|
Well said and obviously well done.
Thanks Ed,
REH
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 9:54 AM
Subject: [Futurework] Gaia again
Thursday June 19, 2003
The Guardian
Science needs specialists. When a puzzling new result appears, or
some startling claim is advanced, call on the genuine expert, narrowly but
deeply trained, who really knows what they are talking about.
On the other hand, unbeatable prowess in solving one kind of problem
often limits a researcher's outlook. The expert can become a mere pedant
or, worse, a narrow obsessive, knowing everything about nothing. He has a
fine collection of hammers for nails of all sizes, but screws are not his
department. Useful in the lab, maybe, but hopeless in the real world,
where problems are multi-faceted, complex, hard to pin down.
Gaia theory, the idea that all life on Earth is part of one giant
system which shapes its own environment, is the best recent illustration
of the tensions this creates.
About thirty years ago, I was a member of a team of environmental
and social science specialists assembled to study the impact of a major
pipeline that was being proposed for northern Canada. There were some
fifteen of us borrowed from various government departments. Each member
had a very good knowledge of his field, had field experience etc. We
worked together for a year, producing chapters on communities, permafrost,
migratory wildlife, unique habitats, etc. We considered it to be one of
the best things of its kind ever produced, and our bureaucratic masters were
pleased. Nevertheless, something unexpected happened at the political
level; there were calls for a public inquiry into the impacts of the
pipeline and, much to the bureaucracy's dismay, the government of the day
decided to hold one. The inquiry lasted for three years, and at its
end, many of the things that the specialists had written were no longer either
valid or important. The processes that we had studied and relationships
that we had proposed proved far more complex than we had suspected. A
holistic picture in which social and environmental issues were intertwined and
inseparable emerged. Unfulfilled ancient grievances and obligations
concerning Aboriginal land rights became dominant issues. At the end of
the inquiry, we had assembled a substantial chunk of the northern Canadian
Gaia, enough to understand the dominant issues and troublespots, though by no
means all of it. For those of us who had written the original report, it
was an exercise in humility, but a gratifying one.
Understanding Gaia is not easy. It can be very time
consuming and costly. But there are times when it is important to make
the attempt, and it can be very worthwhile.
Ed Weick
|
