Comments | sunson: Wisdom of the uncivilized crowds

sunson

Wisdom of the uncivilized crowds

Jan 28, 2010 08:55

Picture this: A remote indian village in the Ganges delta a few hundred years ago. The farmer starts his day by letting his flock of ducks into his irrigated fields. The water from the river brings with it, besides nutrients and alluvium, some unwanted (for the crops) pests too. But that is not a problem - the ducks will keep the pests in control. ( Read more... )

genetic-engineering, life, agriculture, insects, peak-oil, food, india, monsanto, humanity

Comments 17

Powerful anonymous January 31 2010, 18:30:37 UTC

It is indeed quite thought provoking.(I am thinking about development, advancement and basic living).However, i consider my knowledge inadequate to comment further.

Kavita

Re: Powerful sunson February 1 2010, 00:48:45 UTC

Off late, I've realized how amazingly unique and "resilient" this region has been over ages - especially after reading Amartya Sen's "The Argumentative Indian" - a comprehensive "proof" of how India's diversity and "debate oriented" way of life was the secret behind it's success in stability and cultural unity amongst diversity. The evolutionary analogy I can provide is that of how forest ecosystems tend to be resilient and "self-protecting". Alexander the Great was considered a nuissance. The wealth we'd developed was that of biodiversity and a general sense of wonder about the world we lived in.

I can do a quick math and say that for whatever so-called poor-quality-of-life the people who lived here a few thousand years ago would have lived, they definitely passed on the same quality to the next generation for several generations. Their populations stayed stable and people have left good historical records of the fun ways of life they had (the book "The story of our food" is a good read on this topic (thanks thaths, for the book!)). Today ( ... )

Post on TOD anonymous February 1 2010, 18:17:28 UTC

Hi ( ... )

Adaptive landscapes danolner February 2 2010, 09:24:42 UTC

Got to your post via the Oil Drum: thank you for this, it's a great piece. You're right about GM: the issue isn't the technology, it's the wielder. I love the link to your farm - such a simple idea, but works so effectively ( ... )

Lord Macaulay anonymous February 3 2010, 21:21:02 UTC

I mostly agree with your thoughts on sustainable agriculture wisdom acquired over centuries of practice and the relationship between education and overpopulation ( ... )

Re: Lord Macaulay sunson February 4 2010, 03:21:37 UTC

Hi, thanks for the insightful comment. I researched much on the topic since that quote seemed too "exaggerated" to begin with. But then, so are many of the things we believe to be "History". I went through this lengthy debate on the quote and then "decided" to put up the quote. I'm still undecided on whether it was a forgery or not :-?

We must read what we read (especially on the web) with utmost discretion... so, skepticism is my guiding principle :)

Great post anonymous February 13 2010, 17:35:25 UTC

Thanks to a huge, super article.