John M. Bunzl writes: Evolutionary biologists are increasingly questioning the Darwinist view of evolution which describes it largely in terms of competition and natural selection in favour of a “post-Darwinist” stance that more properly recognises the crucial role of co-operation. But since major transitions from competition to co-operation occur only at certain critical and short-lived points of evolutionary crisis, it is perhaps unsurprising that co-operation’s significant role has hitherto been under-valued and under-explored. Today, as humanity increasingly faces a critical point of crisis in terms of our survival on planet Earth, it is essential that light now be shed on how co-operation has worked in evolution, and how it can be made to work now if we are to have a sustainable future. An important theory underlying the view that cooperation plays just as important a role as competition is Koestler’s concept of holons and holarchies; the idea that reality is composed of holons or “whole/parts”: wholes that are simultaneously composed of smaller parts and are themselves also parts of larger wholes. For example, molecules are holons and yet they are made up of smaller atom holons while also being part of larger cell holons. The entire system is a “holarchy”: a heirarchy of holons or ‘whole/parts’ which is endless in either direction and in which each new higher-level holon emerges out of its predecessor, transcending and yet including it. The importance of Koestler’s thinking is that it allows us to move beyond two-dimensional, systems-thinking approaches to a three dimensional view of evolution which recognises not just that it has span, but also depth, and that it is directional towards ever-larger scales of co-operation. Between each holon on the same level there exists an inherent tension between its ‘wholeness’ on one side, and its ‘partness’ on the other; i.e. between a desire for individuality, and a need for conformity to the society – or holarchy - to which it belongs. This tension drives evolution towards ever-larger scales of cooperation as evolutionary biologist Elisabet Sahtouris explains: “There is a cycle of evolution that occurs all over, across time and space, at the tiniest levels of biology, and in the largest cosmic processes. It always begins with unity that then individuates—as in the ancient Vedic creation story in which a little wavelet forms in a smooth sea, and forever after is torn between loving its own individuality and wanting to merge back into the One. This universal tension between part and whole, and among parts, drives evolution. Individuation always leads to a kind of tension and conflict [i.e. to competition]. And if the parts don’t kill each other, they start negotiating. Negotiations can lead to resolutions of some of the tensions, moving from conflict to cooperation, and then to some new level of unity” [i.e. to a new, higher-level, larger-scale holon]. (12/04/04)
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The New Farm –
Nestled into the gentle, time-worn hills of the Berkshire Mountains 7
miles east of Great Barrington, in western Massachusetts, lies Gould
Farm, a therapeutic community and working farmstead. The daily routine
here includes growing organic vegetables to supply the community
kitchen, an on-site farm stand and a bustling roadhouse cafÈ; running a
dairy and beef operation to serve the community’s needs, provide raw
material for value-added products such as cheese and butter, and for
limited use by the cafÈ; a maple syrup operation and bakery (for the
community and for sale); careful management of a nature trail and
sustainably producing forest; and the treatment of 42 guests with
psychiatric challenges such as severe depression, schizophrenia and
bipolar disorder. With a belief that emotional healing can manifest
through hard work and service to one’s neighbors—in other words,
through earnest participation in community—visionary religious thinker
William J. Gould and his wife, Agnes, purchased a rundown 650-acre farm
and surrounding forestland in 1913 and put Will’s beliefs to the test.
They began inviting guests—some marginalized by society because of
physical or emotional challenges; others seeking a rural lifestyle and
a chance to serve—and soon had a fledgling community under way. Gould’s
spiritual contemporaries wrote of his vision with profound awe and
respect: “For years I have lectured to classes about the Kingdom of
God, the rule of whose life is set forth in the words of Jesus in the
Gospels,” wrote Professor Clayton R. Bowens from Meadville Theological
School in Pennsylvania. “After I had been at this Gould Farm for a week
I said, ‘This is it.’” Will Gould literally gave his life in service to
his community, perishing of a heart attack in 1925 at the age of 57
while fighting a fire that broke out on the farm. Four years later,
Agnes set Gould Farm up as a nonprofit trust. And this is how Gould
Farm operates today. It accepts no insurance and no state or federal
money. Those guests who can pay for treatment do so, which helps to
offset the cost for care of those who cannot. Endowments, grants and
the farm’s growing moneymaking enterprises also help keep things
runningÖalong with a wing and a prayer. (12/04/04)
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BBC Environment –
An extremely rare Hawaiian bird has died in captivity, possibly marking
the extinction of its species only 31 years after it was first
discovered. The Po’o-uli, which was suffering from avian malaria,
belonged to one of the world’s most threatened bird families - the
Hawaiian honeycreepers. Thirteen other honeycreeper species have
already died out, in what some are calling Hawaii’s extinction crisis.
Many species are in decline due to habitat loss and introduced
predators. “The tragic death of this bird means that we may now be too
late to prevent the addition of the Po’o-uli to the depressingly long
list of recent extinctions in Hawaii, ” said Stuart Butchart, of
BirdLife International. “It should serve as a wake-up call to redouble
our efforts to save Hawaii’s threatened species.” The small, stocky,
brown Po’o-uli (Malamprosops phaeosoma) was first discovered in 1973,
in Maui’s Ko’olau Forest Reserve. Even then it was desperately
endangered, with an estimated population of fewer than 200 individuals.
Since then, its decline has been steep. In 1995, fewer than seven birds
were known and by 1997 that number had dropped to just three
individuals.  However, none of these three remaining Po’o-uli
seemed keen to breed, and each maintained a distinct home range in
Hanawi Natural Area Reserve and the immediately adjacent Haleakala
National Park. In 2002, one of the three individuals was caught and
placed in the range of another, in an attempt to get them to mate. But
the plan failed and the introduced bird soon left the area. The
following year conservationists decided to take drastic action and
capture all three birds to begin a captive breeding programme. But this
proved difficult, and only one bird was caught in September 2004, which
is the individual that has just died. (12/04/04)
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