Gert in the making
Ask me about food.
How Permies.com Works (lots of useful links)
My project thread
Agriculture collects solar energy two-dimensionally; but silviculture collects it three dimensionally.
Gert in the making
Gert in the making
Mike Leo wrote:There is absolutely a correlation between the cost for something and how much we value it.
At least, I know for sure that people UNDER value free/cheap things terribly.
Consider Geoff's position. Instead (really in addition to) of 3-5 classes of 20-30 students for slightly more investment of time and with some appropriate use of technology he can reach 1000+ easily. That's alright like the difference between a rocket to the moon and light speed warp right there. I believe he said last year's course by itself represented 20 years of students taking his face to face course. That's a pretty big deal.
Now it does not scale forever. More students mean more questions (and you see how he handles the q&a now) and more students mean more projects which I understand was already a slow and drawn out process just based on the sheer volume of them involved.
On paper that jump from 2000 to 20,000 is very easy, in practice it is much harder. Arguably the demand should only increase as more seeds reach more minds but perhaps there is a max. Should Geoff immediately try to max out PDC demand? Would that really do what we want? Nobody wants to hit that permaculture tipping point more than Geoff, but he wants to do it while maintaining the quality of the certified students and the integrity of the information presented in the course at the same time. We all represent a seed cast out on the wind. It's our job to help infect more minds and spread that word, whether we end up teaching our own courses (online or otherwise) or just leading by example and changing our communities from the inside out.
My personal take? Create a product or workshop below the level of the PDC. Practical applied backyard permaculture, individual modules, a bit simpler, designed to teach your average consumer some aspect of permaculture. You would be teaching, though perhaps not full blown PDCs and arguably you would be making a very large difference by converting minds most entrenched in the status quo culture.
Of course like so much else we design in permaculture, the limits are only those we impose on ourselves, a bit more imagination and some novel thinking and the next big explosion of permaculture knowledge might YOUR course/site/podcast/product.
Gert in the making
"Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you." ~Maori Proverb
www.permi-eden.com
savannah kay wrote:
I'm beginning to feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. I don't get notifications on the course site.
My project thread
Agriculture collects solar energy two-dimensionally; but silviculture collects it three dimensionally.
Sam Boisseau wrote:So I'm really enjoying the content of this course and I'm really wishing the knowledge would spread even more!
2000 students a year is great, but what if it reached 20,000 students? Don't we need that to reach the tipping point that will spread p
Then I wondered how it would be if Geoff had made the videos free for all to enjoy...
I'm guessing a lot more people would watch them, but would people take them as seriously? I know for myself that if this wasn't a PDC that cost me $997 I would probably only do a half-assed job of watching the videos and studying the materials. Then also I wouldn't have taken the course if Geoff didn't have his reputation.
Makes me think of how we can best spread the knowledge. Reputation, expertise, value, marketing seem to all be key.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - J. Krishnamurti
Joe DiMeglio wrote:I've thought about making up business cards with geofflawton.com permies.com and other permie websites to hand out to people if I hear them talking about ecology, conservation and the like. It might be a simple, low cost tool to spark more interest.
My project thread
Agriculture collects solar energy two-dimensionally; but silviculture collects it three dimensionally.
Joe DiMeglio wrote:
Hi Sam,
I'm taking the course too and really loving it. It's my 2nd PDC but I'm learning new things and expanding my understanding of things I already knew. I've been too busy with work and everything to chime in here yet but I finally got a day off.
In regards to your post, I agree that making the PDC free would create a lot of half-hearted students. For a grand, you really can't beat the education and resources you receive. Especially when you look at college tuition in the US. It's highway robbery for a substandard, in the box, one size fits none "edumacation".
Regarding getting the word out, I think that if each of us taught at least one other person we could have a big effect. If we taught a hundred or a thousand each we would really be getting the word out. I've thought about making up business cards with geofflawton.com permies.com and other permie websites to hand out to people if I hear them talking about ecology, conservation and the like. It might be a simple, low cost tool to spark more interest. We need more schools and demonstration sites, which is the reason for the PRI Master Plan which I hope to be a part of.
Speaking of the PRI Master Plan, has anyone seen the Xavier Hawk keynote from PC Voices about Permacredits? If this flies, it could be the ticket to funding a ton of new working ecovillages that are PC demo sites and education centers. I'm wondering if Paul knows anything about the validity of the whole Bitcoin platform since he's a computer savvy guy. I'd love to invest in them when the initial offering happens next month. Anybody else here in on this one? Maybe we could start a new thread on this and evaluate it there?
The course will be online and available until the end of the year. If you do not do your design this year you cannot do it in the next course. There is no guarantee you will be allowed back in as an observer as students were this year. We are going to extend the deadline for submissions this year to 6 weeks that is until August 16 but we will not be allowing any extensions.
Ask me about food.
How Permies.com Works (lots of useful links)
"You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result”
How Permies.com Works
Be Nice
Ask me about food.
How Permies.com Works (lots of useful links)
How permies.com works
What is a Mother Tree ?
Ruth Stout was famous for gardening naked. Just like this tiny ad:
build a better world instead of being angry at bad guys
https://greenlivingbook.com
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