Series 5: Living Technologies

The Living Universe metaphysics informs a different understanding of what technology should be and what function should fulfill. Actually, human technologies are not so different than life’s technologies. An antelope develops specific muscles and bones to run better, humans develop machines. A bird develops wings and specific systems of orientation, humans develop airplanes. Any human technology is a form of our adaptation. Because adaptation is not neutral, but is always pointing toward a direction, toward a purpose, our current technologies are also expressions of the purpose we have chosen.

It seems that our current technologies serve mainly one purpose: to give their beneficiaries power or precedence over others. The main point of this series of seminars is that, if we want to build a human society harmoniously integrated into the planetary ecosystem, our technologies should be aligned with nature – should be life-enhancing and not life-exhausting.

We already started to understand how Life works and create technologies that mimics Nature in their functioning: (see Biomimicry). Now, we can design technologies that work aligned with Life principles, that are able to regenerate their ecosystem and interconnect people in fair ways. This is the way and the purpose a technology should work.

Very interesting, the living technologies are not only conducive to environmental regeneration but to social fairness too. That is why the ruling castes are so eager for AI technology but not for sustainable agriculture or sustainable ocean farming. Living technologies are conducive to healthy human relations. They are conducive to localization, self-sustenance and self-governance. Thus, the ruling castes are reluctant to them.

Even though the old metaphysics still informs separation and exploitation (thus we are designing and selecting technologies that foster separation and exploitation), the new metaphysics of the Living Universe started to inform us differently. Butterfly Communities is all about employing living technologies that foster localization, autonomy, self-sustenance and self-governance, healthy human relations and the regeneration of the planetary ecosystem.

In this series of seminars we will speak about biomimicry and different technologies that mimics Life processes. We will speak about regenerative design principles and “living buildings”, seeing the human built environment not as a static thing but rather as a living process, harmoniously integrated in its ecosystem, fulfilling a role in its ecosystem. We will speak about bio-mimetic agriculture – from see-farms to indoor farms – and “circle economy” that mimics the Great Circle of Life, that is design to produce while is recycling the elements.

We will see how Butterfly Communities could be hosted by floating structures, bringing forth the first floating cities. There is a perfect opportunity to build from scratch a regenerative human built environment. Such a structure – with its indoor and outside see-farms, with its energy plant and water desalinization or rain-water collection etc – could be designed as an extended organism for the human community. A spaceship architecture where all the resources are recycled. Yes, such structures could become themselves small Circles of Life, being able to recycle the elements of life, helped by solar and wind energy.

If you want to know more about how living technologies are conducive to social and ecological regeneration, just engage this series of seminars. I said “engage” because it will be as inter-active as possible for a seminar. I would like that each seminar and each series of seminars to be engaged as a journey of discovery. Everyone of them was thought of as a puzzle of a map. Connecting these puzzle pieces in your own way, you can craft your own map that could help you better orient in our changing world.

Each seminar will have 2 parts. In first part we will talk – around only 25 minutes – about 4 or 5 ideas. I do not want to make it complicated. I will make it so you to have time to take some notes. The second part – around two hours – each of you could come with its question and I will answer. Hence, the discussion will be always oriented to your interest. Anyway, I will be glad a third part to follow – free discussion between audience triggered by the presentation. I will happily join this dialogue, ready to listen to your points of view and to improve mine.