Day 184, September 16, 2020
Daisyworld
Today's soundtrack: Archie Shepp in Montreux--1975
We went for a quick walk after work today, and off in the distance the setting sun seemed more like an early rising moon through the haze. Debbie said that the haze was from the fires on the West Coast. I could not stop looking at the sun after that, every break in the trees drew my gaze skyward. It is hard to fathom the tremendous change we are all witnessing on this Earth.
A few years ago, I hiked in Glacier National Park in Montana and witnessed the ravages that a forest fire left over one side of a mountain. It was such a desolate landscape, like something out of a movie, hard to imagine in real life until faced with it in person. I imagine the devastation of war or a tsunami to be something similar. How can we possibly fathom such enormity within our small human scale?
In another lifetime, I was a luthier and built acoustic guitars. I traded one to a potter for a full set of handmade bowls, plates, and cups. He and his family are safe, but he lost his home and studio in California. Incidentally, a few years ago another friend of mine who bought a guitar lost his home to a flood in Texas... so maybe if you own one of my guitars, be careful out there!
I can not imagine the desolation of traveling those charred roads and looking for one's home, one's town, in a totally changed landscape.
In graduate school Lynn Margulis introduced us to a simple computer program demonstrating the daisyworld example that showed the impact of a world measured in the albedo of black and white daisies, one flower that absorbed light and warmth, and the other that reflected it. It demonstrated the fragility of balance, of diversity, of how easily the world can tilt too far from one to the other, and spiral into a self destructive cycle.
James Lovelock, one of the originators of the daisyworld program, also predicted that one could tell whether any planet in the solar system had life on it by analyzing the chemical properties of the atmosphere using light. The presence of any element that was not in an "abiological steady-state" meant that there was some kind of reaction taking place keeping the atmospheric composition in a state of complexity or that of an interrelated system was engaged in maintaining a balance... the general (in utter layperson's terms) gist of the Gaia hypothesis. While I haven't followed the details too closely, I think that is part of what makes the recent discoveries about Venus so exciting.
I wonder what the life forms on Venus think, looking across the solar system and seeing the state of our planet and all that we are doing in this, the Anthropocene and what Lovelocked called, our "perturbations."
We do some amazing things too, as Archie Sheep demonstrates from 1975. The human capacity is amazing, to imagine conceptual discoveries like Lovelock, to play like Shepp, and then also to suffer, survive such change and trauma.
As we all walk in our moments outside, take a moment to look at the sky and send thoughts of comfort to people who have lost homes or loved ones. We will need all of our most beautiful capacities to survive all of this.
Sending your all comfort and love,
Leo
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| Haze in the sky, life on Venus, and funny looking eggs.... |
From Our Friends:
From The REBLS Network:
Request for REBLS Seed Grant Proposals
Have a REBLS project you’d like to develop? Apply for a REBLS Seed Grant for up to $10K for projects related to the mission of the network. The first set of applications are due Oct. 1, 2020. As funds permit, applications will also be accepted on Feb. 1, 2021, and June 1, 2021Find the request for proposals here in BOX.Questions? Contact us at rebls@umass.edu.
From Teaching Tolerance:
The Weaponization of Whiteness in Schools
Studies show that when educators perceive challenges to their power, they disproportionately view Black students as the source. In the fall issue, TT Staff Writer Coshandra Dillard writes about why it’s time to recognize the pattern of white educators weaponizing their whiteness in schools and put a stop to it.Also:
“Today, discrimination and racism take different forms. For millions of Black children and their families, and in many communities of color or where poverty is the norm, conditions are equally bleak, and young people are numbed by instability, hopelessness, and the threat of violence.” — The Atlantic
“Children look to the significant adults in their lives for guidance on how to manage their reactions after the immediate threat is over. Parents, teachers, and other caregivers can help children and youth cope in the aftermath of a wildfire by remaining calm and reassuring children that they will be all right.” — National Association of School Psychologists
“Learning environments should be places of liberation, where every educator can teach and every student can thrive and reach their full potential, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, race, sex, religion, language, disability, immigration, or economic status.” — The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights
From ProPublica:
According to new data analyzed by ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine, warming temperatures, rising seas and changing rainfall will profoundly reshape the way people have lived in North America for centuries.
From The Key with Inside Higher Ed:
[NEW Episode]: Affordability and Access During the Pandemic
Community colleges and their students are wrestling with plenty of challenges this fall, including obstacles related to affordability, childcare and the digital divide. We spoke with two community college leaders to hear what their institutions are doing to help keep students on track.
From Mass Poetry:
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Our special musical guest for Evening of Inspired Leaders is Cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Yo-Yo Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris. He began to study the cello with his father at age four, and three years later moved with his family to New York City. There, he continued his studies at the Juilliard School. After his conservatory training, he sought out a liberal arts education and graduated from Harvard with a degree in anthropology. Yo-Yo’s career is testament to his faith in culture’s power to generate the trust and understanding essential to a strong society. This belief inspired Yo-Yo to establish the global cultural collective Silkroad, and, more recently, to set out on the Bach Project — a six-continent tour of J. S. Bach’s suites for solo cello and an invitation to a larger conversation about culture, society, and the themes that connect us all.From EducationAdminWebAdvisor:
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Today's Online Teaching Tips:
From Inside Higher Ed:
The Moment Is Primed for Asynchronous Learning
Experts argue that asynchronous learning is a valuable tool, especially now. But it needs to be done in a thoughtful way to help students succeed. »
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Using Blogs for Online, Hybrid or HyFlex Teaching Blogs offer many benefits, including encouraging students to be more engaged, writes Annette Vee, who provides tips on how to incorporate them most effectively into your courses. » |
From Academic Impressions:
September 28, 2020 | Webcast
Recognize the warning signs of student distress and understand how to take appropriate action.
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