Keshav Boddula

hey, i've almost finished with this awesome book.. but one thing i'm unsure of is the part on pg. 128, “need to clear fallen fruits to avoid pests and disease.”  it's in the context of paul praising the benefits of animal-integration, and though the claim seems possible, depending on the situation, it is not so likely, especially if you have healthy plants, healthy soil, and overal a healthy ecosystem, right?

i noticed Mk Neal's post here too that also mentions how it is a good thing (without the necessity or encourgement of animal-integration)

interesting how Mk Neal talks about fallen fruit as a good thing! whereas the Building a Better World in Your Backyard book by Paul says otherwise (praising the benefits of animal-integration), on page 128:
“need to clear fallen fruits to avoid pests and disease.” That strikes me as possible, depending on the situation, but not so likely, especially if you have healthy plants, healthy soil, and overal a healthy ecosystem, right?

I do like and see the rightness in the 2 observations in Paul's original post, and/but have a few points to add (with good, (too?) positive if not the best of spirits/intents, and unlike some of the, um, less-positive descriptive language Paul used):

1) Imagine if there was a scale like this, but for conventional social statuses (which I believe are largely driven by spirits of competition, exclusiveness, & maybe a lot of those "less-positive" attitudes too, you know?).  So 2 conventional-oriented scales that come to mind are (a) academic achievement (from drop-outs/all Fs to Harvard scholarship for example) and (b) income (basically like from broke to billionaire).  Regarding Observation 1, to expect one to move higher on these conventional scales (and fast) may not be as realistic since these very, if not inherently, exclusive social structures may not pair well with many people's natures, tendencies, spirits.  However, to expect one to move higher (more quickly) in the (Wheaton) eco-scale (up to ~ level 6, and/but with dynamic descriptions of the levels, especially relating to the extent permacultural type ethos/activities became much more prevelant in society) seems to be more realistic/reasonable, as the (highly responsible, ideal) way of permaculture, though can express very differently in different contexts, is arguablly the most conforming/equitable/appropriate to most all of our various natures (and spirituality aside).

2) Speaking of having different natures/tendencies, another point is that some are more sensitive, or need to figure it out for themselves / get there on their own more, don't like to be told by others, etc..  For people (like a teacher/coach/trainer with tougher love/expectation) to have high expectations for one to advance as much and ASAP on the eco-scale, can definitely be seen with nuance, varying for all the unique individuals and their varying situations, environmental/living conditions, etc., but... it can be amazing what is possible with the right understandings, values, willingness, love, strength,  (sobered with how ingrained & overwhelming the conventional way of life is for many of us who may not be as resilient to needed changes).

The 1st step may be to make the good-intentioned, responsible government body of Mumbai realize how our more efficient, very-low emissions technology can be introduced (rather than what they are going for through mandated electricty or gas transitions basically), and then help them to build such rocket ovens, right?

Here is the informative 7 min. article-video - https://india.mongabay.com/video/2025/12/why-are-mumbais-bakeries-feeling-the-pinch-of-a-recent-change/

As far as my personal potential involvement here, I'm not too skilled or knowledgable myself, but at least willing... might anybody would want to work together on this?

i'm a little surprised you asked what i think is a pretty obvious reason - if you really don't know, or you're just curious what i have to say**, but anyway, you gave me the opportunity to clarify and reemphasize that if industrial infrastructure is done away with, permaculture and a very balanced, sustainable way of life is encouraged. couldn't one also point to the prevention of environmental harms that would be brought if the industrial infrastrucutre is left out?  i know paul has said something to the effect "rather than spend our time blaming bad guys," which is great, but to better enable the positive ways (like "permaculture"), a serious reduction in the negative ways is needed, and collective working together (like this*) is needed

i am not as all-knowing/intelligent as you implicitly gave me credit for (with the action-oriented research question). *some people know/do this, other people know/do that, together with good energies/spirits, we know/do..

also, maybe this understanding of chronic vs. acute terrorism may be a helpful orientation?

i'm a deep green environmental and sustainable livelihoods advocate

** i think it is the latter as you "liked meeting new people and learning from these interviews"

i put together a career planning guide that has 3+ general paths (3rd path is DIRECTLY promoting permaculture):

1) (critical) research, reporting, (strategic) planning of human activities at a wholistic, systemic, big-picture, epidemiological level for awareness-raising, planning/action-implementation
2) observing/evaluating/assessing/inspecting and reporting of industrial (or too-commercial) activities/operations
3) designing and implementing / setting up "permaculture" alternatives

4) demolitioning industrial infrastructure

a general comment-insight on this guide is that the more societal support there is, the more likely is a more advanced path - path 4
(more detailed document guide with some specific examples is here)

arthur, it could be difficult to get, but you could try to get others to help, so you don't need (as much) money. you could use permies, WWOOF, workaway, etc. to recruit people who may like to help you in that. easier when/if we work together, right

"Life has a way of aligning us with the right opportunities to assist our growth (...even if this is only a platitude we tell ourselves to make sense of things)." - Melissa James, from THIS thread

yeah jeff, you make good points for reasons that rocket heating technology and other good practices should not be mainstreamed.  however, a positive to at least consider is the increased credibility in the eyes of some if not many who (should) believe/trust in the government's approval, and they then going for such a technology that would otherwise be perceived as backward or at least doubtful. from this trust, they would then be MORE likely to want to go for it, and help create the world we're all generally hoping for