Tuesday Word of the Day: Heresy

Heresy is a strong word with strong associations. In modern popular usage the word connotes crimes against the church-normally the Catholic Church- and smells strongly of witch trials and the Spanish Inquisition.

But where did the word come from and what meaning lies at the core of this word's family history?

Heresy comes from the Greek verb meaning: to choose.

Church and state were inseparable for centuries in Europe and are still inseparable in many countries, and there are strong elements in many first world countries that would love church and state to once again merge. The idea that choice is a crime, and indeed the highest crime imaginable in such governments, says a great about how modern domestic culture works and where said culture's fear can be found.

Friday Book Review: "Being Animal" by David Abram

"We cannot abide our vulnerability, 

our utter dependence upon a world that can eat us."

--David Abram

I love the title of this book. Domesticated human so often forget that they are animals. I read and hear even domseticated humans who should know better say things such as "our closest relatives are the primates". Humans are primates- and the domesticated human forgets that.

I really enjoyed Abrams' first book Spell of the Sensuous, and would recommend that book over this book. There was more meat and less poetry in the first book, more direction and more focus. That said, this book unsettled me, which is a compliment. I did not disagree with it, though many times I wanted to disagree.

Abrams approach is to question and pull at modern assumptions about seperateness as though he was pulling strands from a blanket. Slowly your certainty loses it's integrity and everything begins to loosen. He makes good points regarding the awareness of all being. He goes too far, which is likely nowhere near far enough. He is ridiculous in the way Picasso or Van Gogh is ridiculous- not because he is wrong, but because he sees so differently.

If you are certain, then you should read this.

Verdict: Recommended Read

Thursday Revisited Classic: Why Solving Small Pox is a Problem for society

I recently saw a sharp little video that argued that our ability as a species to eliminate small pox is reason for us to be optimistic about our future.

The speaker shows us how much damage global warming will do to Bangladesh alone. He gives us a view of how devastating our actions will be to the earth and ultimately to ourselves.

He also shows us a host of communicable diseases that we have almost eliminated- such as Guinea Worm.

Now he is very right. Dedicated individuals eliminated small pox, and other dedicated individuals have nearly eliminated other communicable diseases such as guinea worm.

The question is not 'does this mean then that we are able to achieve this kind of effect upon problems such as global warming?'. The question is 'why did we put such effort towards this problem, and why have we failed to put that same effort towards problems such as overpopulation or global warming?'

I believe that the problem has to do with cultural mythology.

We seem to believe that the world was made for man, and man was made to conquer and rule the world. Because of this we will put a lot of effort into destroying enemies and competitors- like wolves, and Indians, diseases that hurt human beings (sorry, diseases that hurt domestic humans) and anything thing else that stands as opposition to our rule.

On other hand, global warming is just a side effect of ruling the world. Over population is our cultural destiny. We can talk about fighting these things, but to actually do something significant about them would require us to change our cultural mythology.

A Short and Simple Overview of Our Free Game Workshop!

A Collapse! Game Workshop?

What is that?

Genus Rex Enterprises Inc. runs free Game Workshops using Collapse!, our educational board game. The board game teaches players the need for sustainable skills such as gardening, and awareness of how environmental damage anywhere in the world can impact them at home.

We run a 2 hour free event for you club, school, event or organization- that will help engage and excite your members, while allowing them to explore concepts and teach themselves.

How Will This Help You?

Finding the Why
The Game Workshop teaches motivation, which is difficult to teach under regular circumstances- such as a lecture or readings. Through experiencing the game workshop, players will teach themselves of the need for community involvement and the need to acquire leadership and self-sufficiency skills.

Supported Information
The events depicted on the Event Cards in the game are based either on actual events that have occurred already or based upon scientific theories and conjectures currently being discussed in political and scientific communities. Each Event Card will give an example to help connect the game to real life and make players curious about these subjects.

Self Running
Genus Rex Enterprises Inc. sends its own team in to set up and run the Game Workshop entirely. The event takes 2 hours, and can be allowed to run to 3 or even 4 hours for longer requested events. And during this time, you do not need to coordinate anything! you may even play the game along side everyone else.

Who would be Interested?

A Collapse! Game Workshop is ideal for anyone seeking to raise interest in  Sustainability, Community Involvement,  Self-Sufficiency Skills,  Environmental Concerns,   
and Teamwork skills.

A Collapse! Game Workshop is ideal for Classrooms (grades 5 and up), Scout and Guide Groups and related Youth Groups, Environmental Groups, and any group interested Sustainability and encouraging Youth Leadership.

The Game itself

The game takes roughly 2 hours to set up, explain, play, and answer questions about following play. Scoring is designed so that players compete against the game rather than each other. All elements of game play are designed so that players teach themselves and each other, rather than being taught, in order to improve the impact of the game. Players must obtain their personal needs of food, shelter and safety, while also protecting the community well-being and infrastructure. Players receive both a group score and a personal score, allowing players to choose between community centered altruism or personal gain- and teaching the consequences of both. Up to 30 players can be mentored through five separate games, playing against the other players and the other boards in the room- learning social responsibility as they do.

Players will learn about: International environmental challenges and how they can affect local conditions The networks that make modern industrial life possible and how they can be affected by an emergency The importance of community involvement in maintaining communal stability The need for practical leadership and self-reliance skills

For workshops outside the British Columbia Lower Mainland- you will be charged for our travel expenses. All workshops done within the Lower Mainland are performed free of charge.

How We Make This Easy For You

We arrive at least thirty minutes prior (and up to one hour prior if needed) to the start time to set up and and deal with any surprises.

We do all necessary clean up relating to the workshop itself, although there shouldn’t be much.

We are easy to get a hold of through Senior Event Coordinator Ryan Cove- via his cell number (778-998-1377).

We run the event free of charge. We do not charge for the workshop, but make our income through advertising and sponsorship through social conscious organizations.

The workshop itself is not active and does not have safety concerns. Players sit in groups of 5 to 8 and play a board game and discuss what they are doing, as facilitators walk around and clarify rules and help keep the games moving along.

The workshop is also amenable to pauses and breaks as needed by the venue and any larger events to which the workshop may by subordinate.