Short Term Solution Mentality

One of my favorite elder hippie gods favorite terms. Short term solution mentality. Sometimes it's appropriate. Mostly though it's one of our biggest problems as a society. At least in my and his oppions. To me, Permaculture is the exact oposite of that. It's thinking far into time both forward and backwards and trying to build lasting things based on protracted observation more than sort term convienicnce or even nessesity.

Another of my friends, and ambitious lad involved in Local politics constantly berates those who demand change for not providing a vision of what that means life looks like for the average you and me. So I'm going to offer a couple ideas for that. Around my neck of the woods anyway.

1) Less Coffee, More tea
2) Less heating more snuggling under blankets.
3) Less commuting and office time more planting trees and reading under them
4) Less day to day shuffle more monthy events. (think grocery store vs market, nightly sitcom vs weekly concert)
5) Perhaps most importantly, for the average person - I truly believe less work and more leisure. We're overworking and overproducing our selves to death. Let's chill out.

Landon Sunrich wrote:5) Perhaps most importantly, for the average person - I truly believe less work and more leisure. We're overworking and overproducing our selves to death. Let's chill out.

Really a tough one for many permie folks at this point, in my experience! There is So Much To Do, and in the big picture Things Are So Bad, ALARM ALARM FIX ALL THE THINGS!

And there really is a lot to do, whether you look locally, or globally, or at any given fledgling permaculture site, which is the vast majority of them at this point...

The funny part is, I suspect the amount of work required to live in a truly sustainable manner is one thing that puts off the 'normal' folk... and the people who are most visible in permaculture are those who have worked hard to accomplish an incredible amount. Hence attracting the energetic and ambitious, and putting off the rest, and creating a bit of a feedback loop?

Yeah, I think that's a totally fair assessment. And there is so much to do!! It's overwhelming!

It does not however involve showing up to the job behind the gas station counter or at the insurance office to sit in front of a computer under florescence. Maybe show up to re-landscape the parking lot and adjacent sidewalk strip... then quit!!!

For the school kids out there, this is what I think it would look like:
1) Less mandated study, more self-study
2) Less homework, more self-designed experiments/adventures
3) Less tests and quizzes, more projects to apply what has been learned in the real world (not just some fluffy cardboard projects)
4) Less stress, more fun
5) Study, learn, and apply knowledge anywhere
6) More time to get outside

Dave,

I really like tests, in fact, I think it's where it's at. I also don't mind (but secretly sometimes dread) the occasional quiz.

Otherwise I totally agree. God damn did we manage to screw up the education system. Somebody ought to have feet held to fire for that one at least. So much money. So many hours. So little result. But hey, the facilities are still there (we're not libya... that was a mess... but I digress...) and the internet exists. Even though it uses whole lot of electricity....


Ah hell,


I really shouldn't bother trying to start up conversations. I'm going to go stand under a tree and sulk and get called eeyore. It will be better for everyone. Really.

Also stress exists. Just saying. Some learn to thrive on it.

Landon, why do you really like tests?

The reason I don't like tests and semester exams is because the way it is setup, people end up focusing more on getting the grades than actually understanding and enjoying the material. The focus, like what your thread is about, ends up being the short-term retainment of knowledge rather than the long-term understanding and application of said knowledge. This is why I think it would be better for education to be based more on self-study, workshops, projects, and experiments because it encourages people to do what motivates them. Consequently, I think this would lead to a happier and more productive society.

This mostly comes from my own personal disdain for the USA education system, because I feel like my time is being wasted. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a lot of the stuff I am learning like Chemistry, Biology, German, Government, and Calculus; however, I particularly dislike AP Literature. I much preferred AP Lang. because I was writing essays and arguments instead of sucking the life out of books that I have absolutely no interest in at all. I had to read current events to stay up with things and make good argumentative essays, and I still keep up with the news because it interests me. I'm doing okay in AP Lit., but I would rather be spending my time reading books I like than the fluffy and depressing stuff we're reading right now. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern was a good break from the dreariness of the material we're reading, but even then, R&G is about two guys who try to find the meaning of their life which has none. Kinda depressing to me.. -.-

I don't know... I guess it's because I absorb information osmotically. Most tests in my high school were lecture based and we had really good lectures. The occasional in class discussion. Tests are great because it insures a standard and shows where everyone is on the material and what should be focused on if their is a trend. You know all that. Also it serves to cement things more permanently into a mind. Or at least that's been my experience.

I think it may be hard to compare the way you went to school with the way I am going to school because they are pretty different. I don't know how old you are. My parents are around their mid to late fifties. From what they remember and have told me, there were more essay, free-response, and fill-in-the-blank type problems than multiple choice problems. That may also be part of the problem because multiple choice just memorizing and basic application skills, but more free-response and essays encourage more analytical and critical thinking skills which is why i enjoyed AP Lang. so much. An interesting thing I comment that I remember from my AP German teacher was that when German teachers from Germany were given free-response tests about Germany, they scored a lot higher than when they were given multiple choice tests about Germany. This may have something to do with the education styles in Germany and the USA. If I had a choice, I would have preferred the German education model, I think, or possibly another European country. Something or anything other than what we have right now in the USA.