~)ctober 3, 2008 I The Clarion ■ ■
Opinion
Lessons from nature number one
by Ryan Fiffick
Copy Editor
Nature. It’s all around us. From the tiniest
of nanobes, barely recognizable amino acid
sequences, to the interactionary complexity
of the planet as a whole. Nature surrounds us,
IS us.
We’ve countless opportunities to witness
Nature through the most intriguing of universal
occurrences and states of being: Life. Without
life. Nature would go mostly unnoticed (I
can’t say that it would pass totally by as that is
simply beyond my scope of vision) As arguably
a member of the living, I must admit to having
learned more from observing other forms of Life
acting with, through, and against Nature than
I’ve ever learned from direct experiences of my
own. A vicarious auto-didacticism, if you will,
offering me a chance to at once laugh at my friend
for burning his hand on a hot stove-top (kids
are cruel), AND to leam that unless I wanted
to suffer as he did, I shouldn’t touch things
that become red and glowy when switches are
flipped—regardless of how soft and fluffy it may
appear. I learned by watching and then thinking
about what was seen. *POOF* I discovered
cause and effect.
Later in life, I would leam that causality is
usually not so simply derived. Rather, it seems
even the most brilliant and complete of insights
require a battery of relentless and stringent
tests for validity and the tireless cataloging of
mounds of resulting data before any credence is
assigned. With this admission, I offer the distinct
possibility (if not probability) that all of the
connections I make in the following articles, all
the theories offered, and perspectives shared are
entirely flawed. To prevent wasting the reader’s
time, I will attempt to keep this chronicle as
rich with observations and accountable data as
possible while offer assessing interpretations
only when wisdom seems to demand it. I will
not, however, shy away from calling a moose,
a moose, or a llama, a llama. I will attempt to
avoid the anthropomorphication of creatures
and systems analyzed, seeking instead to find
behaviors and situations that humans reflect,
finding the Nature in humanity, not the humanity
in Nature. Through observing the behaviors and
ethological interactions of other forms of life,
I believe we may, as I learned in my friend’s
kitchen, leam the causes and effects of our own
Natures without being either cause or effect.
A brief example so that the reader knows what
to expect:
According to leading researchers, “Male
chimpanzees remain in their natal communities
and join groups of males as they approach
maturity. (Goodall, 1986) These male groups
tend to be closely related. (Morin, et al., 1993)
They patrol terrestrial borders and attack all
extracommunity individuals encountered, except
for reproductively fertile females, whom they
attempt to recmit into their own community.
(Nishida, 1990)
According to recent national political
developments, the Republican Party, presently
spearheaded by, embarrassingly enough, George
W. Bush, was reared in a politically charged
family by his father, one George Herbert Walker
Bush and one Barbara Bush (bless her sweet
heart). George II bounced through a career of
monkey-shines embarrassing enough to drive
most normal, consciously abiding of men into
hiding only to be absorbed, protected and
graced with opportunities by the community
that produced him. That community has recently
chosen a young, not-so-wordly yet easy on the
eyes, woman of breeding age, to attract support
for their communities bid for dominance over
other neighboring communities. In this attempt
at gathering support, the GOP is creating a
constant flow of attack-ads designed to malign
the public images of those in neighboring
communities.
I can’t help but to see a parallel. The irony that
springs most immediately to my mind: most of
them don’t believe in evolution.
Oh, the times they are a changing
by Radosav 'Backo' babic
Business Editor
One would often think of power, money, stabile
governments, good quality of life, and dominance
throughout the world while mentioning the term
“western countries.” Opposite to that, term
“eastem countries” had a completely different
denotation. Those were frequently considered
to be poor, cormpted, undeveloped, unsafe, and
really unprivileged countries. The reason I am
using past tense, rather than present, is simply
due to the fact that things have drastically
changed.
The scenario on a world map is somewhat
different now than it was just a few years ago.
An individual would have to be completely
blind, closed minded, ethnocentric, and really
not willing to accept reality if even trying to
prove different. Some of the main actors in the
movie called “World Politics” slowly seem to be
taking side roles; on the other hand, some players
from the background are bravely stepping into
leading positions.
While mentioning the important side players
and possibly the next World’s powers I thought
of China and India. The questions that rises is
whether or not we have enough credibility to
portray this century as being Asia’s Century,
having two massive and powerful nation rise up.
Even though many would argue that China has a
lead in this race, India is not too far behind.
I always believed that by studying history one
can somewhat predict the future. Nevertheless,
predicting the future on World’s politics seems
rather foolish and almost impossible. There is,
however, one word I am quite comfortable using,
which could easily be “labeled” to all historical
events and the episodes that are yet to happen,
and that is a world “change.”
I strongly believe in Buddhist saying, which
states that “the only permanent thing is change.”
Many of the World’s greatest political leaders
and even empires somewhat and somehow got
lost in the history, and it seems almost scary to
even think that the 21 st century will be a history
to many. So what is actually a future brining to
all of us???
Even though America still seems to be a
leading world’s political power and European
Union keeps on expanding being as stable as it
ever was, Asian powers aren’t too far behind and
are rising up rather quickly.
We all recently had a chance to realize what
China is capable of As a hosting country for the
Olympic Games, China set up a leading example,
set the tone, and raised up a bar so high that it
almost seems impossible for any other country
to even get closer to it. As bizarre as it sounds,
to many, China is still to be considered as a
developing nation. And where is India in the
whole story??? More about the race between
China and India in the following edition...