Tag Archives: biology

Age of Imitation

erma-bombeck1Confucius said, “Study your history and you may define your future.”

In the age of imitation, many outwardly follow along with things and inwardly fail to clarify their minds. Even if they do great works, they are not ultimate. In general, it is the baseness and vulgarity of the people with whom they associate that makes them that way. 

It is like the case of insects: if they gather on an ox, they do not fly more than a few paces; but if they stick to a swift horse, they can chase the wind and pursue the sun, simply because of the superiority of what they cleave to. So students should always choose carefully where they will stay and always go with good people. Then eventually they can cut off  error and bias, approach balance and right and hear true words.” – Zen Lessons, The Art of Leadership

Extraordinary. I could not agree more. History is full of examples of our ‘age of imitation’. Humanities trail through history reflects how we imitate what we think is ‘ultimate’. Dictionaries define ‘ultimate’ as ‘the best or most extreme of its kind’.

Our society has chosen to ‘fly only a few paces’.  Look at our history of warring. And yes, we are the ‘most extreme of our kind’ and the ‘best’ of our kind. However, given our history, the majority of us do not ‘approach balance and right and hear true words’. We are still warring on every continent. Sickness and disease run rampant. We majority have chosen to imitate a part of history that benefits only a few. And the ‘benefits’ are mostly unsustainable. We cling to a history which teaches ‘error and bias’. Inequality is everywhere. Poor choices that deny our true ‘ultimate’ human nature.

How does one become ‘ultimate’? How do we find that superiority to cleave to? Perhaps we might think of what a superior or ultimate education for all looks like? I’ve been thinking about ‘education reform’ for many years. Doing research, talking to teachers and looking at the most important curriculum that is being skipped over or entirely left out. A curriculum that would bring enormous change to the world we live in.

Our education should reflect only ‘the best of its kind’? Isn’t our species, as thinking beings, moral obligation to make it so? Education of this kind will heal the planet and its inhabitants; create well being, joy and harmony. This is what I want. Lofty thoughts? Perhaps. Perhaps not. You may say, ‘How the heck can we do that’?

Education reform begins with our government officials creating a consistent mandatory curriculum foundation throughout our nation based on the ‘human body system’. 

The foundation I speak to is a part of history we left behind and did not ‘imitate’.  Why did we ignore our ancient scholars? They believed to ‘Know Thyself’ was important enough to carve the message in stone, (imagine the time it took to carve one letter),  This message was carved over the mythical tomb of Apollo. These ancient sages surmised that to ‘Know Thyself’ creates a rippling effect. They believed:

“Self-knowledge is all-encompassing. What is learned on one scale of experience can be applied to all scales. It is the highest form of knowledge, surpassing all other knowledge. Self-knowledge is also timeless, which means that what is gained in one era, benefits all subsequent generations.”

This is the consistent mandatory curriculum foundation I want to see throughout our nation. Why?

Education World says:

“The human body is the most fascinating and fantastic machine in existence. No one understands all of its many mysteries, and no single source can do justice to its many parts.”

How can our society know so little about how our bodies work in the 21st Century? Well, it is understandable when our National Science Standards curriculum’s focus is:

To address the critical issues of U.S. competitiveness and to better prepare the workforce, A Framework for K-12 Science Education proposes a new approach to K-12 science education that will capture students’ interest and provide them with the necessary foundational knowledge in the field.”

The first 14 words sum up the reason why we know so little about the human body system. “To address the critical issues of U.S. competitiveness and to better prepare the workforce,”

Imagine what a different world this would be if we were not focusing on ‘preparing a workforce’. What if we understood how to optimally maintain our bodies? Pursuing optimum well-being would change industries. Understanding how to optimally maintain our bodies would eliminate poisons in the world. Our diets would be different. How we live would be in harmony with all life. Isn’t this what we want?

Changing our focus in education will shake fortunes and will be fought ‘tooth and nail’! For once we understand ourselves (as supreme and ultimate beings) we will not want what is being shoved down our throats.

A teacher friend writes:

“Learning about our bodies and how they work is one of the most important things we can learn in science class. I think I’ve learned more about it once I needed to understand how my body was malfunctioning (and that of my friends & family). There’s no standard that addresses “you are what you eat.” I wish I could create lessons about “stop eating processed foods because….” or “an acidic body, cancer, and you” or “there are wheat flour and sugar in everything you eat” or “eat organic or else.” You get the jest, I’m sure. Our 7th graders have been studying the different systems in our body this semester, but it really is just an intro-level. I was lucky enough to be given a lot of control over the curriculum teaching in bush Alaska so during biology I emphasized (read-spent more time on) the human body systems.”

I could give the reason why this has happened and is happening, however, most know and it’s a topic for another discussion.

Happy non-imitation trails!

The Universe Within: A Foundation for Education

“Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people.” – Henry Kissinger,  1970

This is not a new strategy.

 “In 1870, some U.S. government officials  promoted the destruction of the bison herds as a way to defeat their Native American enemies, who were resisting the takeover of their lands by white settlers. Soon, military commanders were ordering their troops to kill buffalo — not for food, but to deny Native Americans their own source of food. One general believed that buffalo hunters did more to defeat the Indian nations in a few years than soldiers did in 50. By 1880, the slaughter was almost over. Where millions of buffalo once roamed, only a few thousand animals remained. 

– Nature, American Buffalo: Spirit of a Nation

By now you may be asking, ‘what the heck does killing off the buffalo’ have to do with the universe within and a foundation for education’. I understand. It’s a huge leap. Although, the two are most relevant and have much in common.

We have put our trust in those individuals we have elected to govern our nation to safeguard our food. What kind of job is being done?

A recent article, February 2015, New Yorker article, A Bug in the System, gives gory details of how the trust we place is undeserving.

Each year, contaminated food sickens forty-eight million Americans, of whom a hundred and twenty-eight thousand are hospitalized, and three thousand die. – Wil S.

Perhaps we need to pay more attention to who we are electing? Be more engaged in governing ourselves? Oh, that means the 63% of us have to get off our tired butts and pay attention to why they are so tired…and do something about it. We have endorsed persons in power who are obsessed with producing  ‘cheap food’ for the masses.  Their excuse, doing so is necessary to feed an ever growing population. A population growth out of control. A population growth out of touch and with no consideration of the resources necessary to accommodate such growth. We are a nation obsessed with quantity over quality!

We are growing food in an abundance as fast as we can, using whatever science to fertilize this obsession in order to feed ourselves…and be damned the consequences!  Cheap food and cheap labor is the dream of the 1% controlling our world.  Encouraging population growth is essential to having a constant source of expendable and renewable energy…a type of slavery that President Polk’s administration could not have imagined when they sought to win the American West!

It is not too late. We can cease this ‘age of imitation’. Do as the ancient sages believed: Know Thyself. Know our bodies work best when we take guessing and placing trust in others out of the equation. I’m not a Christian…however, I do agree on many of their beliefs: our bodies are our temples and in order for us to reach our true optimal potential, should be treated as such.  The Blue Ray and High Definition  glossy and colorful ads enticing us into oblivion is an addiction; it is time to say ‘no’ more.

Placing biology at the forefront of education is a huge service to humanity, the planet and all its inhabitants!  Placin’g Biology as the foundation on which all else is built and integrated into increases our understanding of our place in the web of life. Start counting the bones in your feet as soon as you begin to speak! The well being of the Universe within and ewithout  is counting on it.

What is Biology? Merriam-Webster defines Biology as:

1 : a branch of knowledge that deals with living organisms and vital processes
: the plant and animal life of a region or environment
While in my eighth grade Biology class, I didn’t pay much attention to my teacher  Mr. Gentry. He was a very large man with one eye. He was scary and I don’t remember biology being taught before then. Talking about our bodies at home or at school was a ‘taboo’!
The knowledge I’ve acquired over the years about my body, makes this notion absurd. Curiosity moved me into uncharted territory…I questioned much of the curriculum being forced into my head and pursued knowledge outside the borders of traditional education. Nothing was ever mentioned about how we are connected to everything on our planet…and  I wanted to connect the dots.  I did not understand how my body worked, nor what was required for it to be the ‘super being‘ I believed it is capable of being.

Obstacles 

I believe our first responsibility, no matter what your faith, is to treat your body as your temple; Earth as our place of worship and all the inhabitants as our congregation. Those before us knew controling our food is the best way to control people. The ways in which our food is being controlled today is much less direct than for instance, ‘our war to win the American west. There are no Buffalo to target this time. Now the control is much more illusive. More scientific. The human population is approaching seven billion…and everyone has to be fed!  The World Bank puts the food and agriculture sector at 10% of global gross domestic product, which, taking the bank’s 2006 estimate of about $48 trillion, would make the sector worth about $4.8 trillion.

Who is responsible for undertaking the monitoring of  nuances going into our food?

“For most opponents, the war to win the west was a transparent attempt to extend slavery into new territories that would become new slave states, thus ensuring that the South would control Congress and the presidency into the foreseeable future.”

– Miller Center, University of Tennessee, An american President: A Reference Resource

Humankind’s health and well being is reflected in the condition of the planet’s congrigation. Look closely at the heart and soul of what life is about, not just what it looks and smells like; new doors to how we connect are opening and ‘What happens to the least of us, does happen to all of us’. The changes needed today will go beyond much of what we have loved and coveted. We have a couple of choices when it comes to changes;  we can choose to leave a bright and shiny world full of everything healthy and beautiful;  or, continue chomping away at the heals of our world, leaving a sick and fearful world.

 The happiness you seek comes from:
“A human being is part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole [of] nature in its beauty.
Albert Einstein 1950
This acceptance and understanding will dissolve any discord, fear and discontent you may have.  You have the power and responsibility to all that is apart of this web of life. You are obligated to insure the highest quality of life for all.

Happy trails within!