Planetology

One of the very first pages of the Geologic Now PDF has a string of phrases across the page. One reads “Design for an Infinite Quarantine”. In the context of the readings, I realized that we are the infectious disease and it is the earth that needs to be protected.

Over the time humans have been a species on earth our impact has greatly effected the geological and ecological structure of this planet. In the reading they call out that humans are both vulnerable to the geologic and agents of planetary change.  Earth is reacting to our presence–glaciers are melting, the ozone is thinning. Earth is continuing its routine–volcanoes erupt, tectonic plates crash together. We are changing the shape of the earth. We use landfill to extend area to build on and join islands.

As society and the existence of humans continues, we will adjust our culture to respond to these new geologic conditions. Perhaps, because of the raise of the ocean levels humans will become more adapted to living in water (architecturally or biologically).

1. Architectural Reaction

2. Biological reaction

The imagery of Miyazaki’s film was really creative and inspiring–especially the depictions of the forest species both fauna and flora in the Toxic Jungle.

A couple of things regarding the forest I thought was interesting–the first being its flourishing presence in a toxic environment and the second being how the human characters reacted to it. Nausicaa was compassionate and loving, even discovering that it was not the forest itself that was toxic to the humans but that it was the humans that were toxic to the forest. The antagonists in the story wanted to destroy it, and as a higher, more powerful species felt that they had every right to eradicate this passive environment, which reminded me of the Island and how Sunday felt that the only way to save the Island was to prove that it could be dangerous in protecting itself.

Going into Geologic Now…it occurred to me that as much as we would like to pretend we have compassion and understanding for these life forms that cannot communicate verbally and are subject to our actions and choices, we are much more Tolmekians than valley people. How would our environment differ if we could communicate with the forest, or if bugs were so large we could ride them instead of squash them when forced to interact.

We think of People as a being and Forest as a place; on the scale of things, humans are at the top. To actively balance the relationship between the humans, the animals, the forest, the geologic would change the dynamic dramatically and most likely in a positive way, but how can we do that.