Reading #11
Reading #11: The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems by Fritjof Capra
Keywords:
1. Ecology. Ecology looks at the whole, not just its parts. The reading refers a lot to “deep ecology” which refers to the interconnectedness of all life-forms/organisms. It continually describes the importance of not just breaking down an organism (or whatever you are studying) to analyze its parts individually, but rather study it as a whole and look at the patterns/organization of the individual parts. Look at how they all relate/work together as a whole.
2. Hierarchy. One of the parts of this reading that surprised me was the fact that the author did not agree with the thinking that there is a hierarchy of living organisms. I guess because we just learned about this hierarchical organization in class, and I have always assumed it was true, I was surprised to hear the author disagree. The author explains that many people, such as Woodger, viewed living organisms as organized in a hierarchy. (Looking at the organization of organisms is ecological thinking/systemic thinking). However, he goes on to explain that he disagrees and sees them organized instead in a network pattern: networks within networks. I don’t know if I quite agree with his thinking, although I sort of see where he is coming from. I wish he would explain more though because it very much contradicts what I have been brought up thinking.
Discussion Questions:
1. How can this new understanding of life, this new paradigm (Deep ecology), give us a better understanding of architecture?
2. Do you agree with Capra’s network pattern of organisms? Or do you view them in a hierarchical organization?
3. Do you believe it is necessary to have an ecological worldview in order to truly understand organisms? Explain your reasoning.