How Ecologically Intelligent are we?

This week’s reflection is based on the insights of a few thinkers, rather than just one. Some while back I read a book by a remarkable South African Ian McCallum. His book, Ecological Intelligence, inspired this article. Ian was the fullback of the Springbok rugby team in ’68 & 69; he is also a medical doctor, a Jungian psychiatrist, a naturalist and a published poet. He lives in Cape Town.

McCallum argues that we can only understand ourselves as a species if we understand our evolutionary past and how we remain intimately connected with the whole evolving web of life on the planet. We are an integral part of the phenomenon of life, and as conscious beings we are inescapably responsible for caring for our environment and our fellow creatures. We are the gardeners, the zoo keepers. He quotes poet Antonio Machado to make the point. Read this poem aloud, and then read it again.

The wind, one brilliant day, called

to my soul with an odour of jasmine.

“In return for the odour of my jasmine,

I’d like the odour of your roses”

“I have no roses; all the flowers

in my garden are dead.”

“Well then, I’ll take the withered petals

and the yellow leaves and the waters of the fountain.”

The wind left. And I wept. And my soul said to me:

“What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?”

There are obviously many people researching and writing about ecology and climate change and I could have also drawn on their insights. For example, I can recommend George Monbiot’s book Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning. And James Lovelock’s passionate scientific missives like The Vanishing Face of Gaia – A Final Warning. But for this short piece I have chosen to stick with just two main thinkers whose message is clear and crisp: Ian McCallum and Ervin Laszlo.

Ervin Laszlo was formerly a Professor of Philosophy, Systems Science and Future Studies. He now, like many of us, lives in a small country village – his is in Tuscany, lucky blighter. He is founder and President of The Club of Budapest, an international think tank. In his latest book, The Chaos Point – the world at the crossroads, he sees the current ecological, social and economic trends that frame life on earth as essentially unsustainable. Our profligate consumer lifestyles, cavalier disregard for our physical and biological environment, and our addiction to violence and war are all reaching a tipping point beyond which there may be no turning back.

But, according to Laszlo we do still have a choice: trends are not destiny, they can be changed. There is still time for concerned groups of people to pull together and form associations and networks that pursue the objectives of peace, simplicity of lifestyles and the sustainability of the environment. To help birth such a new society Laszlo and McCallum both say we need a blend of science and soul. We need science to enable us to understand our past and present reality and we need a new spirituality that inspires us to do whatever it takes to be co-creators of a viable new world.

Laszlo says there are four things we can all do today: shed obsolete beliefs; adopt a new morality; envision the world as we would like to see it; and evolve our consciousness. Here is a brief elucidation of these insightful gems:

• Obsolete beliefs: Stop believing that nature is inexhaustible; that everything is reversible; that technology can solve all our problems. Shed these obsolete conceptions!
• A new morality: Gandhi’s “Live more simply, so others can simply live” offers an alternative to the rampant consumerism of the “developed” world
• Dream a new world: he says start with your town, village or neighbourhood. Ask yourself and your community: what is preventing your space from being one
• That is safe for everyone
• Where nobody is marginalised, hungry, unemployed and with no voice
• Where local officials are honest, informed and represent the best interests of all the community
• Evolve your consciousness: Margaret Mead said: “Never doubt the power of a small group of people to change the world. Nothing else ever has!” And Gandhi (again) insisted that we should “be the change you want to see in the world”. We need to become hyper-aware and conscious of our potential and our responsibility.

Given these challenging insights we can all be extremely grateful for those committed citizens who breathe spirit and science into our conservation oriented organisations and institutions. Eco-activists, investigative journalists and ad hoc issue-based ecological formations often need our full support and participation. Is it not crucial that we take immediate action to ramp up our ecological intelligence. And shouldn’t we be continually challenging our thinking and our lifestyles in these globally unsettled times? As commander Piers Sellers of a recent Space Shuttle mission told ABC News: “I think that we all are mindful, while we’re flying around and around this one little Earth, that this is all we have. This is humanity’s home…”

Randall Falkenberg