Conclusions-
The final period to this exploration of interconnectedness should be a question. Each interview within this project also ended with a question: What should we do with this knowledge? There have been prototypes of utopian societies popping up in history, but their models rarely prove successful.
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Utopia = place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions/ imaginary and indefinitely remote place
The difference between a utopia and a vision of interconnectedness modeled after “Darwin’s Pharmacy” is that interconnectedness does not imply perfection. A utopia, by definition, implies a perfect system that cannot fail. Interconnectedness is a vision that is rooted in and works with imperfection. This model implies recognizing disconnectedness and finding rhetorical solutions to make the world less disconnected.
As opposed to a utopia, interconnectedness is not a perfect universal recipe. Recognizing how interdependent people and ecosystems are needs a recipe that covers different grounds to appeal to different sets of beliefs.
Let's do a recap...
For some, it’s the Mysterious ways to feel interconnected that best represent who they are and what they believe is an appropriate vision for this journey. Religion, spirituality, meditation, entheogenic experience are all exercises for interconnectedness.
For others, it’s the Half-Mysterious ways of making sense of the world that best fit their existing vision. Storytelling, nature, the Internet as an artificial mycelium, psychological needs for interpersonal connection, and even the laws of physics all reflect an essence of interconnectedness.
Whether it is the Hindu Upanishads’ concept of Tat Tvam Asi, “You are that,” or Charles Darwin’s concept of the entangled bank of species that feels more appropriate, the end goal is harmony, community, compassion.
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This project aims to offer a means to an end, the end being a heightened sense of community consolidated by ideas that show we are already interconnected.
This is part of the essence essence of “Darwin’s Pharmacy,” proving that the laws of nature and the exchanges between humans and environment already proved a deeply-embedded interconnectedness. The book provides a compendium of “central metaphors” that describe the existing connectivity, the “tangled bank” that must be recognized. And since most social illnesses come from an overarching goal of “dominating,” Dr. Doyle proposes a cure for the most deeply embedded dynamic of domination of our world: humans as domesticators and ultimately oppressors of the planet. Doyle argues that a change of rhetoric, a re-imagination of “who we are” is necessary if action is to be taken from a genuine place, and not just one of self-preservation.
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“…in responding to global climatic change we must less adapt than evolve, and this evolution begins with the recognition of plants, and the Earth itself, as a power, perhaps a superpower worthy of the name.”
Richard Doyle, “Darwin’s Pharmacy”