personality, ego, vocation, it's all of
this example more deeply, let's take a those things. In the example above, it's
flight of fancy. Imagine that this represented by the Mandelbrot set itself.
Mandelbrot set is a model of the cosmos, But when we forget this self, we become
and here is the equation which gave rise one with the "ten thousand things"
to it. The Mandelbrot structure itself because we become one with that which
represents the explicate order, and the gives rise to all of existence. Similarly,
equation that creates it represents according to the gospel of Thomas, Jesus
implicate order. Deeply embedded within said: "When you make the two one, and
the large set in Figure 1 is a tiny replica when you make the inner as the outer
of it which represents you, a tiny speck and the outer as the inner and the above
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