Thursday, April 9, 2015

Solar Roadways - Will they work?

Image Collage by GenesisEcoFund.org: Solar Roadways – Will they Work?
Image Credits/Source: http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml
“It seems really terrible to point this out, given the visionary nature of this project, but there are times when a wet blanket may be necessary and, much as I hate to say it, I’m here to play that role. No matter how much you love the idea of solar roadways, I really don’t think it’s a bright idea to donate any money to these seemingly-wonderful people.”
~ Joel Anderson, Equities.com Staff Writer
There’s a battle underway in the online court of public opinion. It’s a battle being waged on blogs and comment threads; Facebook posts and Twitter Feeds; but nowhere does the debate over Solar Roadways seem to be more graphic and emotional than on YouTube.

Let’s begin with what is no-doubt the most enthusiastic and emphatic video in favour of this IndieGoGo crowd-funded venture:

Video: Solar FREAKIN' Roadways!

It should be noted that in addition to the over USD 2.23 Million raised thus far on IndieGoGo, the Scott Brusaw and his wife also received $850,000 in grants from the Federal Highway Administration to build a small prototype parking lot.

According to their website, Solar Roadways admits they are still in the R&D phase of the project. At this time, there seems to be no indication of what real-world costs might be, nor what actual power generation solar powered roads might yield.

The very notion of replacing a well-worn (pardon the expression) low-tech solution like asphalt and/or concrete with a high-tech multi-layered surface strikes many as dubious at best. And there is no shortage of individuals who have gone to some length to make their argument against the viability of the Brusaw’s high-tech vision for clean energy and safer, low-maintenance roads.

Here’s just one such video:

Video: Solar Roadways: Busted!

In response to the “haters, naysayers and doubters” the Brusaw’s offer a webpage on their site in which they try to debunk the debunkers (the call it “cleaning the air”). You can browse their responses point-by-point for yourself; but we do share the following from said page:
“We wonder about people who reflexively dismiss our concept without trying to understand it, or go on public forums to attack us. It's helps us to remember that there have always been people against change. For some it's just too scary. They want to just keep things the same. Perhaps they are the descendants of those who argued that the earth was flat, that we didn't need cars because horses worked just fine, told the Wright Brothers they were out of their minds, or insisted that we'd never reach the moon. Or perhaps they are the voices of larger entities who are now feeling threatened by the paradigm shift that is Solar Roadways.”
Now, here at GenesisEcoFund, we are no stranger to the reactionary, automatic naysaying mentality of those who dogmatically follow established paradigms. In many ways, we can relate to the Brusaw’s frustration –and whimsy—encountering those who seem hell-bent on tearing down their idea without giving it any honest consideration. 

It must also be said, however, that not all criticisms we came across researching the topic of solar roadways were from the voices of haters and naysayers per say. 

Joel Anderson’s thoughtfully written article on Equities.com entitled Why the Solar Roadways Project on Indiegogo is Actually Really Silly lays out a number of well-rounded arguments from the point of view of the established solar industry.

Yes, despite what anyone may or may not think about the “coolness” and/or plausibility of having solar-power-generating roads, there is an army of well-financed, highly motivated, extremely intelligent individuals and companies racing against the clock in search of better, cheaper, more efficient solar solutions for the “virtually endless supply of places you could install solar panels that DON’T have cars driving over them.”

Anderson’s “nail in the coffin” seems to be this statement:
“…the Brusaws have been unable to secure any piece of the more-than $2 billion a year spent on solar research and development around the world (more than $1 billion a year in the United States). Probably because there’s too many more-practical, more-promising investments to be made to seriously consider this pipe dream.” 
Well, with our experience of bureaucrats and government programs, we’re not surprised if that be the case, regardless of how feasible the concept may or may not be. That’s more a question of the sophistication of the applicants and their contacts or ability to contract a professional lobbyist (or someone who specializes in applying for government grants and other funding programs).

Still, the fact remains that this idea, for better or for worse, seems to touch a chord in people: some for the good, others for the bad.

Strangely, when it comes to ecosystems, we see very little in the nature of such contradiction. Very few people we have ever encountered seem to think bringing ecosystems back into our lives in a meaningful way is anything less than a brilliant prospect.

Perhaps it’s because everyone, deep down, feels an instinctive longing to reconnect with that part of themselves which aligns with harmony and mutual symbiosis—with each other; with the planet. Perhaps it’s as simple as a deep-felt longing to recover what was lost when industrialization and technology began wiping nature from our minds, lives and the surface of the planet.

In any case, what our experience tells us is this: no matter what kind of road we take moving forward—solar powered or otherwise—we would all do well to listen to our intuition and deepest instincts of connection if we hope to encounter innovations like Solar Roadways and simply know, intuitively and instinctually, if they are “good ideas” or not. 

Ecosystems can help us align with that deeper, higher centre of ourselves.

For more YouTube videos for and against Solar Roadways, click the image below:

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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Ecosystems, Entrainment, & YOU…
Meet Choronobiology & Biomusicology

“Man, brain, heart electromagnetic field” 

Hopefully we don’t have to go over what an ecosystem is. By now one would hope most people have a grasp of the concept. Of course, from Genesis Eco Fund’s perspective, in addition to what everyone else says it is, to us an ecosystem is also a superorganism which generates a field of harmony and mutual symbiosis…a field of love.

So what is “entrainment,” and what does it have to do with ecosystems? For that, let’s switch from tell to show:

Video: Synchronization of Metronomes 
Credit: Harvard Natural Sciences Lecture Demonstrations

With a video like this It’s easy to see what entrainment is: in this case the shift from diverse to uniform oscillation. (There are MANY versions of this experiment available to watch on You Tube. We chose this one because it’s affiliation with Harvard lends it a bit of credibility in the eyes of sceptics and trolls.)

According to Wikipedia, Entrainment the above video demonstrates Entrainment in physics, or the process where two interacting oscillating systems assume the same period. However, it may refer to a number of additional phenomenon, most notably for our discussion:
1.    Entrainment (chronobiology), the alignment of a circadian system's period and phase to the period and phase of an external rhythm
2.    Entrainment (biomusicology), the synchronization of organisms to an external rhythm including such phenomenon as:
   a.    Brainwave entrainment (entraining one's brainwaves to a desired frequency) 
   b.    Lexical entrainment, the process in conversational linguistics of the subject adopting the terms of their interlocutor
Source: Wikipedia, Entrainment

So today’s article is going to look at each of these phenomenon and hypothesize the effects of an ecosystem based on the established science. 

1. Ecosystems, Entrainment & Chronobiology

According to Wikipedia,

“Chronobiology is a field of biology that examines periodic (cyclic) phenomena in living organisms and their adaptation to solar- and lunar-related rhythms.[1] These cycles are known as biological rhythms.”
Image: Biological clock human

“Entrainment, within the study of chronobiology, occurs when rhythmic physiological or behavioral events match their period and phase to that of an environmental oscillation. A common example is the entrainment of circadian rhythms to the daily light–dark cycle, which ultimately is determined by the Earth's rotation. The term entrainment is justified because the biological rhythms are endogenous: They persist when the organism is isolated from periodic environmental cues. Of the several possible cues, called zeitgebers (German for 'time-givers', 'synchronizers'), which can contribute to entrainment, bright light is by far the most effective. Exercise may also play a role in determining circadian rhythm.”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrainment_%28chronobiology%29

HYPOTHESIS #1:  Ecosystems should help you sleep better.

An ecosystem, as a superorganism, will be Chrono biologically entrained to the natural rhythms of the planet, and this will be reflected in its electromagnetic field. Anyone in this field will experience some degree of chronobiological entrainment by proxy. Circadian rhythms will have a tendency to normalize and individuals should be able to sleep better.

2. Ecosystems, Entrainment & Biomusicology

According to Wikipedia,
“Entrainment in the biomusicological sense refers to the synchronization of organisms to an external rhythm, usually produced by other organisms with whom they interact socially. Examples include firefly flashing,[citation needed]mosquito wing clapping,[1] as well as human music and dance such as foot tapping.”  
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrainment_(biomusicology)

An example of this includes brainwave entrainment, so popular in the New Age movement and even Self-Help circles. Here is a sample:

Video: 1 Hour Theta Brainwave Entrainment Binaural Beats 8 Hz - "Good for learning new Information" 

If you actually follow the advice in the video and try it out (headphones work best), it is unquestionable that the frequencies in the audio are having an effect on your brain. The real question is what if any long-term benefits are you gaining from this? Or is it just a nice way to relax and “cleanse” the mind of all the garbage it accumulated through the day/week.

We are not here to debate the metaphysical benefits of such “meditation technology,” but rather ask the poignant question: is aligning a natural and biological organism to a mechanical (synthesized) frequency really the right way to go?

HYPOTHESIS #2 a):  Ecosystems are the BEST for your brain.

Clinical studies have been done into the calming/healing power of nature sounds. If follows that any biomusical entrainment experienced with a superorganism whose energy frequency is in a constant state of balancing and achievement of optimal function for every organism within it, it follows that any human being (and brain) in the affective zone of said reach will likewise benefit.

Another example of biomusicological entrainment is lexical entrainment, or the tendency to pick-up on and mimic—if not adopt outright—the speech patterns and tendencies of others in social situations. The problem? Disagreements can quickly escalate into arguments if each individual begins getting caught up in the other’s hostility.

Think of a ping-pong match which starts out fairly calm and benign, but quickly escalates into an all-out war.

HYPOTHESIS #2 b):  Ecosystems are the BEST for your relationships.

Be it in the home or in the workplace, if there is a superior enveloping field of love, the tendency for individuals to be afflicted by hostility—and effected by the hostility of others—is reduced. The soothing, calming influence of the entraining effects of the ecosystem act as a buffer, a balm if you will, and a moderating force taking the edge off otherwise tense human interactions.

What’s Next?

Experience it for yourself.

Yes, Genesis Eco Fund has committed itself to promoting and conducting research into ecosystems and their effects on human beings. And we will continually update our blog and website with related research information when it becomes available.

Ultimately, the best way to know for sure if you, your family and/or your organization can benefit from having an ecosystem in your life is to try it. See the difference entrainment and ecosystems have in your life. 

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Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Earthquakes VS Advanced Human Habitat:
Humanity…Stirred, Not Shaken

Image Collage by Genesis Eco Fund: House
Image Collage by Genesis Eco Fund: House

"The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles…hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worldwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages…the planet isn’t going anywhere. WE ARE!"

Video: San Andreas Official Teaser Trailer #1 (2015) – Dwayne Johnson Movie HD

Well, now that Hollywood and one of the 20th Century’s premiere stand-up comedians and social commentators have spoken, let’s give the scientists a turn…

Ross Stein is a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey in California, who studies how earthquakes interact by the transfer of stress. He wants everyone to be able to learn what their seismic risk is.

He very much believes that when it comes to earthquakes, at least, humans can stand a chance, if only we built our dwellings better.

TEDTalk (Video): Defeating Earthquakes: Ross Stein at TEDxBermuda

Cindy Ebinger is currently a Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Rochester. She studied oceanography at MIT, earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences at MIT, and geology at Duke University.

In the following TED Talk, Professor Ebinger expounds the importance of connections and connectivity when it comes to increasing our awareness of the planet as a whole entity.

TEDTalk (Video): Connections, Volcanoes, and Earthquakes: Cindy Ebinger at TEDxAllendaleColumbiaSchool

Now, the cynic might argue that all this still does not solve the fundamental issue at hand—humanity’s disconnectedness from the planet and from nature itself. To fulfill the role of cynic, we once again give the floor to the late, great George Carlin…


Image George Carlin on Nature (Quote)

In other words, what good is detecting and “defeating” earthquakes if humanity remains on the same trajectory it’s been on? Preservation of life only makes sense if that life is living in harmony and symbiosis with the ecosystem.

That is why Advanced Human Habitat has to be more than just “earthquake proof.” It has to be “ego-proof” (as much as a dwelling or building can affect such things). It must nurture and encourage our reconnection with the environment, even as it shelters us from it. Advanced Human Habitat must strengthen our relationship with nature even as it protects us from the worst nature can throw at us.

That is why Advanced Human Habitat has (and must have) ecosystems.  And, as depicted by Hollywood and expressed by noted scientists, must also be conscious of the planet and its other connections, behaviours, history and tendencies. It must exude an awareness in its choice of materials and how they relate to the environment in which they are being used. 

Image: Earthquake-Safe Houses & Materials 
Credit: National Geographic Magazine

The bottom line is this: When it comes to Advanced Human Habitat:
  • It’s about more than just surviving, it’s about thriving.
  • It’s not just about economics, it’s about SEEconomics.
  • It’s more than just a shaken humanity …it’s about a humanity stirred.
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Thursday, March 12, 2015

The Natural PATH to ‘Smart Cities’ 
takes Advanced Human Habitat on the Road

Image Collage by Gensis Eco Fund: The Natural PATH to Smart Cities 


Recently, Upworthy posted an article entitled I never realized how dumb our cities are until I saw what a smart one looks like. The blog post included snippets and commentary about a 20-minute report by CBC News, The National on “How Cities Make us Sick.” We have included the complete video, below.

Video: How Cities Make Us Sick 

Now, we are not refuting the questioning of so-called “obesogenic environments;” that is, cities being designed around cars, fundamentally antithetical to regular physical activity, and essentially major contributors to the obesity epidemic.

However, better transportation does not a healthy city make. And the idea that a ‘smart city’ is one which promotes physical activity is just another in a long series of oversimplifications and ‘magic-bullet’ solutions that humanity is so enamoured by and prone to fall for—until they reveal their inadequacies.

If we take a biomimetic, ecosystem view (and at Genesis Eco Fund we know there is no better approach to take to solve questions of environment and human health, since inherent human health is defined by biology, environment and natural law), we must look at a community at a more fundamental level.

A community is an ecosystem--a super-organism—which is itself a collection of smaller organisms. Expressed on a smaller scale, a community is a functioning organ made up of many smaller cells. The overall health of the organ is dependent on the health of its cells. True, a handful of cells can be damaged or diseased without the organ collapsing; but a cascading mass failure of cells will result in organ failure.

Now, it is also true that organs have inter-cellular systems, including transport and energy systems. And, it is also true that failure of these systems can also produce organ failure: for instance, blockage of an artery in the heart will most likely result in a heart attack. It so happens in the case of the heart that transportation is a primary key to heart health. But free-flowing arteries do not alone make a healthy heart. What if, for instance, the blood cells themselves are diseased?

This is the point we are discussing here today. While it could be argued that the movement of people from A to B is a primary necessity of a well-functioning city, what if the people being moved from A to B are “sick?” So here we return to the first premise, that the chosen mode of transportation in most cities—the automobile—promotes obesity.

But this is still only looking at one aspect of the city…transportation. What about the health of the rest of the environment these ‘blood cells’—people—spend their time?

What about toxic sick buildings? What about stressful home, work, school, healthcare environments? No matter how much time we travel to and fro within the city, we spend far more time at various destinations than we do on the journey. To say that a smart city is defined solely by its transportation system ignores the cellular nature of all cities. If people are literally “the lifeblood” of a city, their home, office, school, etc. are the other “cells” they nourish (and are nourished by). Getting them from one cell to the next is an afterthought.

Ecosystems create Advanced Human Habitats—cleaner air, more relaxing, less stressful living spaces, spaces of harmony and symbiosis which boost mental function, psychological wellbeing, energy, vitality and immune system. You’re going to eat much healthier and make healthier lifestyle choices once you live in Advanced Human Habitat…because the environment supports Advanced Humans.

Video: Fitch Street Living Wall EcoSystem 6-Month Update

Want people to walk more and ride their bicycles in Toronto, even in the dead of winter? Make more underground walkways and cycling paths and line them with rainforest ecosystems. Just imagine riding your bike to work past an ecosystem like the one above. It’s not as expensive to do walkways and cycle paths as it is road tunnels or subways, and the health and wellness benefits are many.

These underground walkways (like the PATH, downtown) are also much cooler in the summer (the ecosystem will help with that), and it will be that much easier for someone to hop on a bike or trike and ride across town when they are in a refreshing cool transportation artery when it’s 30 degrees Celsius and humid above ground.     

Image: PATH, Toronto 

(There has been talk of expanding the PATH, like this article from 2011 in The Globe and Mail: Toronto mulls plan to expand world's longest underground shopping complex. )

And when you arrive at work or at school? Imagine being greeted with the same refreshing, clean, oxygenating, relaxing, rejuvenating atmosphere as your ecosystem-lined “PATH” was.

Just imagine how incredible that would be.

And how ‘smart.’

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Thursday, March 5, 2015

From NASA’s Air Pollution Video to K-Cups:
Macro to Micro to Macro, we’re All Connected

Video: NASA Animation Shows Asian Air Pollution Moving Across the Globe
“The indigenous understanding has its basis of spirituality in a recognition of the interconnectedness and interdependence of all living things, a holistic and balanced view of the world. All things are bound together. All things connect. What happens to the Earth happens to the children of the earth. Humankind has not woven the web of life; we are but one thread. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.”
You don’t have to be a member of a Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, or indigenous tradition to know of the interconnectivity and interdependence of all things. As a matter of fact, you don’t even need to be spiritually inclined at all to recognize this most ancient and universal tenet as a scientifically verified and verifiable fact. Indeed, the above video from NASA should make it clear: on this planet, at least, we’re all in this together…we are all connected.

If you want to see just how deep that interconnectedness runs, there is an excellent article on the topic at: http://www.starstuffs.com/physcon/connected.html.

For today’s discussion, we want to keep it more on a macrocosmic level—that is, limit it to our planet and the ways in which actions in any one region affect the whole.

We know that pollution spreads. The above video by NASA—revealing how aerosol particulates move through the atmosphere—shows how in this case air currents carry pollution to other parts of the planet.

What’s particularly interesting in this case is how this type of airborne particulate matter may be contributing to climate change in unexpected ways. Water vapour in the atmosphere collects around airborne particulates and results in precipitation. More particulates; more precipitation. If those particulates have a certain chemical composition, they may react with the water and result in a solution such as acid rain.

In any case, the pollution is returned to the earth in unexpected locations and ways; namely, as dissolved particulates in water…that goes straight into soil, streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. The water cycle drives all life as we know it on this planet, and anything that’s dissolved in water goes where the liquid water flows…including the bodies of plants, animals and ultimately humans.

Image: Pollution in the Water Cycle 
Credit: Quiksilver Foundation 

It’s very much a case of macro ecological disturbances having very real negative effects at the micro-level of individual human health and wellness.

In a very real sense, the planet earth has its own circulatory and respiratory systems. What we treat as unconscious physical systems (weather patterns, climate) are in fact part of a living breathing megaorganism…if ecosystems can be called superorganism, then a collective ecosystem of ecosystems on a planetary scale is mega indeed. 

But the mega is not immune to micro disturbances; at least, not in the aggregate macro effects. As discussed in The Attlas Project – SEE The World in a New Light:
“The question is not whether there are micro causes that have macro effects.  The real question is what micro opportunities do we seize today that will lead to positive macro effects in the future?”
This is just something we can feel in our gut. (Literally, if anyone has ever had a stomach infection). The point is: if it’s true for positive micro opportunities, then the same is true for negative micro disturbances. It explains why the inventor of the K-Cup, John Sylvan, now regrets having done so.

Originally invented for use in offices and other places where the efficiency and convenience of being able to brew a single-serve coffee out of a small plastic cup seemed to make practical sense, the single-serve disposable coffee-pod phenomenon has ballooned into a behemoth of a multi-billion dollar industry, in which personal taste and convenience drives the bulk of sales, and what critics call an environmental catastrophe.

Keurig K-Cups are non-recyclable, and an estimated 30 billion plastic K-Cups now litter the planet, mostly in land-fills, but also no doubt in the floating plastic debris field in the Pacific Ocean. (What is true for particulates and global air currents is equally true for plastic and global oceanic currents).

It even prompted one group to express their distaste in short film format…

Video: Kill the KCup 

Most everyone likes a good action drama flick. But sadly, humanity has a tendency to make life mimic art versus the other way ‘round. We need to wake up to the fact that there is no such thing as “an isolated incident,” or a “contained ecological disaster.” Likewise, the little choices we make day in and day out affect all of us.

Genesis Eco Fund believes wholeheartedly that the key to bringing the all-important reality of global interconnectivity and interdependence back into the consciousness of society is to bring micro examples of that interconnectivity and interdependence back into people’s lives…ecosystems.

You would never toss your used K-Cup into the ecosystem in your home, workplace, or school. Maybe, just maybe, that in and of itself will get you to start reconsidering tossing that used K-Cup at all…and maybe relax and spend a special moment actually enjoying a fresh-brewed pot of coffee together with family, colleagues, etc. in the interconnected and interdependent company of an ecosystem.

It’s definitely a positive micro opportunity that has potentially profound macro effects. 


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Thursday, February 26, 2015

Race to the FINISHED Line?
“Racing Extinction” does more than Ask Tough Questions

Image: Racing Extinction: it’s not a spectator sport anymore

“My goal is to make a film that doesn't just create awareness, but inspires people to get motivated to change this insane path we're on. Films to me aren't just entertainment -- they are for me the most powerful weapon in the world, a weapon of mass construction.”
~ Louie Psihoyos

Weapons of mass construction. A Contradiction in terms, or the coolest term ever? We at Genesis Eco Fund love it, together with Louie Psihoyos, the Academy Award-Winning Director of “The Cove” and Executive Director of the Oceanic Preservation Society.

His latest project, “Racing Extinction” (formerly entitled “6”) goes further than most activist documentaries about exploitation of the natural world. It not only takes action, it documents the actions being taken and shows the world—in an exercise of modern guerilla-media warfare—the err of its ways. 

Video: “Racing Extinction” Official Festival Trailer by Oceanic Preservation Society

Is it effective? Will it ultimately make a difference? Or is it too little, too late? When asked by The Dodo, How bad is it really?  Psihoyos replied, “One paleontologist told me that WWII will be a footnote in human history compared to the current loss of biodiversity that our generation is presiding over.” Source: https://www.thedodo.com/if-the-cove-inspired-you-wait--524234729.html

Translation: Bad. Really bad.

According to Psihoyos, we could lose half of the species on the planet by the end of the century. And although this will not be the first mass extinction to happen in the planet’s history, it will be the first that is caused by human behaviour.

Whether or not this is the case, only time will tell.  The more immediate impact of Psihoyos’ work—on The Cove, Racing Extinction and OPS—is its revelatory value; what the threat of such mass human-caused ecological and genetic devastation reveals about humanity’s appalling relationship with nature.

We all know about humanity’s dismal track record of environmental exploitation, going back thousands of years. But what Psihoyos and his colleagues manage to achieve is show us that things have not improved in many places in the world. If anything, population growth has all but guaranteed that things have gotten much, much worse than they ever were before.

The technology and large scale machinery for the wholesale destruction of species has never been as advanced as it is today; neither the potential profits for individuals and groups participating in the trade of threatened creatures—including but in no way limited to sharks.

And let’s not forget that much of the trade in threatened species is built on a cultural foundation of traditions stretching back thousands of years. Combined with booming population growth and middle class aspirations of material wealth, it is inevitable that demands will be met with supply, as long as that supply is available…no matter the cost.

Such short-sightedness is but one of the many tragedies of the intellectual animal which calls itself “human.”

How do we turn things around?

Psihoyos suggests:

“1. Get your home, school, places of work and worship, and government buildings off of fossil fuels ASAP
2. Explore a plant-based diet

3. Tell everyone you know to see this film
  
The solutions are all upgrades. I've been driving an electric car for five years, and it never goes into the shop because there's only one moving part in the engine -- the rotor -- which lasts forever. I power it with solar panels, I don't pay for gas; in fact, my whole house and studio is powered by the sun. My license plate says “VUS” which stands for Vehicle Using Sun -- it's the opposite of an SUV. My local electric company (which OPS has been working fervently to overthrow) pays us to produce electricity because we generate 140% more energy than we use.” Source: https://www.thedodo.com/if-the-cove-inspired-you-wait--524234729.html

Genesis Eco Fund proposes you look at getting an ecosystem for your home, office/workplace, and school.

Any dog owner with will agree it is all but impossible for them to eat dog. Likewise, someone who had a pet rabbit will likely turn their nose up at rabbit stew. This is because of the deep relationship they have with their pet—and by extension pets in general. 

Living in an ecosystem one becomes more conscious of—and sensitive to—the intrinsic value of nature and ecological systems. One has a much greater appreciation of fish, for instance, when one sees how their lives support the lives of plants in an ecosystem; and, conversely, how the plants support the fish. One appreciates snails as more than escargots when one sees them eagerly cleaning the ecosystem of algae.

An ecosystem is a living, breathing microcosm of the planet as a whole. Being a part of that microcosm gives one a visceral, experiential appreciation for the whole that no intellectual or conceptual argument can match.

Yes, a film can provoke strong emotions and trigger change, but an ecosystem in your life is there always: day in and day out, like a nagging Mother Nature reminding you to make your bed and wash behind your ears, it’s not easily ignored, let alone forgotten.

And so while we applaud the efforts of Louis Psihoyos and others who devote their lives to powerful cinematic reminders—these tools of mass construction—it takes more than a blueprint and a business plan to actually build the future we want. Those 90 minutes, no matter how powerful they are, need to be backed up by real substance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week…in other words, ongoing immersion in a space of love.

That is the power of an ecosystem to enact sustainable long term positive change in peoples’ lives. The kind of sustained changes in attitudes and life choices Louis Psihoyos and his colleagues hope to be able to spark.


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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Artificial Womb from Science Fiction gives birth to Science Fact

(…in a bucket of artificial amniotic fluid and bioethical controversy)

Video: Artificial Wombs(Uterus):The End of Natural Motherhood? The Matrix Begins?
“The future is rosy for bioethicists.”
The revelation that Japanese scientists had incubated goat fetuses in an artificial womb (ectogenesis) using a technique known as extrauterine fetal incubation (EUFI) was first reported in the New York Times in 1996.

Interestingly, the first installment in the wildly popular film franchise The Matrix was released in 1999, just three years after the New York Times article. And one cannot deny the eerie similarity between the design & functionality of the artificial wombs used by Japanese researchers and those depicted in The Matrix films.

Does this mean science fact gave birth to science fiction?

Image Collage by Genesis: Which Artificial Womb came First: Sci-Fi or Sci-Fact?

Well, Aldous Huxley had the jump on this one, actually:
''One by one the eggs were transferred from their test-tubes to the larger containers; deftly the peritoneal lining was slit, the morula dropped into place, the saline solution poured . . . and already the bottle had passed on through an opening in the wall, slowly on into the Social Predestination Room.'' - Aldous Huxley, ''Brave New World.'' 
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/29/magazine/the-artificial-womb-is-born.html
Here at Genesis, we do not think of ourselves as naïve. We know that materialist science is barrelling forward in directions which have potentially catastrophic consequences for individual living beings, ecosystems, the environment and this humanity and the planet as a whole. That’s just a fact. (Nuclear weapons, et al).

But at Genesis, we are concerned with matters which penetrate the veil of material reality. We know that the foundation of the physical world is not physical, and that the things that truly matter to man and beast alike lie beneath the veneer of what appears to us as a very solid foundation of everything.

And even though science knows this, it takes a stubbornly materialistic, reductive, secular and ultimately cold-hearted perspective on energy, quantum physics, consciousness. That somehow, although we know physical reality is built from these non-physical building blocks, they are somehow still regarded as inferior; disrespected, in essence, by the intellect which—if we’re honest—wants to know everything and be the centre of our universe. 

That’s because the intellect is the ego. Science likes to “play God” because the ego wants to “be godlike.” 

Don’t believe us? How else does one explain the position of UK bioethicist Anna Smajdor of the University of East Anglia, who believes that pregnancy and childbirth is a barbaric illness which lasts nine months and is occasionally fatal; an illness which should not be tolerated in a truly liberal society:
“Changes to financial and social structures may improve things marginally, but a better solution needs to be found. Either we view women as baby carriers who must subjugate their other interests to the well-being of their children or we acknowledge that our social values and level of medical expertise are no longer compatible with “natural” reproduction.”
Source: http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/is-pregnancy-unethical-yes-says-uk-bioethicist/question-2491463/ originally from an article in Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, January
Ummm…and what about the babies? Where are there rights in all of this? How is it ethical to deny a baby the gestation within the womb? 

Here we see how the intersection of materialist science and liberal intellectualism hit head on to create the conditions which can result in catastrophic cascading effects. The assumption that ectogenesis can be “perfected” is entirely materialistic, mechanical, biological. It assumes that human beings are sacks of ectoplasmic goo surrounded by skin. It denies human beings their essentiality true nature: love.

The fallacious materialist scientific assertion that mind, emotions and love are born out of the physical realm and are by-products of material reality (genetic predisposition and environmental factors) is what allows a scientist to deny the fetus any capacity for mental, emotional well-being and to feel love. Only such a cold-hearted intellectual conclusion could conceive of denying a developing baby the essential connection between it and its mother, and the space of love of the womb (which is BOTH the mother’s womb AND the child’s womb).

Luckily, not everyone think as Ms. Smajdor.
“I would argue that God in her wisdom created pregnancy so Moms and babies could develop a relationship before birth, says Alan Fleischman, professor of pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, who directed the neonatal program at Montefiore Medical Center for 20 years.”
Unfortunately, we cannot be naïve. It won't be long (relatively speaking) before fertility clinics begin offering this "service" to women and Homosexual male couples. At first they will offer it to women with ovarian cancer or who have had their uterus removed, in other words, any of the many medical reasons why couples have turned to surrogate mothers. However, when wealthy models, actresses, musicians (or just self-conscious women) see this technology available, there will be cases of women who choose this method over traditional pregnancy for self-serving reasons.

Such babies will not be breastfed, for obvious reasons, and the long term psychological impacts on children "produced" this way will be catastrophic. They will have so little sense, so little feeling of what it means to be a human being...their psyche will be utterly mechanical: easily programmable by the system.

And that is exactly what Aldus Huxley predicted.

As for The Matrix, it uses ectogenesis, malevolent artificial intelligence and hypnotic virtual reality allegorically to tell us something much more significant about ourselves…that we are already in The Matrix. And the ego-intellect is the mechanical intelligence inside of us responsible for every technological terror humanity has ever devised. 

The technology of ectogenesis happens to be one of the most terrifying; an atrocity of the highest order magnitude…one capable of robbing newborns in development of the most precious, important and essential nutrients required for life…the impressions of a loving, caring, nurturing space of mutual harmony and symbiosis…a space of love.

Intellectual animals “produced” in this way will be even more callous, mechanical, heartless than we already are. Ecosystems? Harmony? The Environment? What do any of these things matter to a biological machine produced on an ectogenetic assembly line? Nothing. 

But this is the perfect technology for fulfilling many another dark, ghastly sci-fi vision: from Sauraman’s army of fiercely loyal Uruk-Hai  in The Two Towers to Palpatine’s Clone Army of Stormtroopers.

Video: The creation of the first and badass Uruk-hai, Lurtz- Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 

Video: Begun the clone war has.... 

Take your pick. There’s no shortage of real-life examples and dystopian visions of what atrocities humanity is capable of when we allow materialist science, technology and “liberal intellectualism” (a clever euphemism for egotistical self-interest) to run amok.


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