Dear Alpha, this is wonderful thinking, connecting and writing. Thank you! It also again raises the obvious thought that consciousness is a phenomenon connected to a web of relationships in nature, call it a ''web of consciousness''? It has been so clear to me for a while now that we are surrounded by/part of an intricate world of intelligence which we silly modern humans hardly acknowledge, because we make too much self-important noise. but which is what many Indigenous peoples breathe and are part of. This is what makes them to not give up, because they are deeply related to a forest that talks to them, to a constant dialogue of species they are part of. Once we see the amazing magic of that (we have not lost that possibility to listen and interact with this web of consciousness, in fact we do it all the time in the space between our ''wordy noise'' we call language) we have no choice but to return and reconnect to the web of consciousness that is the living planet. Thank you for your ceaseless writing and discovery of the radical interconnectedness of all phenomena we call reality.
Yes it brings up the question is this web of relationships have some kind of collective consciousness field too. Monica Gagliano's research mentioned in my article, suggests there is some kind of plant consciousness. Thanks for your thanks!
This is a very interesting article. I think you can include in your thinking the Aitken nucleus that help nucleation on supersaturation cloud, leading to rain. These nucleus are essentially derived from terpen generated by plants. So another effect of generating rain on forests. Or I am I out of date ?
Hi, Yes there are many microscopic biological particles in the sky that can help nucleate rain, from fungi spores, to bacteria, to lichen BVOC's, to algae. So yes you are right, its a third way forests can help generate rain.
This way of thinking is very inspiring and feels like the only real viable way to conceptualize earth’s systems. I really appreciate all that you do. What areas of expertise do you think will help deepen this model?
Its really quite an interdisplinary discipline to put together all these pieces. I think if you know one piece well its good to try and expand your knowledge to some other realms to see how the piece you know connects with other pieces. Knowledge about any aspect , like soil, fungi, megafauna, evapotranspiration, atmospheric winds etc is useful, then you want to connect the pieces. I think ecology is a pretty useful thing to know. Theres two books "Rules of the Serengeti" and "A natural history of the future" that give a good overview of how ecology works, the rules of how ecosystems are constructed. Then its useful to give yourself a basic understanding of atmospheric science, and of the water part of it. I think there should be some good popular science books about this. Weather Makers by Timothy Flannery has some stuff, but maybe not that as much as one might want about the water part.. I also think an understanding of complexity theory, and maybe nonlinear thermodynamics might be useful in tieing a lot of the pieces together.
Thanks for your thorough and thoughtful reply. My background is in math (including complexity theory) and human physiology. I will take your suggestions on the books and areas. At this point in my life, my real interest is in creating a foundation of knowledge and way of thinking to support this orientation to the living earth to guide the small school i’m running out of my house. My daughter is only 2 and the group of 12 kids are 0-4 so I have some time. However, the depth of perception and questions from my very verbal 2 yo is amazing. The kids minds in general are prime to take in relationship and complexity. I want to respect this with how I talk about the earth... thanks again!
Cool math and complexity is a good background. And I think there are analogs in earth science to physiology. Gaia theory also goes by name geophysiology. Michal Kravcik and friends book the new water paradigm is a good short read about the small water cycle and the ecoclimate system http://www.waterparadigm.org/download/Water_for_the_Recovery_of_the_Climate_A_New_Water_Paradigm.pdf . Also Erica Gies's book "What water wants", and Ananda Fitzsimmons "Rehydrate the earth"
An awe-inspiring exploration of the interconnectedness of ecology and climate! The concept of a 'water web' is a paradigm-shifting realization, presenting a profound perspective on the intricate relationships between organisms and the water cycle. The articulation of principles such as self-assembly, regulatory circuits, predictable randomness, and scaling in the context of the Earth's ecosystem is enlightening. Understanding these patterns could indeed reveal the 'acupoints' crucial for the restoration of our climate and ecosystems. The holistic vision of promoting self-assembly in nature while leveraging its inherent regulatory mechanisms is both empowering and essential for our planet's future. A truly thought-provoking read!
Alpha Lo, this article made clear to me why we need a massive regeneration movement. I would like to include it in a short book/manual called Becoming an Evolutionary Catalyst.
Once again, I always learn so much from your essays.
This question blows my mind: “if mycelia can make decisions to funnel nutrients and water to those trees exhibiting evapotranspiration behavior that best guides the weather to values the mycelia likes. “. So many fantastic things to think about here and understanding that everything is connected.
Hope you don’t mind me link dropping, but for more great ecological papers and books and articles, Jacqueline Fletcher on FB has a great page called “Lost in the Biosphere: Sharing Ecological Knowledge”. Also shares heaps about the water cycles, carbon cycles, etc. so much good stuff and it was through her and what I fondly call her “rants” that set me on the path I’m on now. I’ve gently suggested that she start posting on Substack because her stuff just gets lots in the distracting algorithm of FB.
Thanks so much for all this good work Alpha, I’m going to start using the term “water web” and of course try to filter down these ideas to my two young girls. As Amy commented above, I think it’s so highly critical to teach this stuff to kids.
Yes, its pretty speculative, but it would be amazing if mycelia are making these decisions. Cool Jacqueline Fletcher turned you on to your path, she knows a lot....
Just heading out now to dig some more holes for the latest batch of Philippine native flowering trees that we bought. Some real beauties in the bunch. I’ve been digging holes as deep as I can and backfilling with the top soil mixed with compost and coconut husk charcoal that’s been soaking in worm juice and then pouring in some watered down molasses. Big holes as I hope the roots can go deep quick as I don’t want them getting knocked over this typhoon season. All this is in an area that’s been quite stagnant and often gets a little stinky during rainy season. It’s like it wants to be a swamp so I’m gonna dig a pond at the top after the trees are finished. No liners, just me and the girls will have a dance party in it at the end to tamp down the soil. I’ve found that if I hit clay and with the dancing, it can hold water up to 9 months of the year and only dries out in the depths of summer. Pretty good for the frogs and dragonflies and good for keeping that part of the property hydrated. Rock on Alpha ! 🤙🏽
I would really like to invest in the research of these approaches to eco-climate solutions, even if I should probably think about how to implement these ideas in order to stop desertification and increase rain, in an arid, semi- arid region.
Dear Alpha, this is wonderful thinking, connecting and writing. Thank you! It also again raises the obvious thought that consciousness is a phenomenon connected to a web of relationships in nature, call it a ''web of consciousness''? It has been so clear to me for a while now that we are surrounded by/part of an intricate world of intelligence which we silly modern humans hardly acknowledge, because we make too much self-important noise. but which is what many Indigenous peoples breathe and are part of. This is what makes them to not give up, because they are deeply related to a forest that talks to them, to a constant dialogue of species they are part of. Once we see the amazing magic of that (we have not lost that possibility to listen and interact with this web of consciousness, in fact we do it all the time in the space between our ''wordy noise'' we call language) we have no choice but to return and reconnect to the web of consciousness that is the living planet. Thank you for your ceaseless writing and discovery of the radical interconnectedness of all phenomena we call reality.
Yes it brings up the question is this web of relationships have some kind of collective consciousness field too. Monica Gagliano's research mentioned in my article, suggests there is some kind of plant consciousness. Thanks for your thanks!
This is a very interesting article. I think you can include in your thinking the Aitken nucleus that help nucleation on supersaturation cloud, leading to rain. These nucleus are essentially derived from terpen generated by plants. So another effect of generating rain on forests. Or I am I out of date ?
Hi, Yes there are many microscopic biological particles in the sky that can help nucleate rain, from fungi spores, to bacteria, to lichen BVOC's, to algae. So yes you are right, its a third way forests can help generate rain.
This way of thinking is very inspiring and feels like the only real viable way to conceptualize earth’s systems. I really appreciate all that you do. What areas of expertise do you think will help deepen this model?
Its really quite an interdisplinary discipline to put together all these pieces. I think if you know one piece well its good to try and expand your knowledge to some other realms to see how the piece you know connects with other pieces. Knowledge about any aspect , like soil, fungi, megafauna, evapotranspiration, atmospheric winds etc is useful, then you want to connect the pieces. I think ecology is a pretty useful thing to know. Theres two books "Rules of the Serengeti" and "A natural history of the future" that give a good overview of how ecology works, the rules of how ecosystems are constructed. Then its useful to give yourself a basic understanding of atmospheric science, and of the water part of it. I think there should be some good popular science books about this. Weather Makers by Timothy Flannery has some stuff, but maybe not that as much as one might want about the water part.. I also think an understanding of complexity theory, and maybe nonlinear thermodynamics might be useful in tieing a lot of the pieces together.
Thanks for your thorough and thoughtful reply. My background is in math (including complexity theory) and human physiology. I will take your suggestions on the books and areas. At this point in my life, my real interest is in creating a foundation of knowledge and way of thinking to support this orientation to the living earth to guide the small school i’m running out of my house. My daughter is only 2 and the group of 12 kids are 0-4 so I have some time. However, the depth of perception and questions from my very verbal 2 yo is amazing. The kids minds in general are prime to take in relationship and complexity. I want to respect this with how I talk about the earth... thanks again!
Cool math and complexity is a good background. And I think there are analogs in earth science to physiology. Gaia theory also goes by name geophysiology. Michal Kravcik and friends book the new water paradigm is a good short read about the small water cycle and the ecoclimate system http://www.waterparadigm.org/download/Water_for_the_Recovery_of_the_Climate_A_New_Water_Paradigm.pdf . Also Erica Gies's book "What water wants", and Ananda Fitzsimmons "Rehydrate the earth"
Awesome. Thanks so much!
An awe-inspiring exploration of the interconnectedness of ecology and climate! The concept of a 'water web' is a paradigm-shifting realization, presenting a profound perspective on the intricate relationships between organisms and the water cycle. The articulation of principles such as self-assembly, regulatory circuits, predictable randomness, and scaling in the context of the Earth's ecosystem is enlightening. Understanding these patterns could indeed reveal the 'acupoints' crucial for the restoration of our climate and ecosystems. The holistic vision of promoting self-assembly in nature while leveraging its inherent regulatory mechanisms is both empowering and essential for our planet's future. A truly thought-provoking read!
Hi Mohanraj, thanks for your reflections on the article!
Alpha Lo, this article made clear to me why we need a massive regeneration movement. I would like to include it in a short book/manual called Becoming an Evolutionary Catalyst.
The draft text can be downloaded from https://app.box.com/s/qosd993l1u5x7vniuymwn91n2db892d2.
What do you think?
Cheers,
Andrew Gaines
Inspiring Transition
andrew.gaines@InspiringTransition.net
www.InspiringTransition.net
Greta Thunberg will have reason to hope when she sees that mainstream society is committed to turning things around.
Hi Andrew, Glad you like it. Yes we can include it in your book. We can edit it too so it fits contours of your book.
Once again, I always learn so much from your essays.
This question blows my mind: “if mycelia can make decisions to funnel nutrients and water to those trees exhibiting evapotranspiration behavior that best guides the weather to values the mycelia likes. “. So many fantastic things to think about here and understanding that everything is connected.
Hope you don’t mind me link dropping, but for more great ecological papers and books and articles, Jacqueline Fletcher on FB has a great page called “Lost in the Biosphere: Sharing Ecological Knowledge”. Also shares heaps about the water cycles, carbon cycles, etc. so much good stuff and it was through her and what I fondly call her “rants” that set me on the path I’m on now. I’ve gently suggested that she start posting on Substack because her stuff just gets lots in the distracting algorithm of FB.
Thanks so much for all this good work Alpha, I’m going to start using the term “water web” and of course try to filter down these ideas to my two young girls. As Amy commented above, I think it’s so highly critical to teach this stuff to kids.
Yes, its pretty speculative, but it would be amazing if mycelia are making these decisions. Cool Jacqueline Fletcher turned you on to your path, she knows a lot....
Just heading out now to dig some more holes for the latest batch of Philippine native flowering trees that we bought. Some real beauties in the bunch. I’ve been digging holes as deep as I can and backfilling with the top soil mixed with compost and coconut husk charcoal that’s been soaking in worm juice and then pouring in some watered down molasses. Big holes as I hope the roots can go deep quick as I don’t want them getting knocked over this typhoon season. All this is in an area that’s been quite stagnant and often gets a little stinky during rainy season. It’s like it wants to be a swamp so I’m gonna dig a pond at the top after the trees are finished. No liners, just me and the girls will have a dance party in it at the end to tamp down the soil. I’ve found that if I hit clay and with the dancing, it can hold water up to 9 months of the year and only dries out in the depths of summer. Pretty good for the frogs and dragonflies and good for keeping that part of the property hydrated. Rock on Alpha ! 🤙🏽
Cool that you are digging a pond, and nice it can last
9 months...
What is the pattern that connects?
Amazing as always! Thank you for writing this and diving deep into it!
Glad you liked this :)
I would really like to invest in the research of these approaches to eco-climate solutions, even if I should probably think about how to implement these ideas in order to stop desertification and increase rain, in an arid, semi- arid region.
Hi Semia, Yes if you are interested in investing, please email me at alplo@yahoo.com . They are a variety of approaches....