Ecological Intelligence

Link to the article: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1884779_1884782_1884776,00.html

What is ecological intelligence?
Basically ecological intelligence is a way of describing someone's knowledge of the environment and how to conserve. For example someone who has a little amount of ecological intelligence might not understand the process of how their ipod is made, or might not be able to describe what global warming is.

So how does this connect to our project?
The idea of our project is finding out why we don't live as sustainably as we should. This is a good example: we don't know when we're making a negative impact. We aren't as informed as we should be; and as a result we make decisions without having a clue about it's true impact.

Am I "ecologically intelligent?"
No! I'm not. I buy and buy and don't really think for a second how I'm contributing. I don't ever ride bikes or walk. And I can not describe the actual process of global warming. No way am I ecologically intelligent.

Survey Analysis - Thrift Stores

I was shocked to see how many people participated in the poll - around 30. I never thought we could get so many people to do the poll. Unfortunately a couple of the answers were unrealistic and unprofessional but thankfully we did get alot of honest helpful answers.

I was surprised at some of the questions that dealt with your feelings. For example many people wouldn't be embarrassed to shop at a thrift store. I thought for sure at least 90% would have said yes to this, but it was around 30-40%.

All my expectations were exceeded. From the number of people who took the survey to their answers. Even their willingness to take a survey without complaints! (With a couple exceptions)

For our campaign I think it would be best to encourage people. This way people are more motivated to shop at thrift stores.

Homegrown Revoloution

"Beginning as soon as you can, prepare a meal at least once a week with only homegrown vegetables, fruit, herbs, eggs, dairy products or meat, using as few store bought ingredients as possible."

Sounds easy? Compare that to the lifestyle of the Dervaes family's homestead in Los Angeles, California.

What strikes me about the Deravaes' documentary is how delicious everything looks. The vegetables were crunchy, the bread toasty warm. What simply amazed me the most though was how someone can live in the middle of Los Angeles without a job.

I think the Dervaes’ family had a Needs vs. Wants sheet it would look like my sheet held in front of a mirror. (There would be more needs than wants). This is because in their home they don't seem to have anything that seems unnecessary (With the exception of their refrigerator, which is energy efficient).

The Dervaes family fits into what we are studying in My Ishmael because they are living with a supply of food that suits their needs instead of a surplus. This makes it so they don't spend their entire day working just to suit our society's desires.

This family did something I never knew existed. Before I watched this video I wasn't able to imagine a way to live in an urban society and not contribute like everyone around you in order to survive.

(Here is the link for the 100 foot diet challenge discussed at the beginning)
http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/2008/01/06/100-foot-diet-challenge-launch
(Copy and paste the URL into your web browser)

My Ishamel: Blog Post #2

What is Anthropomorphism?

According to the dictionary:

1. Attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena.

Also:

1. The representation of the Deity, or of a polytheistic deity, under a human form, or with human attributes and affections.

2. The ascription of human characteristics to things not human

("anthropomorphism." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 01 Mar. 2009. )
("anthropomorphism." Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc. 01 Mar. 2009. .)

On page 82 of My Ishmael Ishmael is discussing how humans assume other animals are just like them regarding territory. They think that animals claim territory, but Ishmael points ou that most animals don't really have an interest in territories. This seems to tie in with the last definition stated above.

Erratic Retaliation

1. Ishmael describes "Erratic Retaliation" as being kind of like a game that the tribes played. They agreed to a certain set of rules and followed them. In the case of the Cawks if one tribe bugged another, they expected to get bugged back.

2. Erratic Retaliation is a peace keeping method because it's what they have left. According to Ishmael they've eliminated all the other peace keeping strategies, and this is what works for them.

3. If the Cawks annihilate someone, they'll probably succeed. But the other tribes see this, they'll fear their own tribe is at stake, especially if their annihilation is repetitive (They could probably get away with destroying one tribe). In turn they would feel this is the new game and they would all team up and annihilate the tribe that started the problem.