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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Gena and followers of her thread:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>WOW! (The essence of the pot is the space within.
And--I would add, the space without.) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In China, for example, it seems that
epidemiologists get more respect than they do in the so-called "West." I was in
the ER four times last year; one of the physicians had a Chinese name. When I
asked what he thought of my "numbers," he replied, "I don't treat numbers, I
treat the patient." I wanted to kiss him. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am out standing in my field essentially alone
when I assert that biology and ecology, as fields (made up of cultural beings)
are wasting their time fiddling around with "perfect" data that is, in reality,
largely irrelevant to ecosystem function (one top ecologist once told me that he
didn't think he knew what ecosystem function was). My impertinence really pisses
off the priests of those fields, and I have been stoned aplenty for my sinning.
I suppose if they knew that was only the tip of the iceberg, they would be
assembling outside with torches. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This doesn't "answer" your question, it is intended
to honor it. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>WT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>PS: I have retained Fleming's entire post, as I
can't decide what is not relevant to my comment. </FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=genafleming@gmail.com href="mailto:genafleming@gmail.com">Gena
Fleming</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=apwg@lists.plantconservation.org
href="mailto:apwg@lists.plantconservation.org">apwg@lists.plantconservation.org</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, March 05, 2012 2:29
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [APWG] Ecosystem Restoration: On
Humans and Ecosystems</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>It has been very encouraging to read all the quality commenary on the
topic of ecosystem restoration and the open mindedness to expand our current
thinking.</DIV>
<DIV>I appreciate the receptivity that has been expressed in advance to
hearing from non-professional ecologists. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I think it can be agreed that there is no historical past that we can
hope to restore either environmentally or culturally, at least in the
sense of replication. Ecosystems, whatever they are, are dynamic and as
such must be free to respond to change in order to maintain their
resilience.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I would like to know your feelings about how we might assess the quality
of health of an ecosystem. I am not proposing a static
quantitative checklist of characteristics. I agree that I don't think
that will work.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I practice Chinese medicine. Wait, wait, please don't
click delete! I have had to go through a lot of cognitive changes
in order to apply the logic which is distinct from western
medicine. And the relevance is that the human body is assessed pretty
much in metaphors of climate and weather, as an inner terrain. It is
also considered in a more contiguous and open relationship to the surrounding
environment. A cold, for example, is a "wind invasion". This
integration of the human organism in relation to her environment is why I have
trouble distiniguishing between practicing medicine and practicing
ecology.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There is no killing in Chinese medicine. We do
not <EM>fight</EM> disease, <EM>beat</EM> depression or <EM>kill</EM>
germs. Our treatment verbs are <EM>tonify, nourish, resolve, move,
clear, calm</EM>, <EM>release</EM> and <EM>harmonize</EM>. We do
not diagnose much in the western science sense; rather, we are called on to
perceive constellations of symptoms, "patterns of disharmony". This is a
qualitative assessment.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Essentially, we are looking at the relationship between organ systems and
whether they are functioning in a way that allows health. This makes
visible what western medicine can not see. By the same token, we can not
see what western medicine's diagnostic technology can visualize so
clearly. It is possible to toggle one's vision between these two worlds,
but not always possible or advised to try to see them simultaneously.
It's a different conceptual filter.</DIV>
<DIV>This does not deny the reality of either world view. Rather one
needs to decide which view best serves one's purpose for any given
situation. Concepts are just conceptual tools and not necessarily true
or false.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So one of my points is <STRONG><EM>meaningful qualitative assessment is
possible</EM></STRONG>. Qualitative assessment is not just saying
whatever you "feel" without having to justify it. We know that art
curators can be relied on most of the time to assess the value or origin of a
work of art. There are years of education and experience that go
into being able to make this qualitative assessment. It is not based on
chemical analysis of paint pigments (o.k., some of it may be but not the whole
thing). Similarly, psychologists and many other professions rely on
making qualitative assessments.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>1) Can we recognize that there is validity to qualitative
assessment? If so, what are the qualities and<STRONG> functional
relationships</STRONG> we are seeing when we perceive what we recognize as a
functionally healthy ecosystem? </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>2) Life transforms. As living beings, we are an integral part
of the environment and transforming our environment for better or worse no
matter what we do. We can not separate our lives from the
ecosystem. How can we find our place in this "more than human"
world? Instead of doing what we do and trying to figure out how to
mitigate those effects, what are some of the transformations that we
could be making that support our lives while allowing a healthy
integrative function with the rest of the living world?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I appreciate your thoughts.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>thanks,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Gena Fleming</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>[[extraneous material deleted.
WT]]</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>