92
Subtle Agroecologies
widespread destruction of our planet and the future conditions of our collective thrivability. Cosmologist
Jude Currivan describes this emerging wholeworld-view in the following way:
While retaining the uniqueness of our personal, microcosmic expressions of consciousness, this
wholeworld-view embraces the meso-cosm of our collective human experience and the macrocosm of
our entire Universe, existing as a fnite expression of the infnity and eternity of cosmic mind. When
fully realized, such a view of the world does away with the confictual interactions of duality perception, empowers mitigation of selfshness, and enhances cooperation and altruism, not only with each
other but with all life as well.
Jude Currivan (2017: 229)
Another fundamental quality of many indigenous worldviews is the emphasis on gratitude for life
itself. In all environments, whether abundant or scarce of resources, the expression of gratitude for
honouring our reciprocity with nature is a cornerstone in many indigenous communities. For example, in the Quechua language of Peru, the word ayni embodies this, offering back to Mother Earth,
Pacha Mama, in appreciation of what she offers us with such benevolence. The Q’ero shamans in
Peru, whose small communities eluded the Spanish invaders over fve centuries ago by escaping to
the highest and most challenging reaches of the mountains, continue to live by principles of gratitude and honouring reciprocity.
This focus on gratitude and reciprocity can also be found in the indigenous landscapes of the United
Kingdom. For example, excavations at Avebury in England, which has been standing as a monument
for over 6,000 years, revealed an ancient offering. This offering, 2 ft deep into the chalk bedrock from
which fints were extracted, consisted of carefully placed, knapped fint implements and animal bones
over 5,000 years old. This suggested to the archaeologists who found it that whoever had extracted the
fint had made the offering in gratitude for its valued provision (Currivan, 2004).
Many indigenous traditions, both ancient and contemporary, have a wholistic worldview which
accepts and honours the existence of multidimensional realms. From the beings known as huldufolk
to Icelanders, to the kami of Japan, the apukuna mountain spirits of South America and the other
and many names of elemental, devic and angelic entities around the world, such encounters are as
old as humanity itself. Contemporary conscious communities such as the Findhorn Foundation in
Scotland, founded in 1962, also commune with such realms as natural, everyday, realities. In many
indigenous traditions, the honouring of these spirits and deities is regarded as an integral responsibility of growing and consuming food resources. Such realms appear invisible for those who have
not developed their full or extra sensory capacities (Baring, 2015; Laszlo and Currivan, 2008).
The impact of our mechanistic worldviews is also apparent in the loss of a sense of the sacred.
Land has become a commodity, rather than a living entity with intrinsic rights. Sacred sites are
now tourist attractions, and mechanistic industrial farming practices have replaced indigenous ones
around the world, which in the Amazon have damaged the rich black Terra Preta soils (Cornell
University, 2019; Gibbons, 2019).
One of the frst actions of adopting a thrivability paradigm would be a transformation of our
current food industry and industrial farming practices. Such a transformation requires a deep
understanding of the informational dynamics of healthy living systems, and how to implement this
knowledge into design practices for a thrivability-based developmental trajectory. We will unpack
those infodynamics in the following section.
WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THE INFODYNAMICS
OF HEALTHY LIVING SYSTEMS
Thrivability sciences emerge as part of a new twenty-frst-century paradigm whereby ‘things’ are
in reality interdependent informational dynamics (infodynamics) within an integral living whole
(Bateson, 2016; Laszlo and Laszlo, 2016; Smitsman, 2019). In this new paradigm, scientifc laws are
Subtle Agroecologies
widespread destruction of our planet and the future conditions of our collective thrivability. Cosmologist
Jude Currivan describes this emerging wholeworld-view in the following way:
While retaining the uniqueness of our personal, microcosmic expressions of consciousness, this
wholeworld-view embraces the meso-cosm of our collective human experience and the macrocosm of
our entire Universe, existing as a fnite expression of the infnity and eternity of cosmic mind. When
fully realized, such a view of the world does away with the confictual interactions of duality perception, empowers mitigation of selfshness, and enhances cooperation and altruism, not only with each
other but with all life as well.
Jude Currivan (2017: 229)
Another fundamental quality of many indigenous worldviews is the emphasis on gratitude for life
itself. In all environments, whether abundant or scarce of resources, the expression of gratitude for
honouring our reciprocity with nature is a cornerstone in many indigenous communities. For example, in the Quechua language of Peru, the word ayni embodies this, offering back to Mother Earth,
Pacha Mama, in appreciation of what she offers us with such benevolence. The Q’ero shamans in
Peru, whose small communities eluded the Spanish invaders over fve centuries ago by escaping to
the highest and most challenging reaches of the mountains, continue to live by principles of gratitude and honouring reciprocity.
This focus on gratitude and reciprocity can also be found in the indigenous landscapes of the United
Kingdom. For example, excavations at Avebury in England, which has been standing as a monument
for over 6,000 years, revealed an ancient offering. This offering, 2 ft deep into the chalk bedrock from
which fints were extracted, consisted of carefully placed, knapped fint implements and animal bones
over 5,000 years old. This suggested to the archaeologists who found it that whoever had extracted the
fint had made the offering in gratitude for its valued provision (Currivan, 2004).
Many indigenous traditions, both ancient and contemporary, have a wholistic worldview which
accepts and honours the existence of multidimensional realms. From the beings known as huldufolk
to Icelanders, to the kami of Japan, the apukuna mountain spirits of South America and the other
and many names of elemental, devic and angelic entities around the world, such encounters are as
old as humanity itself. Contemporary conscious communities such as the Findhorn Foundation in
Scotland, founded in 1962, also commune with such realms as natural, everyday, realities. In many
indigenous traditions, the honouring of these spirits and deities is regarded as an integral responsibility of growing and consuming food resources. Such realms appear invisible for those who have
not developed their full or extra sensory capacities (Baring, 2015; Laszlo and Currivan, 2008).
The impact of our mechanistic worldviews is also apparent in the loss of a sense of the sacred.
Land has become a commodity, rather than a living entity with intrinsic rights. Sacred sites are
now tourist attractions, and mechanistic industrial farming practices have replaced indigenous ones
around the world, which in the Amazon have damaged the rich black Terra Preta soils (Cornell
University, 2019; Gibbons, 2019).
One of the frst actions of adopting a thrivability paradigm would be a transformation of our
current food industry and industrial farming practices. Such a transformation requires a deep
understanding of the informational dynamics of healthy living systems, and how to implement this
knowledge into design practices for a thrivability-based developmental trajectory. We will unpack
those infodynamics in the following section.
WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THE INFODYNAMICS
OF HEALTHY LIVING SYSTEMS
Thrivability sciences emerge as part of a new twenty-frst-century paradigm whereby ‘things’ are
in reality interdependent informational dynamics (infodynamics) within an integral living whole
(Bateson, 2016; Laszlo and Laszlo, 2016; Smitsman, 2019). In this new paradigm, scientifc laws are