2007-10-25 03:12:58 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Environment ➔ Other - Environment
Patz, I have learned so much it has been an incredible journey. Thanks Patz for crayoning.
Thomas - the trees! Jablob - the essay!
Amy L thank you, it is kind of you. I know many people have learned from you. However the credit for raising Permaculture awareness belongs to Byderule.
Byderule, Thank you, my teacher, we don't always agree, but you are a YA inspiration.
2007-10-27 22:40:13 · update #1
Actually, looking at jablobs answer regarding memes, it makes me smile to see people using terminology I have probably introduced to them through Y!A.
Whether or not the 5% number is accurate it is nice to see that there are some people who are learning from what I explain.
Does it help in the real world? That depends on who uses it and how it is used. One piece of information in a large puzzle may make the entire puzzle clear for some and more confusing for others.
2007-10-25 12:31:25 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
While I'm ever the optimist, I also live in the real world.
There is an odd statistic that has popped up through human kind - 5% of the folks "get it". 5% have saved for a rainy day for retirement, 5% of athletes know what it takes to be the best, 5% of students wreck the curve for the rest of us, etc.
I fear this happens here. 95% of the folks reading these items will wonder how anyone can allow dioxin to go to the river, then dump 2 cups of chlorox in the washing machine.
95% complain about the coal fired power plant peakers, then crank up the air conditioner before leaving so the house will be cool when they return.
One only has to look at the behavior in Atlanta, GA USA to see this. With only 60 days of water left in the resovoir, folks are still watering their lawns, filling pools, and washing cars.
In the mid 90's, over a billion dollars was spent in the United States to build many state of the art paper recycling plants. When the plants finally came on line, the public had tired of demanding recycled paper, and moved on to another environmental cause. Over half of those deinking mills shut down due to lack of demand for their products. Industry has a long memory - you probably won't see that kind of financial commitment coming again for a long time. (I closed 3 of those plants) I'm sadden how often I see a question on Yahoo from someone looking for recyled paper when it should be already the only paper in their house.
Sadly, writing this column will not change a thing. 5% will "get it".
2007-10-25 04:20:00 · answer #2 · answered by Thomas K 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Yes it helps in the real world. I am extremely analytical and I have found this forum beneficial to educate others as well as myself.
I am pleased to have met some quality professionals that really care what is going on and offer their advice to help others. Those quality professionals have the required objectivity to solve problems.
For the younger people, it is important to stay informed, you are going to take over this world and pass it on to your children.
Several hundred years ago, sailors set out with the fears of sailing off the edge of the world.
Planes have been flying for 100 years where my grandma said as a child, there is no way she would get in one of those planes.
In 1989 I got my top of the line computer. It was a 286 with a 40 meg hard drive and 1 meg of RAM. Real good tech guys had 2 meg of RAM and when there was an earthquake in Asia, the cost of 1 meg of RAM was 75 dollars. Today this clunker wouldn't operate anything.
Cell phones were bigger than a brick in 1990.
The world has complex problems and challenges, these forums keep the world in touch in real time.
I am lining up my own questions to get help here as well.
Keep up the important work
2007-10-26 02:18:29 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It might. At the very least it helps keep me sharp and makes me verify my facts and discover new information. At the best... it might offer insight to someone who might actually make major changes in the world. It's the idea of memes y'know? All these little ideas and cultural bits accumulating and adding up and moving around. It might have positive results or it might just pass the time, but neither seems the worst thing in the world.
I will say this (and this should get me the best answer point)... our use of computers to use this ask/answer system could be harmful (as creation and disposal of computers is polluting and using energy causes pollution too). However... someone might not have been too aware of that and now they might not buy a computer every year like they did before or they might use power-saving devices more often. I have said before that the best use of destructive technology is against destructive technology. Maybe, in part, this is something like that.
Cheers!
2007-10-25 23:26:53 · answer #4 · answered by Richie Paine 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'd like to think that someone uses the information they receive now and then to learn more about a subject or to draw up their courage and act on a situation. There are many in this site who are looking for guidance, and occasionally I think good things are bound to happen when information is exchanged in an enthusiastic manner.
You have been wonderfully persistent in advocating permaculture, for instance, a subject well beneath the radar of most. By putting the subject out there for the general public, you are doing a public service, because if even a few embrace some semblance of that lifestyle because of you, you will have accomplished something significant and worthwhile.
2007-10-25 03:31:52 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 0⤋
Although I haven't been as much answering in the Environmental section lately, it hasn't necessarily been because I'm imagining great change out of it. Environmental issues are something I'm really interested and they're topics that I def have strong opinions/ideas on.
There are, however, some questions by some people that I hope answers (be they mine or other peoples') have made a difference in the real world. They are some of the more honest-sounding questions about people interested in changing their lives/habits to make a difference and while it isn't going to be something you might notice if they do change, it's going to be a bit of "help" in our real physical world.
2007-10-25 06:47:46 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
wow. denialists are REALLY clutching at straws now aren't they? This looks more like a media issue to me (hence it is NOT a "climate scandal"), and in light of that there is no way this could be considered scandalous. Particularly since the "activists and journalists" consist of representatives from BP (that's an oil company dontchaknow) and free market think tanks. I guess the denialists are doing whatever they can to take their minds off the fact that their guy lost the US election?
2016-05-25 19:35:42 · answer #7 · answered by noemi 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
those pesky memes, once you put them out there they get a life of their own ;)
edit:
Hey griz, I read it in SciAm maybe 1988 but didn't remember the author, just the idea. ;) I only realized it was coined by Dawkins a few years ago. I think I'm going to pick up "The Selfish Gene".
FYI, I read all 10,000 answers to Leonardos question and in an unscientific survey, I'd peg it around 1% being critical and 10% being generous, so I think the 5% is on target.
2007-10-25 07:07:51 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
the sharing of informations as well as the inspiration one gets from other enlightened souls (and the confidence from even knowing they exist!) do help in the "real world".
what good ideas about sustainability, recycling, earth care, and conservation have YOU learned and shared as a result of your participation on YA? plenty, i'm sure!
the dissemination of ideas here is no more or less idealistic than the concerts, movies, and diatribes presented (and yet rejected by some) in the 'real world'.
don't underestimate our ability to motivate - and to learn!
2007-10-26 16:24:00 · answer #9 · answered by patzky99 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If I'm able to help only one single person, by answering a bazzilion questions, I will have done some good.
~Garnet
Homesteading/Farming over 20 years
2007-10-25 10:43:21 · answer #10 · answered by Bohemian_Garnet_Permaculturalist 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋