[APWG] re what we know

[Ty Harrison]

Regarding Wayne Tyson's plea for, dare I say, "ecological wisdom", I whole heartedly agree.  I have found that to truely understand the functioning of any local ecological system you need to live in it and study it carefully for 10 to 15 years and have the broad background (knowledge) about what organisms are there (seen and unseen), and how they interact between them selves and their abiotic environment.  This wisdom does not come cheaply, and should alway be accompanied by a big dose of humility about the things we still do not understand.  Ty Harrison
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Wayne Tyson 
  To: Robert Layton Beyfuss ; apwg at lists.plantconservation.org 
  Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 12:00 AM
  Subject: Re: [APWG] re what we know


  RLB and all:

  Einstein also is credited with saying something to the effect that everything should be [made] as simple as possible, but no simpler. 

  The way I think about this subject is that knowledge is no substitute for understanding. In other words, just knowing something does not mean that one understands it, therefore "the pursuit of knowledge" should be "the pursuit of understanding." I like a statement I heard some time ago but don't remember the author: "If you can't explain it to your (grandmother, neighbor) you don't know enough about it--in other words understanding can't be "transferred" like knowledge can; it must be gained by a long personal involvement with the subject. Even then, certain knowledge is the kiss of death to the intellect. Everybody must "get theirs" the hard way, from the bottom up. 

  WT

  PS: "The most important thing to know is what you don't know." --Margaret Mead

  "The worst kinda ignerance ain't s' much not knowin' as 'tis knowin' s' much that ain't so." --Henry Wheeler Shaw
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Robert Layton Beyfuss 
    To: apwg at lists.plantconservation.org 
    Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2012 11:47 AM
    Subject: [APWG] re what we know


    "The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination" - Albert Einstein

     



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