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BY FELIPE VIVEROS
“If the doors of perception were cleansed,
everything will appear to man as it is, infinite.”
-William Blake
Overview
The inspiration for exploring the subject of growing entelechy came through while studying Johann W. Goethe’s botanical research. I was fascinated by a specific moment in a seed’s evolutionary journey --it’s sprouting. The word entelechy comes from Aristotle who combined the word entheles (complete, full-growth) with echein or hexis (to be certain way by the continuing effort of holding on in that condition), while at the same time punning on endelecheia (persistence) by inserting telos (completion) (Sachs 1995). This process was described as entelechy, in the words of biologist Margaret Colquhon, entelechy is “an idea in action, spirit in action, the life force in plants and all life” (personal communication, September 2012). Seeing a seed sprouting (while studying Whole Systems Ecology at Pishwanton: A Scottish Center for Goethean Science and Art) through the lenses of entelechy, helped me realise that life is an interdependent evolutionary journey, which is both intelligent and full of spirit. Contemplating life’s complex systems dynamics is critical to comprehend our purpose within the larger whole, and challenge the dominating narrative of scientific materialism that until now has managed to systematically impose a dualistic and mechanistic way to experience reality and the more than human world.
Introduction
"The human being knows himself only insofar as he knows the world; he perceives the world only in himself, and himself only in the world. Every new object, clearly seen, opens up a new organ of perception in us."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Rethinking the way we do Science, so it attunes us with Nature in order to regain connection with the more than human world, is one of the major challenges we face nowadays – our current scientific paradigm is out of touch from the intrinsic qualities immanent to life. Life in its multitude of forms has naturally arisen from, and constantly adapted to a changing environment, to live in harmony with Gaia for approximately 4,6 billion years. Throughout the living world we encounter beauty and collaboration, one of balance, reciprocity and coexistence.
We as humans have these intrinsic qualities as well, but we are all too often driven by our rational mind and intellect resulting in separation, competition, individualism and greed. Therefore we have majorly disturbed the equilibrium of the planet, and so we find ourselves more than ever before, with an urgent need to unlearn, deconstruct and transform civilization as we know it. Transition pathways should begin informed by the realisation of the existential threats we collectively face, and the urgent need for an ontoshift, a shift in the way we ‘know the world’. Only then we will be able to develop more just and noble approaches that centre life; thus paving the way towards a new era of greater symbiosis and harmony.
Western science though seems to be catching up with the times and has recently experienced major breakthroughs that have challenged the view of the world as a static, inert machine. The appearance of quantum physics theory and the discovery of DNA, which revealed the “secret of life” (Watson 1980,p.115) are helping mainstream Science to change. For Brian Goodwin (2007): "There are moments in the development of cultures when a window suddenly opens on to quite new possibilities that arise unexpectedly from within the culture itself, often in times of apparent darkness and difficulty" (p.11). Perhaps the polycrisis will help as a catalyst and change the way we view and experience the world, giving rise to a new more holistic paradigm?
Moreover, modern Science has taken the role religion once had because “until the seventeenth century, the Western world picture was not set by science but by religion” (Wertheim, p.6). Hence Science is now the foundation of our worldviews and that’s why developing a Science of Qualities is fundamental.
Since ancient times, maths, along with religion, have been used as a language to describe the world that is somehow integrated: “First in ancient Greece, and again in mediaeval Europe, mathematically based science emerged from a tradition that associated numbers with divinity” (Ibid). The Greeks in an attempt to find the order in the chaos, started the split between the seen and the unseen: or the world of the Gods (mythos), and our earthly reality (logos). Ever since, we have wanted to master nature, to become Gods ourselves, or as Descartes asserted: "we could make ourselves masters and possessors of nature" (Bantam, p.37).
Going forth trying to trace what are the problems of modern science, we find that we have lost sight of the original quest for knowledge and prediction and control, have become “ends in themselves…When science loses sight of the purposes of its calculations, and when calculations become ends in themselves then science becomes monstrous”(Robinson, p.113).
The dominant Newton-Cartesian view of the Universe as a dead machine becomes obsolete when our worldview is one that recognizes the dynamic complex reality of life; human beings have emotions, dreams, and most relevantly, a psyche – aspects of being human that are as useful as our arms and legs (Orr, 1994). By ignoring such intangible aspects of our humanity we have become disconnected from nature. This has spread all over the modern world, specially in the last 400 years; imposing itself onto ancient animistic views which believe that the world has a soul. Alienating ourselves from nature and its/our soul is taking its toll: “14% of the global population suffers neuropsychiatric conditions, one million people die due to suicide every year which is the third leading cause of death among young people”(WHC). Our technology is so powerful that we have the capacity to propel ourselves into outer space, penetrate deep inside matter, clone life, geoengineer the weather; and bewilder at the birth of supernovas and stars in distant universes.
We have become Gods like beings but failed miserably at realising heaven upon Earth. Instead we have waged war on ourselves, and consequently to Gaia; our only precious home. Humanity has used science since time immemorial to understand phenomena and make sense of the world. Science can and has been a force of change, but only if it is grounded in holistic principles of common good, justice and interdependence.
Canadian mathematician and biologist Brian Goodwin was able to foresee that we can do science otherwise and realised that modern science can also be a ‘healing science’, a space where emotion and intuition rank equally with rational analysis of natural phenomena. Goodwin’s aim was to lead science from an amoral notion of control, to an ethical sense of participation in the unfolding story of life on Earth.
For science as a whole to evolve, it desperately needs to start integrating some of the missing parts like the anima mundi or soul of the Earth, and let go of their abject materialistic notions.
A Science of Qualities
For instance, let us have a look at a definition of spirit: “The vital principle or animating force traditionally believed to be within living beings” (Am. Heritage Dict. 1178). This word meaning “the vital principle” is derived from the Latin spiritus for “breath”and spirarae for “to breathe”. Where there is the vitality of life, of being, there is a sense of breath, of respiration—of spirit moving in and out, back and forth (Emery, p.2).
Indian philosopher and activist Satish Kumar, often shares a similar insight: “when we realise that we share the same air, that we are breathing together, we realise also that we are all connected, we are all related” (Satish Kumar, fireside chat, Schumacher College Library, October 2012). In this way, human beings can become an integral part of nature, a part of the whole, instead of thinking we are the centre. In order to better understand the way we belong together, we have to start seeing reality with new and fresh eyes. Like Johanne W. Goethe did many years back, we need to develop a more naturalistic way of doing science; and in this way we ourselves become an instrument of observation –something I was able to personally experience while studying the life of plants at Pishwanton in Scotland.
Until now scientific studies have been mainly observing phenomena under artificial conditions, i.e. in laboratories. But according to renowned Ecologist Stephan Harding, only when we go’ inside’ [the Earth] and see the world “through the lenses of Goethean science, [a science of entelechy] as if for the first time, mental impressions and emotions complement the hard facts, thus bringing a fuller more complete understanding of the complexity of living-and-breathing forest.”
Following the kind guidance of evolutionary biologist, Doctor Margaret Coloquhoun, I went on to explore the burgeoning medicinal garden at Pishwanton. Once there, I found myself drawn to two very distinct specimens: a tiny little wild blue flower [forget-me -not] and a milk thistle. To my amazement, the sudden sight of a couple of colourful butterflies enjoying the delicious pollen of the thistle, became a meaningful sign that helped me choose the thistle over the forget-me-not flower.
The weather that day was lush and the sun shone bright and warm, inviting us to take part in the dynamic dance of life. For a moment, as if kronos (chronological time) had suddenly stopped, all became one (the weather, myself, the bumblebees, the fragrances, the sun), enabling me to literally “hear" a message being conveyed through the plant. On the periphery of my mind I was also aware of a constant hum of machinery in a neighbouring field, exalting the preciousness of it all. Suddenly I felt an uncontrollable impulse to communicate with the plant, that lead my hand from drawing the thistle to transcribe the message I was receiving into words:
“The wind blows, a butterfly tightens her grip of the flower, closing her wings. The clouds let the Sun lighten the garden of life: where the invisible mighty thistle dies and lives forever. Uniting the heart-minds of bumblebees, humans and the Sun, with her purple fragrance.”
Only for an instant, I was able to see a glimpse of something that the ordinary eyes cannot, something “ it could not be grasped by our bodily eyes, to be sure, but could very well be grasped by the eyes of the spirit” (p.232). paraphrasing Austrian scholar Rudolf Steiner. Keeping these ‘internal’ eyes open, helps us develop a sense of interrelatedness with nature, a sense of wholeness. If we were able to better understand the dynamics of the living world, letting our innate wisdom and entelechy arise, we would be freed from the bounds of our mind.
Let us hope we can remember in time what our innate wisdom is desperately trying to tell us—and let us be guided by it. Like the Japanese poet Ryokan said: “The rain has stopped, the clouds have drifted away, and the weather is clear again. If your heart is pure, then all things in your world are pure…Then the moon and flowers will guide you along the Way (Stevens, 2006).” And thus, having experienced the wisdom of plants through the lenses of entelechy, has allowed me to relate to the living world in an entirely different way, deeply alive and interdependent.
Reference List
Bortoft,H.(1996).The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe’s Way Towards Participation in Nature.Hudson, NY:Lindisfarne Books
Colquhoun, M. & Ewald, A. (1996).New Eyes for Plants: A workbook for observing and drawing plants. Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
Ereira, A. (1990).The Heart of the World.London, UK:Jonathan Cape Ltd.
Goodwin,B.(2007). Nature’s Due: Healing our Fragmented Culture.Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
.Orr, D. (1994).Earth in Mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect.
Washington, DC: Island Press
Robbins, B.D. (2005). New Organs of Perception: Goethean Science as a Cultural Therapeutics. Janus Head, 8(1), 113-126. Trivium Publications, Amherst, NY - http://www.janushead.org/8-1/robbins.pdf
Stevens, J. (2006).One robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan.Boston, USA: Weatherhill.
Steiner, R. (1988)Goethean Science.Great Barrington, MA: Anthroposophical Press.
Viveiros de Castro, E. (2012). Culture: the universal animal. http://www.haujournal.org/index.php/masterclass/article/view/107/135 Wertheim,
M. Coloquon (1997). Pythagora’s Trousers: God,Physics, and the Gender Wars.New York:W.W.Norton & Company.
“If the doors of perception were cleansed,
everything will appear to man as it is, infinite.”
-William Blake
Overview
The inspiration for exploring the subject of growing entelechy came through while studying Johann W. Goethe’s botanical research. I was fascinated by a specific moment in a seed’s evolutionary journey --it’s sprouting. The word entelechy comes from Aristotle who combined the word entheles (complete, full-growth) with echein or hexis (to be certain way by the continuing effort of holding on in that condition), while at the same time punning on endelecheia (persistence) by inserting telos (completion) (Sachs 1995). This process was described as entelechy, in the words of biologist Margaret Colquhon, entelechy is “an idea in action, spirit in action, the life force in plants and all life” (personal communication, September 2012). Seeing a seed sprouting (while studying Whole Systems Ecology at Pishwanton: A Scottish Center for Goethean Science and Art) through the lenses of entelechy, helped me realise that life is an interdependent evolutionary journey, which is both intelligent and full of spirit. Contemplating life’s complex systems dynamics is critical to comprehend our purpose within the larger whole, and challenge the dominating narrative of scientific materialism that until now has managed to systematically impose a dualistic and mechanistic way to experience reality and the more than human world.
Introduction
"The human being knows himself only insofar as he knows the world; he perceives the world only in himself, and himself only in the world. Every new object, clearly seen, opens up a new organ of perception in us."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Rethinking the way we do Science, so it attunes us with Nature in order to regain connection with the more than human world, is one of the major challenges we face nowadays – our current scientific paradigm is out of touch from the intrinsic qualities immanent to life. Life in its multitude of forms has naturally arisen from, and constantly adapted to a changing environment, to live in harmony with Gaia for approximately 4,6 billion years. Throughout the living world we encounter beauty and collaboration, one of balance, reciprocity and coexistence.
We as humans have these intrinsic qualities as well, but we are all too often driven by our rational mind and intellect resulting in separation, competition, individualism and greed. Therefore we have majorly disturbed the equilibrium of the planet, and so we find ourselves more than ever before, with an urgent need to unlearn, deconstruct and transform civilization as we know it. Transition pathways should begin informed by the realisation of the existential threats we collectively face, and the urgent need for an ontoshift, a shift in the way we ‘know the world’. Only then we will be able to develop more just and noble approaches that centre life; thus paving the way towards a new era of greater symbiosis and harmony.
Western science though seems to be catching up with the times and has recently experienced major breakthroughs that have challenged the view of the world as a static, inert machine. The appearance of quantum physics theory and the discovery of DNA, which revealed the “secret of life” (Watson 1980,p.115) are helping mainstream Science to change. For Brian Goodwin (2007): "There are moments in the development of cultures when a window suddenly opens on to quite new possibilities that arise unexpectedly from within the culture itself, often in times of apparent darkness and difficulty" (p.11). Perhaps the polycrisis will help as a catalyst and change the way we view and experience the world, giving rise to a new more holistic paradigm?
Moreover, modern Science has taken the role religion once had because “until the seventeenth century, the Western world picture was not set by science but by religion” (Wertheim, p.6). Hence Science is now the foundation of our worldviews and that’s why developing a Science of Qualities is fundamental.
Since ancient times, maths, along with religion, have been used as a language to describe the world that is somehow integrated: “First in ancient Greece, and again in mediaeval Europe, mathematically based science emerged from a tradition that associated numbers with divinity” (Ibid). The Greeks in an attempt to find the order in the chaos, started the split between the seen and the unseen: or the world of the Gods (mythos), and our earthly reality (logos). Ever since, we have wanted to master nature, to become Gods ourselves, or as Descartes asserted: "we could make ourselves masters and possessors of nature" (Bantam, p.37).
Going forth trying to trace what are the problems of modern science, we find that we have lost sight of the original quest for knowledge and prediction and control, have become “ends in themselves…When science loses sight of the purposes of its calculations, and when calculations become ends in themselves then science becomes monstrous”(Robinson, p.113).
The dominant Newton-Cartesian view of the Universe as a dead machine becomes obsolete when our worldview is one that recognizes the dynamic complex reality of life; human beings have emotions, dreams, and most relevantly, a psyche – aspects of being human that are as useful as our arms and legs (Orr, 1994). By ignoring such intangible aspects of our humanity we have become disconnected from nature. This has spread all over the modern world, specially in the last 400 years; imposing itself onto ancient animistic views which believe that the world has a soul. Alienating ourselves from nature and its/our soul is taking its toll: “14% of the global population suffers neuropsychiatric conditions, one million people die due to suicide every year which is the third leading cause of death among young people”(WHC). Our technology is so powerful that we have the capacity to propel ourselves into outer space, penetrate deep inside matter, clone life, geoengineer the weather; and bewilder at the birth of supernovas and stars in distant universes.
We have become Gods like beings but failed miserably at realising heaven upon Earth. Instead we have waged war on ourselves, and consequently to Gaia; our only precious home. Humanity has used science since time immemorial to understand phenomena and make sense of the world. Science can and has been a force of change, but only if it is grounded in holistic principles of common good, justice and interdependence.
Canadian mathematician and biologist Brian Goodwin was able to foresee that we can do science otherwise and realised that modern science can also be a ‘healing science’, a space where emotion and intuition rank equally with rational analysis of natural phenomena. Goodwin’s aim was to lead science from an amoral notion of control, to an ethical sense of participation in the unfolding story of life on Earth.
For science as a whole to evolve, it desperately needs to start integrating some of the missing parts like the anima mundi or soul of the Earth, and let go of their abject materialistic notions.
A Science of Qualities
For instance, let us have a look at a definition of spirit: “The vital principle or animating force traditionally believed to be within living beings” (Am. Heritage Dict. 1178). This word meaning “the vital principle” is derived from the Latin spiritus for “breath”and spirarae for “to breathe”. Where there is the vitality of life, of being, there is a sense of breath, of respiration—of spirit moving in and out, back and forth (Emery, p.2).
Indian philosopher and activist Satish Kumar, often shares a similar insight: “when we realise that we share the same air, that we are breathing together, we realise also that we are all connected, we are all related” (Satish Kumar, fireside chat, Schumacher College Library, October 2012). In this way, human beings can become an integral part of nature, a part of the whole, instead of thinking we are the centre. In order to better understand the way we belong together, we have to start seeing reality with new and fresh eyes. Like Johanne W. Goethe did many years back, we need to develop a more naturalistic way of doing science; and in this way we ourselves become an instrument of observation –something I was able to personally experience while studying the life of plants at Pishwanton in Scotland.
Until now scientific studies have been mainly observing phenomena under artificial conditions, i.e. in laboratories. But according to renowned Ecologist Stephan Harding, only when we go’ inside’ [the Earth] and see the world “through the lenses of Goethean science, [a science of entelechy] as if for the first time, mental impressions and emotions complement the hard facts, thus bringing a fuller more complete understanding of the complexity of living-and-breathing forest.”
Following the kind guidance of evolutionary biologist, Doctor Margaret Coloquhoun, I went on to explore the burgeoning medicinal garden at Pishwanton. Once there, I found myself drawn to two very distinct specimens: a tiny little wild blue flower [forget-me -not] and a milk thistle. To my amazement, the sudden sight of a couple of colourful butterflies enjoying the delicious pollen of the thistle, became a meaningful sign that helped me choose the thistle over the forget-me-not flower.
The weather that day was lush and the sun shone bright and warm, inviting us to take part in the dynamic dance of life. For a moment, as if kronos (chronological time) had suddenly stopped, all became one (the weather, myself, the bumblebees, the fragrances, the sun), enabling me to literally “hear" a message being conveyed through the plant. On the periphery of my mind I was also aware of a constant hum of machinery in a neighbouring field, exalting the preciousness of it all. Suddenly I felt an uncontrollable impulse to communicate with the plant, that lead my hand from drawing the thistle to transcribe the message I was receiving into words:
“The wind blows, a butterfly tightens her grip of the flower, closing her wings. The clouds let the Sun lighten the garden of life: where the invisible mighty thistle dies and lives forever. Uniting the heart-minds of bumblebees, humans and the Sun, with her purple fragrance.”
Only for an instant, I was able to see a glimpse of something that the ordinary eyes cannot, something “ it could not be grasped by our bodily eyes, to be sure, but could very well be grasped by the eyes of the spirit” (p.232). paraphrasing Austrian scholar Rudolf Steiner. Keeping these ‘internal’ eyes open, helps us develop a sense of interrelatedness with nature, a sense of wholeness. If we were able to better understand the dynamics of the living world, letting our innate wisdom and entelechy arise, we would be freed from the bounds of our mind.
Let us hope we can remember in time what our innate wisdom is desperately trying to tell us—and let us be guided by it. Like the Japanese poet Ryokan said: “The rain has stopped, the clouds have drifted away, and the weather is clear again. If your heart is pure, then all things in your world are pure…Then the moon and flowers will guide you along the Way (Stevens, 2006).” And thus, having experienced the wisdom of plants through the lenses of entelechy, has allowed me to relate to the living world in an entirely different way, deeply alive and interdependent.
Reference List
Bortoft,H.(1996).The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe’s Way Towards Participation in Nature.Hudson, NY:Lindisfarne Books
Colquhoun, M. & Ewald, A. (1996).New Eyes for Plants: A workbook for observing and drawing plants. Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
Ereira, A. (1990).The Heart of the World.London, UK:Jonathan Cape Ltd.
Goodwin,B.(2007). Nature’s Due: Healing our Fragmented Culture.Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
.Orr, D. (1994).Earth in Mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect.
Washington, DC: Island Press
Robbins, B.D. (2005). New Organs of Perception: Goethean Science as a Cultural Therapeutics. Janus Head, 8(1), 113-126. Trivium Publications, Amherst, NY - http://www.janushead.org/8-1/robbins.pdf
Stevens, J. (2006).One robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan.Boston, USA: Weatherhill.
Steiner, R. (1988)Goethean Science.Great Barrington, MA: Anthroposophical Press.
Viveiros de Castro, E. (2012). Culture: the universal animal. http://www.haujournal.org/index.php/masterclass/article/view/107/135 Wertheim,
M. Coloquon (1997). Pythagora’s Trousers: God,Physics, and the Gender Wars.New York:W.W.Norton & Company.
Felipe Viveros is an action researcher, strategist and consultant specialising in campaigning, program design and fundraising. He is the co-founder of Culture Hack Labs.
BY FELIPE VIVEROS
“If the doors of perception were cleansed,
everything will appear to man as it is, infinite.”
-William Blake
Overview
The inspiration for exploring the subject of growing entelechy came through while studying Johann W. Goethe’s botanical research. I was fascinated by a specific moment in a seed’s evolutionary journey --it’s sprouting. The word entelechy comes from Aristotle who combined the word entheles (complete, full-growth) with echein or hexis (to be certain way by the continuing effort of holding on in that condition), while at the same time punning on endelecheia (persistence) by inserting telos (completion) (Sachs 1995). This process was described as entelechy, in the words of biologist Margaret Colquhon, entelechy is “an idea in action, spirit in action, the life force in plants and all life” (personal communication, September 2012). Seeing a seed sprouting (while studying Whole Systems Ecology at Pishwanton: A Scottish Center for Goethean Science and Art) through the lenses of entelechy, helped me realise that life is an interdependent evolutionary journey, which is both intelligent and full of spirit. Contemplating life’s complex systems dynamics is critical to comprehend our purpose within the larger whole, and challenge the dominating narrative of scientific materialism that until now has managed to systematically impose a dualistic and mechanistic way to experience reality and the more than human world.
Introduction
"The human being knows himself only insofar as he knows the world; he perceives the world only in himself, and himself only in the world. Every new object, clearly seen, opens up a new organ of perception in us."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Rethinking the way we do Science, so it attunes us with Nature in order to regain connection with the more than human world, is one of the major challenges we face nowadays – our current scientific paradigm is out of touch from the intrinsic qualities immanent to life. Life in its multitude of forms has naturally arisen from, and constantly adapted to a changing environment, to live in harmony with Gaia for approximately 4,6 billion years. Throughout the living world we encounter beauty and collaboration, one of balance, reciprocity and coexistence.
We as humans have these intrinsic qualities as well, but we are all too often driven by our rational mind and intellect resulting in separation, competition, individualism and greed. Therefore we have majorly disturbed the equilibrium of the planet, and so we find ourselves more than ever before, with an urgent need to unlearn, deconstruct and transform civilization as we know it. Transition pathways should begin informed by the realisation of the existential threats we collectively face, and the urgent need for an ontoshift, a shift in the way we ‘know the world’. Only then we will be able to develop more just and noble approaches that centre life; thus paving the way towards a new era of greater symbiosis and harmony.
Western science though seems to be catching up with the times and has recently experienced major breakthroughs that have challenged the view of the world as a static, inert machine. The appearance of quantum physics theory and the discovery of DNA, which revealed the “secret of life” (Watson 1980,p.115) are helping mainstream Science to change. For Brian Goodwin (2007): "There are moments in the development of cultures when a window suddenly opens on to quite new possibilities that arise unexpectedly from within the culture itself, often in times of apparent darkness and difficulty" (p.11). Perhaps the polycrisis will help as a catalyst and change the way we view and experience the world, giving rise to a new more holistic paradigm?
Moreover, modern Science has taken the role religion once had because “until the seventeenth century, the Western world picture was not set by science but by religion” (Wertheim, p.6). Hence Science is now the foundation of our worldviews and that’s why developing a Science of Qualities is fundamental.
Since ancient times, maths, along with religion, have been used as a language to describe the world that is somehow integrated: “First in ancient Greece, and again in mediaeval Europe, mathematically based science emerged from a tradition that associated numbers with divinity” (Ibid). The Greeks in an attempt to find the order in the chaos, started the split between the seen and the unseen: or the world of the Gods (mythos), and our earthly reality (logos). Ever since, we have wanted to master nature, to become Gods ourselves, or as Descartes asserted: "we could make ourselves masters and possessors of nature" (Bantam, p.37).
Going forth trying to trace what are the problems of modern science, we find that we have lost sight of the original quest for knowledge and prediction and control, have become “ends in themselves…When science loses sight of the purposes of its calculations, and when calculations become ends in themselves then science becomes monstrous”(Robinson, p.113).
The dominant Newton-Cartesian view of the Universe as a dead machine becomes obsolete when our worldview is one that recognizes the dynamic complex reality of life; human beings have emotions, dreams, and most relevantly, a psyche – aspects of being human that are as useful as our arms and legs (Orr, 1994). By ignoring such intangible aspects of our humanity we have become disconnected from nature. This has spread all over the modern world, specially in the last 400 years; imposing itself onto ancient animistic views which believe that the world has a soul. Alienating ourselves from nature and its/our soul is taking its toll: “14% of the global population suffers neuropsychiatric conditions, one million people die due to suicide every year which is the third leading cause of death among young people”(WHC). Our technology is so powerful that we have the capacity to propel ourselves into outer space, penetrate deep inside matter, clone life, geoengineer the weather; and bewilder at the birth of supernovas and stars in distant universes.
We have become Gods like beings but failed miserably at realising heaven upon Earth. Instead we have waged war on ourselves, and consequently to Gaia; our only precious home. Humanity has used science since time immemorial to understand phenomena and make sense of the world. Science can and has been a force of change, but only if it is grounded in holistic principles of common good, justice and interdependence.
Canadian mathematician and biologist Brian Goodwin was able to foresee that we can do science otherwise and realised that modern science can also be a ‘healing science’, a space where emotion and intuition rank equally with rational analysis of natural phenomena. Goodwin’s aim was to lead science from an amoral notion of control, to an ethical sense of participation in the unfolding story of life on Earth.
For science as a whole to evolve, it desperately needs to start integrating some of the missing parts like the anima mundi or soul of the Earth, and let go of their abject materialistic notions.
A Science of Qualities
For instance, let us have a look at a definition of spirit: “The vital principle or animating force traditionally believed to be within living beings” (Am. Heritage Dict. 1178). This word meaning “the vital principle” is derived from the Latin spiritus for “breath”and spirarae for “to breathe”. Where there is the vitality of life, of being, there is a sense of breath, of respiration—of spirit moving in and out, back and forth (Emery, p.2).
Indian philosopher and activist Satish Kumar, often shares a similar insight: “when we realise that we share the same air, that we are breathing together, we realise also that we are all connected, we are all related” (Satish Kumar, fireside chat, Schumacher College Library, October 2012). In this way, human beings can become an integral part of nature, a part of the whole, instead of thinking we are the centre. In order to better understand the way we belong together, we have to start seeing reality with new and fresh eyes. Like Johanne W. Goethe did many years back, we need to develop a more naturalistic way of doing science; and in this way we ourselves become an instrument of observation –something I was able to personally experience while studying the life of plants at Pishwanton in Scotland.
Until now scientific studies have been mainly observing phenomena under artificial conditions, i.e. in laboratories. But according to renowned Ecologist Stephan Harding, only when we go’ inside’ [the Earth] and see the world “through the lenses of Goethean science, [a science of entelechy] as if for the first time, mental impressions and emotions complement the hard facts, thus bringing a fuller more complete understanding of the complexity of living-and-breathing forest.”
Following the kind guidance of evolutionary biologist, Doctor Margaret Coloquhoun, I went on to explore the burgeoning medicinal garden at Pishwanton. Once there, I found myself drawn to two very distinct specimens: a tiny little wild blue flower [forget-me -not] and a milk thistle. To my amazement, the sudden sight of a couple of colourful butterflies enjoying the delicious pollen of the thistle, became a meaningful sign that helped me choose the thistle over the forget-me-not flower.
The weather that day was lush and the sun shone bright and warm, inviting us to take part in the dynamic dance of life. For a moment, as if kronos (chronological time) had suddenly stopped, all became one (the weather, myself, the bumblebees, the fragrances, the sun), enabling me to literally “hear" a message being conveyed through the plant. On the periphery of my mind I was also aware of a constant hum of machinery in a neighbouring field, exalting the preciousness of it all. Suddenly I felt an uncontrollable impulse to communicate with the plant, that lead my hand from drawing the thistle to transcribe the message I was receiving into words:
“The wind blows, a butterfly tightens her grip of the flower, closing her wings. The clouds let the Sun lighten the garden of life: where the invisible mighty thistle dies and lives forever. Uniting the heart-minds of bumblebees, humans and the Sun, with her purple fragrance.”
Only for an instant, I was able to see a glimpse of something that the ordinary eyes cannot, something “ it could not be grasped by our bodily eyes, to be sure, but could very well be grasped by the eyes of the spirit” (p.232). paraphrasing Austrian scholar Rudolf Steiner. Keeping these ‘internal’ eyes open, helps us develop a sense of interrelatedness with nature, a sense of wholeness. If we were able to better understand the dynamics of the living world, letting our innate wisdom and entelechy arise, we would be freed from the bounds of our mind.
Let us hope we can remember in time what our innate wisdom is desperately trying to tell us—and let us be guided by it. Like the Japanese poet Ryokan said: “The rain has stopped, the clouds have drifted away, and the weather is clear again. If your heart is pure, then all things in your world are pure…Then the moon and flowers will guide you along the Way (Stevens, 2006).” And thus, having experienced the wisdom of plants through the lenses of entelechy, has allowed me to relate to the living world in an entirely different way, deeply alive and interdependent.
Reference List
Bortoft,H.(1996).The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe’s Way Towards Participation in Nature.Hudson, NY:Lindisfarne Books
Colquhoun, M. & Ewald, A. (1996).New Eyes for Plants: A workbook for observing and drawing plants. Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
Ereira, A. (1990).The Heart of the World.London, UK:Jonathan Cape Ltd.
Goodwin,B.(2007). Nature’s Due: Healing our Fragmented Culture.Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
.Orr, D. (1994).Earth in Mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect.
Washington, DC: Island Press
Robbins, B.D. (2005). New Organs of Perception: Goethean Science as a Cultural Therapeutics. Janus Head, 8(1), 113-126. Trivium Publications, Amherst, NY - http://www.janushead.org/8-1/robbins.pdf
Stevens, J. (2006).One robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan.Boston, USA: Weatherhill.
Steiner, R. (1988)Goethean Science.Great Barrington, MA: Anthroposophical Press.
Viveiros de Castro, E. (2012). Culture: the universal animal. http://www.haujournal.org/index.php/masterclass/article/view/107/135 Wertheim,
M. Coloquon (1997). Pythagora’s Trousers: God,Physics, and the Gender Wars.New York:W.W.Norton & Company.
“If the doors of perception were cleansed,
everything will appear to man as it is, infinite.”
-William Blake
Overview
The inspiration for exploring the subject of growing entelechy came through while studying Johann W. Goethe’s botanical research. I was fascinated by a specific moment in a seed’s evolutionary journey --it’s sprouting. The word entelechy comes from Aristotle who combined the word entheles (complete, full-growth) with echein or hexis (to be certain way by the continuing effort of holding on in that condition), while at the same time punning on endelecheia (persistence) by inserting telos (completion) (Sachs 1995). This process was described as entelechy, in the words of biologist Margaret Colquhon, entelechy is “an idea in action, spirit in action, the life force in plants and all life” (personal communication, September 2012). Seeing a seed sprouting (while studying Whole Systems Ecology at Pishwanton: A Scottish Center for Goethean Science and Art) through the lenses of entelechy, helped me realise that life is an interdependent evolutionary journey, which is both intelligent and full of spirit. Contemplating life’s complex systems dynamics is critical to comprehend our purpose within the larger whole, and challenge the dominating narrative of scientific materialism that until now has managed to systematically impose a dualistic and mechanistic way to experience reality and the more than human world.
Introduction
"The human being knows himself only insofar as he knows the world; he perceives the world only in himself, and himself only in the world. Every new object, clearly seen, opens up a new organ of perception in us."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Rethinking the way we do Science, so it attunes us with Nature in order to regain connection with the more than human world, is one of the major challenges we face nowadays – our current scientific paradigm is out of touch from the intrinsic qualities immanent to life. Life in its multitude of forms has naturally arisen from, and constantly adapted to a changing environment, to live in harmony with Gaia for approximately 4,6 billion years. Throughout the living world we encounter beauty and collaboration, one of balance, reciprocity and coexistence.
We as humans have these intrinsic qualities as well, but we are all too often driven by our rational mind and intellect resulting in separation, competition, individualism and greed. Therefore we have majorly disturbed the equilibrium of the planet, and so we find ourselves more than ever before, with an urgent need to unlearn, deconstruct and transform civilization as we know it. Transition pathways should begin informed by the realisation of the existential threats we collectively face, and the urgent need for an ontoshift, a shift in the way we ‘know the world’. Only then we will be able to develop more just and noble approaches that centre life; thus paving the way towards a new era of greater symbiosis and harmony.
Western science though seems to be catching up with the times and has recently experienced major breakthroughs that have challenged the view of the world as a static, inert machine. The appearance of quantum physics theory and the discovery of DNA, which revealed the “secret of life” (Watson 1980,p.115) are helping mainstream Science to change. For Brian Goodwin (2007): "There are moments in the development of cultures when a window suddenly opens on to quite new possibilities that arise unexpectedly from within the culture itself, often in times of apparent darkness and difficulty" (p.11). Perhaps the polycrisis will help as a catalyst and change the way we view and experience the world, giving rise to a new more holistic paradigm?
Moreover, modern Science has taken the role religion once had because “until the seventeenth century, the Western world picture was not set by science but by religion” (Wertheim, p.6). Hence Science is now the foundation of our worldviews and that’s why developing a Science of Qualities is fundamental.
Since ancient times, maths, along with religion, have been used as a language to describe the world that is somehow integrated: “First in ancient Greece, and again in mediaeval Europe, mathematically based science emerged from a tradition that associated numbers with divinity” (Ibid). The Greeks in an attempt to find the order in the chaos, started the split between the seen and the unseen: or the world of the Gods (mythos), and our earthly reality (logos). Ever since, we have wanted to master nature, to become Gods ourselves, or as Descartes asserted: "we could make ourselves masters and possessors of nature" (Bantam, p.37).
Going forth trying to trace what are the problems of modern science, we find that we have lost sight of the original quest for knowledge and prediction and control, have become “ends in themselves…When science loses sight of the purposes of its calculations, and when calculations become ends in themselves then science becomes monstrous”(Robinson, p.113).
The dominant Newton-Cartesian view of the Universe as a dead machine becomes obsolete when our worldview is one that recognizes the dynamic complex reality of life; human beings have emotions, dreams, and most relevantly, a psyche – aspects of being human that are as useful as our arms and legs (Orr, 1994). By ignoring such intangible aspects of our humanity we have become disconnected from nature. This has spread all over the modern world, specially in the last 400 years; imposing itself onto ancient animistic views which believe that the world has a soul. Alienating ourselves from nature and its/our soul is taking its toll: “14% of the global population suffers neuropsychiatric conditions, one million people die due to suicide every year which is the third leading cause of death among young people”(WHC). Our technology is so powerful that we have the capacity to propel ourselves into outer space, penetrate deep inside matter, clone life, geoengineer the weather; and bewilder at the birth of supernovas and stars in distant universes.
We have become Gods like beings but failed miserably at realising heaven upon Earth. Instead we have waged war on ourselves, and consequently to Gaia; our only precious home. Humanity has used science since time immemorial to understand phenomena and make sense of the world. Science can and has been a force of change, but only if it is grounded in holistic principles of common good, justice and interdependence.
Canadian mathematician and biologist Brian Goodwin was able to foresee that we can do science otherwise and realised that modern science can also be a ‘healing science’, a space where emotion and intuition rank equally with rational analysis of natural phenomena. Goodwin’s aim was to lead science from an amoral notion of control, to an ethical sense of participation in the unfolding story of life on Earth.
For science as a whole to evolve, it desperately needs to start integrating some of the missing parts like the anima mundi or soul of the Earth, and let go of their abject materialistic notions.
A Science of Qualities
For instance, let us have a look at a definition of spirit: “The vital principle or animating force traditionally believed to be within living beings” (Am. Heritage Dict. 1178). This word meaning “the vital principle” is derived from the Latin spiritus for “breath”and spirarae for “to breathe”. Where there is the vitality of life, of being, there is a sense of breath, of respiration—of spirit moving in and out, back and forth (Emery, p.2).
Indian philosopher and activist Satish Kumar, often shares a similar insight: “when we realise that we share the same air, that we are breathing together, we realise also that we are all connected, we are all related” (Satish Kumar, fireside chat, Schumacher College Library, October 2012). In this way, human beings can become an integral part of nature, a part of the whole, instead of thinking we are the centre. In order to better understand the way we belong together, we have to start seeing reality with new and fresh eyes. Like Johanne W. Goethe did many years back, we need to develop a more naturalistic way of doing science; and in this way we ourselves become an instrument of observation –something I was able to personally experience while studying the life of plants at Pishwanton in Scotland.
Until now scientific studies have been mainly observing phenomena under artificial conditions, i.e. in laboratories. But according to renowned Ecologist Stephan Harding, only when we go’ inside’ [the Earth] and see the world “through the lenses of Goethean science, [a science of entelechy] as if for the first time, mental impressions and emotions complement the hard facts, thus bringing a fuller more complete understanding of the complexity of living-and-breathing forest.”
Following the kind guidance of evolutionary biologist, Doctor Margaret Coloquhoun, I went on to explore the burgeoning medicinal garden at Pishwanton. Once there, I found myself drawn to two very distinct specimens: a tiny little wild blue flower [forget-me -not] and a milk thistle. To my amazement, the sudden sight of a couple of colourful butterflies enjoying the delicious pollen of the thistle, became a meaningful sign that helped me choose the thistle over the forget-me-not flower.
The weather that day was lush and the sun shone bright and warm, inviting us to take part in the dynamic dance of life. For a moment, as if kronos (chronological time) had suddenly stopped, all became one (the weather, myself, the bumblebees, the fragrances, the sun), enabling me to literally “hear" a message being conveyed through the plant. On the periphery of my mind I was also aware of a constant hum of machinery in a neighbouring field, exalting the preciousness of it all. Suddenly I felt an uncontrollable impulse to communicate with the plant, that lead my hand from drawing the thistle to transcribe the message I was receiving into words:
“The wind blows, a butterfly tightens her grip of the flower, closing her wings. The clouds let the Sun lighten the garden of life: where the invisible mighty thistle dies and lives forever. Uniting the heart-minds of bumblebees, humans and the Sun, with her purple fragrance.”
Only for an instant, I was able to see a glimpse of something that the ordinary eyes cannot, something “ it could not be grasped by our bodily eyes, to be sure, but could very well be grasped by the eyes of the spirit” (p.232). paraphrasing Austrian scholar Rudolf Steiner. Keeping these ‘internal’ eyes open, helps us develop a sense of interrelatedness with nature, a sense of wholeness. If we were able to better understand the dynamics of the living world, letting our innate wisdom and entelechy arise, we would be freed from the bounds of our mind.
Let us hope we can remember in time what our innate wisdom is desperately trying to tell us—and let us be guided by it. Like the Japanese poet Ryokan said: “The rain has stopped, the clouds have drifted away, and the weather is clear again. If your heart is pure, then all things in your world are pure…Then the moon and flowers will guide you along the Way (Stevens, 2006).” And thus, having experienced the wisdom of plants through the lenses of entelechy, has allowed me to relate to the living world in an entirely different way, deeply alive and interdependent.
Reference List
Bortoft,H.(1996).The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe’s Way Towards Participation in Nature.Hudson, NY:Lindisfarne Books
Colquhoun, M. & Ewald, A. (1996).New Eyes for Plants: A workbook for observing and drawing plants. Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
Ereira, A. (1990).The Heart of the World.London, UK:Jonathan Cape Ltd.
Goodwin,B.(2007). Nature’s Due: Healing our Fragmented Culture.Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
.Orr, D. (1994).Earth in Mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect.
Washington, DC: Island Press
Robbins, B.D. (2005). New Organs of Perception: Goethean Science as a Cultural Therapeutics. Janus Head, 8(1), 113-126. Trivium Publications, Amherst, NY - http://www.janushead.org/8-1/robbins.pdf
Stevens, J. (2006).One robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan.Boston, USA: Weatherhill.
Steiner, R. (1988)Goethean Science.Great Barrington, MA: Anthroposophical Press.
Viveiros de Castro, E. (2012). Culture: the universal animal. http://www.haujournal.org/index.php/masterclass/article/view/107/135 Wertheim,
M. Coloquon (1997). Pythagora’s Trousers: God,Physics, and the Gender Wars.New York:W.W.Norton & Company.
Felipe Viveros is an action researcher, strategist and consultant specialising in campaigning, program design and fundraising. He is the co-founder of Culture Hack Labs.
BY FELIPE VIVEROS
“If the doors of perception were cleansed,
everything will appear to man as it is, infinite.”
-William Blake
Overview
The inspiration for exploring the subject of growing entelechy came through while studying Johann W. Goethe’s botanical research. I was fascinated by a specific moment in a seed’s evolutionary journey --it’s sprouting. The word entelechy comes from Aristotle who combined the word entheles (complete, full-growth) with echein or hexis (to be certain way by the continuing effort of holding on in that condition), while at the same time punning on endelecheia (persistence) by inserting telos (completion) (Sachs 1995). This process was described as entelechy, in the words of biologist Margaret Colquhon, entelechy is “an idea in action, spirit in action, the life force in plants and all life” (personal communication, September 2012). Seeing a seed sprouting (while studying Whole Systems Ecology at Pishwanton: A Scottish Center for Goethean Science and Art) through the lenses of entelechy, helped me realise that life is an interdependent evolutionary journey, which is both intelligent and full of spirit. Contemplating life’s complex systems dynamics is critical to comprehend our purpose within the larger whole, and challenge the dominating narrative of scientific materialism that until now has managed to systematically impose a dualistic and mechanistic way to experience reality and the more than human world.
Introduction
"The human being knows himself only insofar as he knows the world; he perceives the world only in himself, and himself only in the world. Every new object, clearly seen, opens up a new organ of perception in us."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Rethinking the way we do Science, so it attunes us with Nature in order to regain connection with the more than human world, is one of the major challenges we face nowadays – our current scientific paradigm is out of touch from the intrinsic qualities immanent to life. Life in its multitude of forms has naturally arisen from, and constantly adapted to a changing environment, to live in harmony with Gaia for approximately 4,6 billion years. Throughout the living world we encounter beauty and collaboration, one of balance, reciprocity and coexistence.
We as humans have these intrinsic qualities as well, but we are all too often driven by our rational mind and intellect resulting in separation, competition, individualism and greed. Therefore we have majorly disturbed the equilibrium of the planet, and so we find ourselves more than ever before, with an urgent need to unlearn, deconstruct and transform civilization as we know it. Transition pathways should begin informed by the realisation of the existential threats we collectively face, and the urgent need for an ontoshift, a shift in the way we ‘know the world’. Only then we will be able to develop more just and noble approaches that centre life; thus paving the way towards a new era of greater symbiosis and harmony.
Western science though seems to be catching up with the times and has recently experienced major breakthroughs that have challenged the view of the world as a static, inert machine. The appearance of quantum physics theory and the discovery of DNA, which revealed the “secret of life” (Watson 1980,p.115) are helping mainstream Science to change. For Brian Goodwin (2007): "There are moments in the development of cultures when a window suddenly opens on to quite new possibilities that arise unexpectedly from within the culture itself, often in times of apparent darkness and difficulty" (p.11). Perhaps the polycrisis will help as a catalyst and change the way we view and experience the world, giving rise to a new more holistic paradigm?
Moreover, modern Science has taken the role religion once had because “until the seventeenth century, the Western world picture was not set by science but by religion” (Wertheim, p.6). Hence Science is now the foundation of our worldviews and that’s why developing a Science of Qualities is fundamental.
Since ancient times, maths, along with religion, have been used as a language to describe the world that is somehow integrated: “First in ancient Greece, and again in mediaeval Europe, mathematically based science emerged from a tradition that associated numbers with divinity” (Ibid). The Greeks in an attempt to find the order in the chaos, started the split between the seen and the unseen: or the world of the Gods (mythos), and our earthly reality (logos). Ever since, we have wanted to master nature, to become Gods ourselves, or as Descartes asserted: "we could make ourselves masters and possessors of nature" (Bantam, p.37).
Going forth trying to trace what are the problems of modern science, we find that we have lost sight of the original quest for knowledge and prediction and control, have become “ends in themselves…When science loses sight of the purposes of its calculations, and when calculations become ends in themselves then science becomes monstrous”(Robinson, p.113).
The dominant Newton-Cartesian view of the Universe as a dead machine becomes obsolete when our worldview is one that recognizes the dynamic complex reality of life; human beings have emotions, dreams, and most relevantly, a psyche – aspects of being human that are as useful as our arms and legs (Orr, 1994). By ignoring such intangible aspects of our humanity we have become disconnected from nature. This has spread all over the modern world, specially in the last 400 years; imposing itself onto ancient animistic views which believe that the world has a soul. Alienating ourselves from nature and its/our soul is taking its toll: “14% of the global population suffers neuropsychiatric conditions, one million people die due to suicide every year which is the third leading cause of death among young people”(WHC). Our technology is so powerful that we have the capacity to propel ourselves into outer space, penetrate deep inside matter, clone life, geoengineer the weather; and bewilder at the birth of supernovas and stars in distant universes.
We have become Gods like beings but failed miserably at realising heaven upon Earth. Instead we have waged war on ourselves, and consequently to Gaia; our only precious home. Humanity has used science since time immemorial to understand phenomena and make sense of the world. Science can and has been a force of change, but only if it is grounded in holistic principles of common good, justice and interdependence.
Canadian mathematician and biologist Brian Goodwin was able to foresee that we can do science otherwise and realised that modern science can also be a ‘healing science’, a space where emotion and intuition rank equally with rational analysis of natural phenomena. Goodwin’s aim was to lead science from an amoral notion of control, to an ethical sense of participation in the unfolding story of life on Earth.
For science as a whole to evolve, it desperately needs to start integrating some of the missing parts like the anima mundi or soul of the Earth, and let go of their abject materialistic notions.
A Science of Qualities
For instance, let us have a look at a definition of spirit: “The vital principle or animating force traditionally believed to be within living beings” (Am. Heritage Dict. 1178). This word meaning “the vital principle” is derived from the Latin spiritus for “breath”and spirarae for “to breathe”. Where there is the vitality of life, of being, there is a sense of breath, of respiration—of spirit moving in and out, back and forth (Emery, p.2).
Indian philosopher and activist Satish Kumar, often shares a similar insight: “when we realise that we share the same air, that we are breathing together, we realise also that we are all connected, we are all related” (Satish Kumar, fireside chat, Schumacher College Library, October 2012). In this way, human beings can become an integral part of nature, a part of the whole, instead of thinking we are the centre. In order to better understand the way we belong together, we have to start seeing reality with new and fresh eyes. Like Johanne W. Goethe did many years back, we need to develop a more naturalistic way of doing science; and in this way we ourselves become an instrument of observation –something I was able to personally experience while studying the life of plants at Pishwanton in Scotland.
Until now scientific studies have been mainly observing phenomena under artificial conditions, i.e. in laboratories. But according to renowned Ecologist Stephan Harding, only when we go’ inside’ [the Earth] and see the world “through the lenses of Goethean science, [a science of entelechy] as if for the first time, mental impressions and emotions complement the hard facts, thus bringing a fuller more complete understanding of the complexity of living-and-breathing forest.”
Following the kind guidance of evolutionary biologist, Doctor Margaret Coloquhoun, I went on to explore the burgeoning medicinal garden at Pishwanton. Once there, I found myself drawn to two very distinct specimens: a tiny little wild blue flower [forget-me -not] and a milk thistle. To my amazement, the sudden sight of a couple of colourful butterflies enjoying the delicious pollen of the thistle, became a meaningful sign that helped me choose the thistle over the forget-me-not flower.
The weather that day was lush and the sun shone bright and warm, inviting us to take part in the dynamic dance of life. For a moment, as if kronos (chronological time) had suddenly stopped, all became one (the weather, myself, the bumblebees, the fragrances, the sun), enabling me to literally “hear" a message being conveyed through the plant. On the periphery of my mind I was also aware of a constant hum of machinery in a neighbouring field, exalting the preciousness of it all. Suddenly I felt an uncontrollable impulse to communicate with the plant, that lead my hand from drawing the thistle to transcribe the message I was receiving into words:
“The wind blows, a butterfly tightens her grip of the flower, closing her wings. The clouds let the Sun lighten the garden of life: where the invisible mighty thistle dies and lives forever. Uniting the heart-minds of bumblebees, humans and the Sun, with her purple fragrance.”
Only for an instant, I was able to see a glimpse of something that the ordinary eyes cannot, something “ it could not be grasped by our bodily eyes, to be sure, but could very well be grasped by the eyes of the spirit” (p.232). paraphrasing Austrian scholar Rudolf Steiner. Keeping these ‘internal’ eyes open, helps us develop a sense of interrelatedness with nature, a sense of wholeness. If we were able to better understand the dynamics of the living world, letting our innate wisdom and entelechy arise, we would be freed from the bounds of our mind.
Let us hope we can remember in time what our innate wisdom is desperately trying to tell us—and let us be guided by it. Like the Japanese poet Ryokan said: “The rain has stopped, the clouds have drifted away, and the weather is clear again. If your heart is pure, then all things in your world are pure…Then the moon and flowers will guide you along the Way (Stevens, 2006).” And thus, having experienced the wisdom of plants through the lenses of entelechy, has allowed me to relate to the living world in an entirely different way, deeply alive and interdependent.
Reference List
Bortoft,H.(1996).The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe’s Way Towards Participation in Nature.Hudson, NY:Lindisfarne Books
Colquhoun, M. & Ewald, A. (1996).New Eyes for Plants: A workbook for observing and drawing plants. Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
Ereira, A. (1990).The Heart of the World.London, UK:Jonathan Cape Ltd.
Goodwin,B.(2007). Nature’s Due: Healing our Fragmented Culture.Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
.Orr, D. (1994).Earth in Mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect.
Washington, DC: Island Press
Robbins, B.D. (2005). New Organs of Perception: Goethean Science as a Cultural Therapeutics. Janus Head, 8(1), 113-126. Trivium Publications, Amherst, NY - http://www.janushead.org/8-1/robbins.pdf
Stevens, J. (2006).One robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan.Boston, USA: Weatherhill.
Steiner, R. (1988)Goethean Science.Great Barrington, MA: Anthroposophical Press.
Viveiros de Castro, E. (2012). Culture: the universal animal. http://www.haujournal.org/index.php/masterclass/article/view/107/135 Wertheim,
M. Coloquon (1997). Pythagora’s Trousers: God,Physics, and the Gender Wars.New York:W.W.Norton & Company.
“If the doors of perception were cleansed,
everything will appear to man as it is, infinite.”
-William Blake
Overview
The inspiration for exploring the subject of growing entelechy came through while studying Johann W. Goethe’s botanical research. I was fascinated by a specific moment in a seed’s evolutionary journey --it’s sprouting. The word entelechy comes from Aristotle who combined the word entheles (complete, full-growth) with echein or hexis (to be certain way by the continuing effort of holding on in that condition), while at the same time punning on endelecheia (persistence) by inserting telos (completion) (Sachs 1995). This process was described as entelechy, in the words of biologist Margaret Colquhon, entelechy is “an idea in action, spirit in action, the life force in plants and all life” (personal communication, September 2012). Seeing a seed sprouting (while studying Whole Systems Ecology at Pishwanton: A Scottish Center for Goethean Science and Art) through the lenses of entelechy, helped me realise that life is an interdependent evolutionary journey, which is both intelligent and full of spirit. Contemplating life’s complex systems dynamics is critical to comprehend our purpose within the larger whole, and challenge the dominating narrative of scientific materialism that until now has managed to systematically impose a dualistic and mechanistic way to experience reality and the more than human world.
Introduction
"The human being knows himself only insofar as he knows the world; he perceives the world only in himself, and himself only in the world. Every new object, clearly seen, opens up a new organ of perception in us."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Rethinking the way we do Science, so it attunes us with Nature in order to regain connection with the more than human world, is one of the major challenges we face nowadays – our current scientific paradigm is out of touch from the intrinsic qualities immanent to life. Life in its multitude of forms has naturally arisen from, and constantly adapted to a changing environment, to live in harmony with Gaia for approximately 4,6 billion years. Throughout the living world we encounter beauty and collaboration, one of balance, reciprocity and coexistence.
We as humans have these intrinsic qualities as well, but we are all too often driven by our rational mind and intellect resulting in separation, competition, individualism and greed. Therefore we have majorly disturbed the equilibrium of the planet, and so we find ourselves more than ever before, with an urgent need to unlearn, deconstruct and transform civilization as we know it. Transition pathways should begin informed by the realisation of the existential threats we collectively face, and the urgent need for an ontoshift, a shift in the way we ‘know the world’. Only then we will be able to develop more just and noble approaches that centre life; thus paving the way towards a new era of greater symbiosis and harmony.
Western science though seems to be catching up with the times and has recently experienced major breakthroughs that have challenged the view of the world as a static, inert machine. The appearance of quantum physics theory and the discovery of DNA, which revealed the “secret of life” (Watson 1980,p.115) are helping mainstream Science to change. For Brian Goodwin (2007): "There are moments in the development of cultures when a window suddenly opens on to quite new possibilities that arise unexpectedly from within the culture itself, often in times of apparent darkness and difficulty" (p.11). Perhaps the polycrisis will help as a catalyst and change the way we view and experience the world, giving rise to a new more holistic paradigm?
Moreover, modern Science has taken the role religion once had because “until the seventeenth century, the Western world picture was not set by science but by religion” (Wertheim, p.6). Hence Science is now the foundation of our worldviews and that’s why developing a Science of Qualities is fundamental.
Since ancient times, maths, along with religion, have been used as a language to describe the world that is somehow integrated: “First in ancient Greece, and again in mediaeval Europe, mathematically based science emerged from a tradition that associated numbers with divinity” (Ibid). The Greeks in an attempt to find the order in the chaos, started the split between the seen and the unseen: or the world of the Gods (mythos), and our earthly reality (logos). Ever since, we have wanted to master nature, to become Gods ourselves, or as Descartes asserted: "we could make ourselves masters and possessors of nature" (Bantam, p.37).
Going forth trying to trace what are the problems of modern science, we find that we have lost sight of the original quest for knowledge and prediction and control, have become “ends in themselves…When science loses sight of the purposes of its calculations, and when calculations become ends in themselves then science becomes monstrous”(Robinson, p.113).
The dominant Newton-Cartesian view of the Universe as a dead machine becomes obsolete when our worldview is one that recognizes the dynamic complex reality of life; human beings have emotions, dreams, and most relevantly, a psyche – aspects of being human that are as useful as our arms and legs (Orr, 1994). By ignoring such intangible aspects of our humanity we have become disconnected from nature. This has spread all over the modern world, specially in the last 400 years; imposing itself onto ancient animistic views which believe that the world has a soul. Alienating ourselves from nature and its/our soul is taking its toll: “14% of the global population suffers neuropsychiatric conditions, one million people die due to suicide every year which is the third leading cause of death among young people”(WHC). Our technology is so powerful that we have the capacity to propel ourselves into outer space, penetrate deep inside matter, clone life, geoengineer the weather; and bewilder at the birth of supernovas and stars in distant universes.
We have become Gods like beings but failed miserably at realising heaven upon Earth. Instead we have waged war on ourselves, and consequently to Gaia; our only precious home. Humanity has used science since time immemorial to understand phenomena and make sense of the world. Science can and has been a force of change, but only if it is grounded in holistic principles of common good, justice and interdependence.
Canadian mathematician and biologist Brian Goodwin was able to foresee that we can do science otherwise and realised that modern science can also be a ‘healing science’, a space where emotion and intuition rank equally with rational analysis of natural phenomena. Goodwin’s aim was to lead science from an amoral notion of control, to an ethical sense of participation in the unfolding story of life on Earth.
For science as a whole to evolve, it desperately needs to start integrating some of the missing parts like the anima mundi or soul of the Earth, and let go of their abject materialistic notions.
A Science of Qualities
For instance, let us have a look at a definition of spirit: “The vital principle or animating force traditionally believed to be within living beings” (Am. Heritage Dict. 1178). This word meaning “the vital principle” is derived from the Latin spiritus for “breath”and spirarae for “to breathe”. Where there is the vitality of life, of being, there is a sense of breath, of respiration—of spirit moving in and out, back and forth (Emery, p.2).
Indian philosopher and activist Satish Kumar, often shares a similar insight: “when we realise that we share the same air, that we are breathing together, we realise also that we are all connected, we are all related” (Satish Kumar, fireside chat, Schumacher College Library, October 2012). In this way, human beings can become an integral part of nature, a part of the whole, instead of thinking we are the centre. In order to better understand the way we belong together, we have to start seeing reality with new and fresh eyes. Like Johanne W. Goethe did many years back, we need to develop a more naturalistic way of doing science; and in this way we ourselves become an instrument of observation –something I was able to personally experience while studying the life of plants at Pishwanton in Scotland.
Until now scientific studies have been mainly observing phenomena under artificial conditions, i.e. in laboratories. But according to renowned Ecologist Stephan Harding, only when we go’ inside’ [the Earth] and see the world “through the lenses of Goethean science, [a science of entelechy] as if for the first time, mental impressions and emotions complement the hard facts, thus bringing a fuller more complete understanding of the complexity of living-and-breathing forest.”
Following the kind guidance of evolutionary biologist, Doctor Margaret Coloquhoun, I went on to explore the burgeoning medicinal garden at Pishwanton. Once there, I found myself drawn to two very distinct specimens: a tiny little wild blue flower [forget-me -not] and a milk thistle. To my amazement, the sudden sight of a couple of colourful butterflies enjoying the delicious pollen of the thistle, became a meaningful sign that helped me choose the thistle over the forget-me-not flower.
The weather that day was lush and the sun shone bright and warm, inviting us to take part in the dynamic dance of life. For a moment, as if kronos (chronological time) had suddenly stopped, all became one (the weather, myself, the bumblebees, the fragrances, the sun), enabling me to literally “hear" a message being conveyed through the plant. On the periphery of my mind I was also aware of a constant hum of machinery in a neighbouring field, exalting the preciousness of it all. Suddenly I felt an uncontrollable impulse to communicate with the plant, that lead my hand from drawing the thistle to transcribe the message I was receiving into words:
“The wind blows, a butterfly tightens her grip of the flower, closing her wings. The clouds let the Sun lighten the garden of life: where the invisible mighty thistle dies and lives forever. Uniting the heart-minds of bumblebees, humans and the Sun, with her purple fragrance.”
Only for an instant, I was able to see a glimpse of something that the ordinary eyes cannot, something “ it could not be grasped by our bodily eyes, to be sure, but could very well be grasped by the eyes of the spirit” (p.232). paraphrasing Austrian scholar Rudolf Steiner. Keeping these ‘internal’ eyes open, helps us develop a sense of interrelatedness with nature, a sense of wholeness. If we were able to better understand the dynamics of the living world, letting our innate wisdom and entelechy arise, we would be freed from the bounds of our mind.
Let us hope we can remember in time what our innate wisdom is desperately trying to tell us—and let us be guided by it. Like the Japanese poet Ryokan said: “The rain has stopped, the clouds have drifted away, and the weather is clear again. If your heart is pure, then all things in your world are pure…Then the moon and flowers will guide you along the Way (Stevens, 2006).” And thus, having experienced the wisdom of plants through the lenses of entelechy, has allowed me to relate to the living world in an entirely different way, deeply alive and interdependent.
Reference List
Bortoft,H.(1996).The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe’s Way Towards Participation in Nature.Hudson, NY:Lindisfarne Books
Colquhoun, M. & Ewald, A. (1996).New Eyes for Plants: A workbook for observing and drawing plants. Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
Ereira, A. (1990).The Heart of the World.London, UK:Jonathan Cape Ltd.
Goodwin,B.(2007). Nature’s Due: Healing our Fragmented Culture.Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
.Orr, D. (1994).Earth in Mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect.
Washington, DC: Island Press
Robbins, B.D. (2005). New Organs of Perception: Goethean Science as a Cultural Therapeutics. Janus Head, 8(1), 113-126. Trivium Publications, Amherst, NY - http://www.janushead.org/8-1/robbins.pdf
Stevens, J. (2006).One robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan.Boston, USA: Weatherhill.
Steiner, R. (1988)Goethean Science.Great Barrington, MA: Anthroposophical Press.
Viveiros de Castro, E. (2012). Culture: the universal animal. http://www.haujournal.org/index.php/masterclass/article/view/107/135 Wertheim,
M. Coloquon (1997). Pythagora’s Trousers: God,Physics, and the Gender Wars.New York:W.W.Norton & Company.
Felipe Viveros is an action researcher, strategist and consultant specialising in campaigning, program design and fundraising. He is the co-founder of Culture Hack Labs.
BY FELIPE VIVEROS
“If the doors of perception were cleansed,
everything will appear to man as it is, infinite.”
-William Blake
Overview
The inspiration for exploring the subject of growing entelechy came through while studying Johann W. Goethe’s botanical research. I was fascinated by a specific moment in a seed’s evolutionary journey --it’s sprouting. The word entelechy comes from Aristotle who combined the word entheles (complete, full-growth) with echein or hexis (to be certain way by the continuing effort of holding on in that condition), while at the same time punning on endelecheia (persistence) by inserting telos (completion) (Sachs 1995). This process was described as entelechy, in the words of biologist Margaret Colquhon, entelechy is “an idea in action, spirit in action, the life force in plants and all life” (personal communication, September 2012). Seeing a seed sprouting (while studying Whole Systems Ecology at Pishwanton: A Scottish Center for Goethean Science and Art) through the lenses of entelechy, helped me realise that life is an interdependent evolutionary journey, which is both intelligent and full of spirit. Contemplating life’s complex systems dynamics is critical to comprehend our purpose within the larger whole, and challenge the dominating narrative of scientific materialism that until now has managed to systematically impose a dualistic and mechanistic way to experience reality and the more than human world.
Introduction
"The human being knows himself only insofar as he knows the world; he perceives the world only in himself, and himself only in the world. Every new object, clearly seen, opens up a new organ of perception in us."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Rethinking the way we do Science, so it attunes us with Nature in order to regain connection with the more than human world, is one of the major challenges we face nowadays – our current scientific paradigm is out of touch from the intrinsic qualities immanent to life. Life in its multitude of forms has naturally arisen from, and constantly adapted to a changing environment, to live in harmony with Gaia for approximately 4,6 billion years. Throughout the living world we encounter beauty and collaboration, one of balance, reciprocity and coexistence.
We as humans have these intrinsic qualities as well, but we are all too often driven by our rational mind and intellect resulting in separation, competition, individualism and greed. Therefore we have majorly disturbed the equilibrium of the planet, and so we find ourselves more than ever before, with an urgent need to unlearn, deconstruct and transform civilization as we know it. Transition pathways should begin informed by the realisation of the existential threats we collectively face, and the urgent need for an ontoshift, a shift in the way we ‘know the world’. Only then we will be able to develop more just and noble approaches that centre life; thus paving the way towards a new era of greater symbiosis and harmony.
Western science though seems to be catching up with the times and has recently experienced major breakthroughs that have challenged the view of the world as a static, inert machine. The appearance of quantum physics theory and the discovery of DNA, which revealed the “secret of life” (Watson 1980,p.115) are helping mainstream Science to change. For Brian Goodwin (2007): "There are moments in the development of cultures when a window suddenly opens on to quite new possibilities that arise unexpectedly from within the culture itself, often in times of apparent darkness and difficulty" (p.11). Perhaps the polycrisis will help as a catalyst and change the way we view and experience the world, giving rise to a new more holistic paradigm?
Moreover, modern Science has taken the role religion once had because “until the seventeenth century, the Western world picture was not set by science but by religion” (Wertheim, p.6). Hence Science is now the foundation of our worldviews and that’s why developing a Science of Qualities is fundamental.
Since ancient times, maths, along with religion, have been used as a language to describe the world that is somehow integrated: “First in ancient Greece, and again in mediaeval Europe, mathematically based science emerged from a tradition that associated numbers with divinity” (Ibid). The Greeks in an attempt to find the order in the chaos, started the split between the seen and the unseen: or the world of the Gods (mythos), and our earthly reality (logos). Ever since, we have wanted to master nature, to become Gods ourselves, or as Descartes asserted: "we could make ourselves masters and possessors of nature" (Bantam, p.37).
Going forth trying to trace what are the problems of modern science, we find that we have lost sight of the original quest for knowledge and prediction and control, have become “ends in themselves…When science loses sight of the purposes of its calculations, and when calculations become ends in themselves then science becomes monstrous”(Robinson, p.113).
The dominant Newton-Cartesian view of the Universe as a dead machine becomes obsolete when our worldview is one that recognizes the dynamic complex reality of life; human beings have emotions, dreams, and most relevantly, a psyche – aspects of being human that are as useful as our arms and legs (Orr, 1994). By ignoring such intangible aspects of our humanity we have become disconnected from nature. This has spread all over the modern world, specially in the last 400 years; imposing itself onto ancient animistic views which believe that the world has a soul. Alienating ourselves from nature and its/our soul is taking its toll: “14% of the global population suffers neuropsychiatric conditions, one million people die due to suicide every year which is the third leading cause of death among young people”(WHC). Our technology is so powerful that we have the capacity to propel ourselves into outer space, penetrate deep inside matter, clone life, geoengineer the weather; and bewilder at the birth of supernovas and stars in distant universes.
We have become Gods like beings but failed miserably at realising heaven upon Earth. Instead we have waged war on ourselves, and consequently to Gaia; our only precious home. Humanity has used science since time immemorial to understand phenomena and make sense of the world. Science can and has been a force of change, but only if it is grounded in holistic principles of common good, justice and interdependence.
Canadian mathematician and biologist Brian Goodwin was able to foresee that we can do science otherwise and realised that modern science can also be a ‘healing science’, a space where emotion and intuition rank equally with rational analysis of natural phenomena. Goodwin’s aim was to lead science from an amoral notion of control, to an ethical sense of participation in the unfolding story of life on Earth.
For science as a whole to evolve, it desperately needs to start integrating some of the missing parts like the anima mundi or soul of the Earth, and let go of their abject materialistic notions.
A Science of Qualities
For instance, let us have a look at a definition of spirit: “The vital principle or animating force traditionally believed to be within living beings” (Am. Heritage Dict. 1178). This word meaning “the vital principle” is derived from the Latin spiritus for “breath”and spirarae for “to breathe”. Where there is the vitality of life, of being, there is a sense of breath, of respiration—of spirit moving in and out, back and forth (Emery, p.2).
Indian philosopher and activist Satish Kumar, often shares a similar insight: “when we realise that we share the same air, that we are breathing together, we realise also that we are all connected, we are all related” (Satish Kumar, fireside chat, Schumacher College Library, October 2012). In this way, human beings can become an integral part of nature, a part of the whole, instead of thinking we are the centre. In order to better understand the way we belong together, we have to start seeing reality with new and fresh eyes. Like Johanne W. Goethe did many years back, we need to develop a more naturalistic way of doing science; and in this way we ourselves become an instrument of observation –something I was able to personally experience while studying the life of plants at Pishwanton in Scotland.
Until now scientific studies have been mainly observing phenomena under artificial conditions, i.e. in laboratories. But according to renowned Ecologist Stephan Harding, only when we go’ inside’ [the Earth] and see the world “through the lenses of Goethean science, [a science of entelechy] as if for the first time, mental impressions and emotions complement the hard facts, thus bringing a fuller more complete understanding of the complexity of living-and-breathing forest.”
Following the kind guidance of evolutionary biologist, Doctor Margaret Coloquhoun, I went on to explore the burgeoning medicinal garden at Pishwanton. Once there, I found myself drawn to two very distinct specimens: a tiny little wild blue flower [forget-me -not] and a milk thistle. To my amazement, the sudden sight of a couple of colourful butterflies enjoying the delicious pollen of the thistle, became a meaningful sign that helped me choose the thistle over the forget-me-not flower.
The weather that day was lush and the sun shone bright and warm, inviting us to take part in the dynamic dance of life. For a moment, as if kronos (chronological time) had suddenly stopped, all became one (the weather, myself, the bumblebees, the fragrances, the sun), enabling me to literally “hear" a message being conveyed through the plant. On the periphery of my mind I was also aware of a constant hum of machinery in a neighbouring field, exalting the preciousness of it all. Suddenly I felt an uncontrollable impulse to communicate with the plant, that lead my hand from drawing the thistle to transcribe the message I was receiving into words:
“The wind blows, a butterfly tightens her grip of the flower, closing her wings. The clouds let the Sun lighten the garden of life: where the invisible mighty thistle dies and lives forever. Uniting the heart-minds of bumblebees, humans and the Sun, with her purple fragrance.”
Only for an instant, I was able to see a glimpse of something that the ordinary eyes cannot, something “ it could not be grasped by our bodily eyes, to be sure, but could very well be grasped by the eyes of the spirit” (p.232). paraphrasing Austrian scholar Rudolf Steiner. Keeping these ‘internal’ eyes open, helps us develop a sense of interrelatedness with nature, a sense of wholeness. If we were able to better understand the dynamics of the living world, letting our innate wisdom and entelechy arise, we would be freed from the bounds of our mind.
Let us hope we can remember in time what our innate wisdom is desperately trying to tell us—and let us be guided by it. Like the Japanese poet Ryokan said: “The rain has stopped, the clouds have drifted away, and the weather is clear again. If your heart is pure, then all things in your world are pure…Then the moon and flowers will guide you along the Way (Stevens, 2006).” And thus, having experienced the wisdom of plants through the lenses of entelechy, has allowed me to relate to the living world in an entirely different way, deeply alive and interdependent.
Reference List
Bortoft,H.(1996).The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe’s Way Towards Participation in Nature.Hudson, NY:Lindisfarne Books
Colquhoun, M. & Ewald, A. (1996).New Eyes for Plants: A workbook for observing and drawing plants. Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
Ereira, A. (1990).The Heart of the World.London, UK:Jonathan Cape Ltd.
Goodwin,B.(2007). Nature’s Due: Healing our Fragmented Culture.Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
.Orr, D. (1994).Earth in Mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect.
Washington, DC: Island Press
Robbins, B.D. (2005). New Organs of Perception: Goethean Science as a Cultural Therapeutics. Janus Head, 8(1), 113-126. Trivium Publications, Amherst, NY - http://www.janushead.org/8-1/robbins.pdf
Stevens, J. (2006).One robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan.Boston, USA: Weatherhill.
Steiner, R. (1988)Goethean Science.Great Barrington, MA: Anthroposophical Press.
Viveiros de Castro, E. (2012). Culture: the universal animal. http://www.haujournal.org/index.php/masterclass/article/view/107/135 Wertheim,
M. Coloquon (1997). Pythagora’s Trousers: God,Physics, and the Gender Wars.New York:W.W.Norton & Company.
“If the doors of perception were cleansed,
everything will appear to man as it is, infinite.”
-William Blake
Overview
The inspiration for exploring the subject of growing entelechy came through while studying Johann W. Goethe’s botanical research. I was fascinated by a specific moment in a seed’s evolutionary journey --it’s sprouting. The word entelechy comes from Aristotle who combined the word entheles (complete, full-growth) with echein or hexis (to be certain way by the continuing effort of holding on in that condition), while at the same time punning on endelecheia (persistence) by inserting telos (completion) (Sachs 1995). This process was described as entelechy, in the words of biologist Margaret Colquhon, entelechy is “an idea in action, spirit in action, the life force in plants and all life” (personal communication, September 2012). Seeing a seed sprouting (while studying Whole Systems Ecology at Pishwanton: A Scottish Center for Goethean Science and Art) through the lenses of entelechy, helped me realise that life is an interdependent evolutionary journey, which is both intelligent and full of spirit. Contemplating life’s complex systems dynamics is critical to comprehend our purpose within the larger whole, and challenge the dominating narrative of scientific materialism that until now has managed to systematically impose a dualistic and mechanistic way to experience reality and the more than human world.
Introduction
"The human being knows himself only insofar as he knows the world; he perceives the world only in himself, and himself only in the world. Every new object, clearly seen, opens up a new organ of perception in us."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Rethinking the way we do Science, so it attunes us with Nature in order to regain connection with the more than human world, is one of the major challenges we face nowadays – our current scientific paradigm is out of touch from the intrinsic qualities immanent to life. Life in its multitude of forms has naturally arisen from, and constantly adapted to a changing environment, to live in harmony with Gaia for approximately 4,6 billion years. Throughout the living world we encounter beauty and collaboration, one of balance, reciprocity and coexistence.
We as humans have these intrinsic qualities as well, but we are all too often driven by our rational mind and intellect resulting in separation, competition, individualism and greed. Therefore we have majorly disturbed the equilibrium of the planet, and so we find ourselves more than ever before, with an urgent need to unlearn, deconstruct and transform civilization as we know it. Transition pathways should begin informed by the realisation of the existential threats we collectively face, and the urgent need for an ontoshift, a shift in the way we ‘know the world’. Only then we will be able to develop more just and noble approaches that centre life; thus paving the way towards a new era of greater symbiosis and harmony.
Western science though seems to be catching up with the times and has recently experienced major breakthroughs that have challenged the view of the world as a static, inert machine. The appearance of quantum physics theory and the discovery of DNA, which revealed the “secret of life” (Watson 1980,p.115) are helping mainstream Science to change. For Brian Goodwin (2007): "There are moments in the development of cultures when a window suddenly opens on to quite new possibilities that arise unexpectedly from within the culture itself, often in times of apparent darkness and difficulty" (p.11). Perhaps the polycrisis will help as a catalyst and change the way we view and experience the world, giving rise to a new more holistic paradigm?
Moreover, modern Science has taken the role religion once had because “until the seventeenth century, the Western world picture was not set by science but by religion” (Wertheim, p.6). Hence Science is now the foundation of our worldviews and that’s why developing a Science of Qualities is fundamental.
Since ancient times, maths, along with religion, have been used as a language to describe the world that is somehow integrated: “First in ancient Greece, and again in mediaeval Europe, mathematically based science emerged from a tradition that associated numbers with divinity” (Ibid). The Greeks in an attempt to find the order in the chaos, started the split between the seen and the unseen: or the world of the Gods (mythos), and our earthly reality (logos). Ever since, we have wanted to master nature, to become Gods ourselves, or as Descartes asserted: "we could make ourselves masters and possessors of nature" (Bantam, p.37).
Going forth trying to trace what are the problems of modern science, we find that we have lost sight of the original quest for knowledge and prediction and control, have become “ends in themselves…When science loses sight of the purposes of its calculations, and when calculations become ends in themselves then science becomes monstrous”(Robinson, p.113).
The dominant Newton-Cartesian view of the Universe as a dead machine becomes obsolete when our worldview is one that recognizes the dynamic complex reality of life; human beings have emotions, dreams, and most relevantly, a psyche – aspects of being human that are as useful as our arms and legs (Orr, 1994). By ignoring such intangible aspects of our humanity we have become disconnected from nature. This has spread all over the modern world, specially in the last 400 years; imposing itself onto ancient animistic views which believe that the world has a soul. Alienating ourselves from nature and its/our soul is taking its toll: “14% of the global population suffers neuropsychiatric conditions, one million people die due to suicide every year which is the third leading cause of death among young people”(WHC). Our technology is so powerful that we have the capacity to propel ourselves into outer space, penetrate deep inside matter, clone life, geoengineer the weather; and bewilder at the birth of supernovas and stars in distant universes.
We have become Gods like beings but failed miserably at realising heaven upon Earth. Instead we have waged war on ourselves, and consequently to Gaia; our only precious home. Humanity has used science since time immemorial to understand phenomena and make sense of the world. Science can and has been a force of change, but only if it is grounded in holistic principles of common good, justice and interdependence.
Canadian mathematician and biologist Brian Goodwin was able to foresee that we can do science otherwise and realised that modern science can also be a ‘healing science’, a space where emotion and intuition rank equally with rational analysis of natural phenomena. Goodwin’s aim was to lead science from an amoral notion of control, to an ethical sense of participation in the unfolding story of life on Earth.
For science as a whole to evolve, it desperately needs to start integrating some of the missing parts like the anima mundi or soul of the Earth, and let go of their abject materialistic notions.
A Science of Qualities
For instance, let us have a look at a definition of spirit: “The vital principle or animating force traditionally believed to be within living beings” (Am. Heritage Dict. 1178). This word meaning “the vital principle” is derived from the Latin spiritus for “breath”and spirarae for “to breathe”. Where there is the vitality of life, of being, there is a sense of breath, of respiration—of spirit moving in and out, back and forth (Emery, p.2).
Indian philosopher and activist Satish Kumar, often shares a similar insight: “when we realise that we share the same air, that we are breathing together, we realise also that we are all connected, we are all related” (Satish Kumar, fireside chat, Schumacher College Library, October 2012). In this way, human beings can become an integral part of nature, a part of the whole, instead of thinking we are the centre. In order to better understand the way we belong together, we have to start seeing reality with new and fresh eyes. Like Johanne W. Goethe did many years back, we need to develop a more naturalistic way of doing science; and in this way we ourselves become an instrument of observation –something I was able to personally experience while studying the life of plants at Pishwanton in Scotland.
Until now scientific studies have been mainly observing phenomena under artificial conditions, i.e. in laboratories. But according to renowned Ecologist Stephan Harding, only when we go’ inside’ [the Earth] and see the world “through the lenses of Goethean science, [a science of entelechy] as if for the first time, mental impressions and emotions complement the hard facts, thus bringing a fuller more complete understanding of the complexity of living-and-breathing forest.”
Following the kind guidance of evolutionary biologist, Doctor Margaret Coloquhoun, I went on to explore the burgeoning medicinal garden at Pishwanton. Once there, I found myself drawn to two very distinct specimens: a tiny little wild blue flower [forget-me -not] and a milk thistle. To my amazement, the sudden sight of a couple of colourful butterflies enjoying the delicious pollen of the thistle, became a meaningful sign that helped me choose the thistle over the forget-me-not flower.
The weather that day was lush and the sun shone bright and warm, inviting us to take part in the dynamic dance of life. For a moment, as if kronos (chronological time) had suddenly stopped, all became one (the weather, myself, the bumblebees, the fragrances, the sun), enabling me to literally “hear" a message being conveyed through the plant. On the periphery of my mind I was also aware of a constant hum of machinery in a neighbouring field, exalting the preciousness of it all. Suddenly I felt an uncontrollable impulse to communicate with the plant, that lead my hand from drawing the thistle to transcribe the message I was receiving into words:
“The wind blows, a butterfly tightens her grip of the flower, closing her wings. The clouds let the Sun lighten the garden of life: where the invisible mighty thistle dies and lives forever. Uniting the heart-minds of bumblebees, humans and the Sun, with her purple fragrance.”
Only for an instant, I was able to see a glimpse of something that the ordinary eyes cannot, something “ it could not be grasped by our bodily eyes, to be sure, but could very well be grasped by the eyes of the spirit” (p.232). paraphrasing Austrian scholar Rudolf Steiner. Keeping these ‘internal’ eyes open, helps us develop a sense of interrelatedness with nature, a sense of wholeness. If we were able to better understand the dynamics of the living world, letting our innate wisdom and entelechy arise, we would be freed from the bounds of our mind.
Let us hope we can remember in time what our innate wisdom is desperately trying to tell us—and let us be guided by it. Like the Japanese poet Ryokan said: “The rain has stopped, the clouds have drifted away, and the weather is clear again. If your heart is pure, then all things in your world are pure…Then the moon and flowers will guide you along the Way (Stevens, 2006).” And thus, having experienced the wisdom of plants through the lenses of entelechy, has allowed me to relate to the living world in an entirely different way, deeply alive and interdependent.
Reference List
Bortoft,H.(1996).The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe’s Way Towards Participation in Nature.Hudson, NY:Lindisfarne Books
Colquhoun, M. & Ewald, A. (1996).New Eyes for Plants: A workbook for observing and drawing plants. Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
Ereira, A. (1990).The Heart of the World.London, UK:Jonathan Cape Ltd.
Goodwin,B.(2007). Nature’s Due: Healing our Fragmented Culture.Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books
.Orr, D. (1994).Earth in Mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect.
Washington, DC: Island Press
Robbins, B.D. (2005). New Organs of Perception: Goethean Science as a Cultural Therapeutics. Janus Head, 8(1), 113-126. Trivium Publications, Amherst, NY - http://www.janushead.org/8-1/robbins.pdf
Stevens, J. (2006).One robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan.Boston, USA: Weatherhill.
Steiner, R. (1988)Goethean Science.Great Barrington, MA: Anthroposophical Press.
Viveiros de Castro, E. (2012). Culture: the universal animal. http://www.haujournal.org/index.php/masterclass/article/view/107/135 Wertheim,
M. Coloquon (1997). Pythagora’s Trousers: God,Physics, and the Gender Wars.New York:W.W.Norton & Company.
Felipe Viveros is an action researcher, strategist and consultant specialising in campaigning, program design and fundraising. He is the co-founder of Culture Hack Labs.