In this time of environmental crisis, many are turning towards natural science. Scientists use “scientific method,” which is based upon observation and hypothesis and is then tested. In an article in Bioneers’ report, Intelligence in Nature, Monica Gagliano, a research associate in evolutionary ecology and a research affiliate at the Sydney Environment Institute, states that she believes that imagination is missing in science because it “brings up this feeling of unruliness and lack of control.” She suggests scientists need to go beyond those concerns of opening a sort of Pandora’s Box, and states, “perhaps imagination can release those solutions we are so desperately looking for.” Gagliano’s imagination drew her to studying the communication of plants and then on to researching the cognitive abilities of plants and their abilities to learn and remember…and she has proof! We may be facing this environmental crisis because humans believed they had dominion over Nature, rather than being in partnership with it. We use natural resources, alter and destroy landscapes, plants and animals often without knowing what they are and their intrinsic value, nor realizing the ramifications of our actions on ecosystems or even caring about them. Are we at the point where we need to look at Nature differently…to really understand natural systems and organisms fully and our role as one of the many species in it? If so, people like Gagliano, are showing the way—to fire up our curiosity, to sharpen our senses, to listen with our hearts and minds and to embrace the teachings of Nature and those who are in partnership with it. As Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” How will you fire up your imagination to help resolve an environmental problem you really care about?
#Bioneers#MonicaGagliano#openmind#imagination#creativity
