Stephen B. Thomas

While out here back East, I've snapped together a brief video about what Paul and I have discussed as our big projects for 2025, and a direct ask to recruit more Boots:



If you're watching this and you are interested in trying Boot Life, then please visit the official Wheaton Labs Boot Camp page at this link.

Thanks for reading/watching, and enjoy your day...!

We want more Boots at Wheaton Labs! Come on out this year!

While I'm on the road visiting family way out East, I wanted to post a brief summary of what Paul and I have planned for this year. I'm excited about what we want to accomplish, and we need more hands to do it. If you want more information about what's coming up at least for 2025, this video (less than 4 minutes long) might help.



For more details on how to jump in on this, please visit the official Wheaton Labs Boot Camp info page.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

I think those pumpkins were a good choice, among the others. Even if they don't have large fruits the vines ought to grow and sprawl, and any sense of progress is likely a good thing for brand-new gardeners.

A starter seed set is a fun, useful idea...! Oh, and I second the suggestion for radishes. They're relatively easy and quick to grow, and are hard to ignore once they're ready to pick.

Andy Ze wrote:This website is a lot less interesting without any active Boot journals. This is not to guilt trip Stephen into posting again, at all. Just an observation.

I wish I had an easy response to your comment here. I am tired, and I have been sick (seriously, some kind of sinus thing has been dogging me for weeks), and then I've been bogged down with maintenance tasks for like the past month and a half while prepping for an extended trip out of town.

On-boarding two past Boots who haven't stuck around has been a personal drain. Beyond that, I'm just not convinced that people want to see me feeding cats and chopping firewood, yet again. The boring/typical stuff takes up a lot of time and energy, as everyone knows, and it can't be ignored. I don't think it makes good photo or video, either.

When the growing season is here again, there ought to be more to share. As it happens, right now I'm en route to visiting relatives and on a Wheaton Labs "ambassador trip" kind of thing until early March (I call it "Stephen's Snowbirding & Sustainability Sojourn"). I will do my best to post things for you all once I'm back in town. It's not that I wouldn't have a use for the BEL money, trust me on that one.

I've been sitting down with Roy's book The Order of Natural Necessity for the past few Saturday mornings to start my day, and here I'll compile the notes I've taken. I'd originally sent these to Paul, and he requested I post them here for everyone to review.

Part 3 of my Notes is in this post.
Check out Part 2 of my Notes at this link.
Start at Part 1 of my Notes by clicking here.

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Notes for Chapter 2, continued. This is from the section entitled, Critical Naturalism.

TO SUM IT UP:
Critical Naturalism is to the social sciences as Critical Realism is to the physical sciences, or scientific practice in general. A major aspect of the social sciences Bhaskar points out is that it includes a number of dualisms: a pair of related concepts that coexist and conflict with one another. In this chapter Bhaskar spends time identifying a series of dualisms and describes them in the context of his theory of Critical Naturalism. Dualisms detailed here include:
Structure & Agency
Body & Mind
Facts & Values

Details of these examples are below.

STRUCTURE & AGENCY
This is a dualism with a cyclical relationship between its two aspects. Structure is required for Agency, while Agency reinforces current, or inspires change of, current Structure(s). Some examples of this include:
- Language. Language exists so that beings can communicate with one another. Language is the Structure, communication with that language is the Agency.
If a language is not used, it "dies." Maybe a new language is developed and adopted in its stead. In this case, Agency inspires a new Structure.
- Marriage. This is a social structure in which people participate. If people no longer married, the practice would eventually die out and fade away.

In both of these cases, history and culture reinforce the current status quo, and add constraints and resistance to social change. Those who attempt to resist or replace Structures will inevitably encounter this resistance.

When one successfully replaces a previous Structure with a new or different one, then that society is transformed. Bhaskar refers to this process as the Transformational Model of Social Activity (TMSA).

BODY & MIND
Body exists first, and the Mind is an emergent power of the Body. The Mind reinforces how the Body acts in the material world. See Part 2 of my notes for details on an emergent power and Emergence.

FACTS & VALUES
When you begin to learn new facts, you become implicitly critical of opposing views. For example:
Earth-centered versus Sun-centered models of our solar system.
Round Earth/"Glober" versus Flat-Earthers.
Witchcraft versus the non-superstitious.

When you internalize these facts you change your behaviour at a social/cultural level.

Stephen's editorial: I think this is the root of cognitive dissonance. When someone learns new facts, but does not change their behaviour, cognitive dissonance grows. History and culture can act as resistant forces that oppose someone trying to change their behaviour, when it wouldn't match up with the social structures and agents of their community. I see Bhaskar's TMSA as part of the process here, as well.

SOCIAL SCIENCE HAS SEVERAL DIFFERENT LEVELS TO STUDY
Bhaskar notes that social science isn't just about these relationships that occur between people. There's more to society and how people participate in them than just these dualities. He identifies "seven levels, at least" where social phenomena occur.
1. Sub-Individual: "My motives and my unconscious."
2. Individual: "I think, therefore I am. In fact, I am a separate being from others around me."
3. Micro-social world: "How can I communicate with and cooperate with other beings, while still being an individual?"
4. Meso-social world: "If I'm a manager, how do I relate with my subordinates? If I am a politician, how do I relate with my fellow citizens or with other politicians?" [To sum it up: this is the level of general sociology and ethnomethodology.]
5. Macro-social world: "How would I describe the economy of the town or country where I live?" "What is North America?"
6. Mega-social world: "How did Islam develop?" "What is feudalism, and how did it emerge?"
7. Planetary social world: "What is this planet? What is its connection to other planets and the solar system?"

To be continued...

Looks good, Sherry!

Question for you about your cob composition... How much straw would you say is mixed into your cob, compared to sand and clay?

Weeks 3 and 4 are booked!

During Week 1, I will be in and around the Carolinas. There's still time to request a visit should things work out for your schedule. Please send me a PM if you're interested. Thanks!

I've been sitting down with Roy's book The Order of Natural Necessity for the past couple Saturday mornings to start my day, and here I'll compile the notes I've taken. I'd originally sent these to Paul, and he requested I post them here for everyone to review.

Part 2 of my Notes is in this post.
Review Part 1 of my Notes by following this link.

///

Notes for Chapter 2, continued.

TO SUM IT UP:
Beliefs and knowledge can be put forth by someone, and these may not be accurate to actual reality. They may not be accurate because while the Referent is at the core of reality, people can present knowledge and have beliefs that are not based on Reality, and instead have them based on what they personally sense (like when making an observation) or experience. Deeper knowledge of reality entails continuing one's investigations beyond one's own senses, beyond one's own experiences, beyond one's own social circle and culture. Bhaskar details a kind of scientific method here, to help someone avoid settling on what's derived only from their senses or their experiences, and instead more accurately describes reality.

Stephen's editorial: this segment of the chapter reminds me a lot of the description of the classic Scientific Method. You notice something, ask a question, create an experiment to formulate an answer, make observations, then see if the outcomes are consistent over time and in repeated experiments. Bhaskar's acronym to describe this process is below.

MORE DETAILS:
In addition to the six components of Basic Critical Realism/BCR, there are three concepts that Bhaskar considers "The Holy Trinity of BCR."

1. Ontological Realism: a realism about the world.
2. Epistemological Relativity: knowledge and beliefs are relative, and so are socially-produced, fallible, and at times changeable and unchanging.
3. Judgmental Rationality: we can make good arguments that make the case for a set of beliefs or theories about the world.

Experiments cannot tell us everything about the world, because the world is an open system, not a closed system. To devise an experiment, a controlled environment is common (so that accurate observations can be made), and this is very likely not an accurate representation of reality.

Experiments focus on the Actual (an event: "The Domain of the Actual") and do not rely on the "Domain of the Real," to be considered successful/accurate/repeatable.

Personal experiences focus on the "Domain of the Empirical," emerging from our senses, and also don't rely on the Domain of the Real.

At the same time, the Domain of the Real is the origin of these events and acts, as well as the reason we're capable of perceiving them through our senses. These events and acts, and our ability to perceive them, are emergent properties of the Domain of the Real.

Emergence: Once you have one thing, you can then have another thing come from that. This emergent thing is distinct, discrete, and can also make a change in the world. Bhaskar uses "the mind" as an example of an emergent property.

The mind is an emergent property of the body because:
- it is dependent on the presence of a body. "...you do not have, as far as you know, mind without bodies."
- it does things the body cannot do: have motives, intentions and intentionality, reason, plans, purposes, etc. beyond the body.
- it causes changes in the material world. Causes bodies to take action and to do things that impact the material world.

How do you move from the Domain of the Empirical, to the Domain of the Actual, and finally to the Domain of the Real? Bhaskar created an acronym to describe the process of going from the level of the senses to the level of the real: DREIC.

D = Description: "The first act of science." To describe the thing as accurately as possible.

R = Retroduction: list as many possible explanations for the phenomena that you can devise.

E = Elimination: "rule out" as many possible explanations as you are able.

I = Identification: settle on a single possible explanation because you believe it to be the most accurate and consistent with the Domain of the Real, with reality.

C = Correction: If needed, adapt and modify your explanation so as to further its accuracy and exactness.

...To be continued...

I've been sitting down with Roy's book The Order of Natural Necessity for the past couple Saturday mornings to start my day, and here I'll compile the notes I've taken. I'd originally sent these to Paul, and he requested I post them here for everyone to review.

Other folks seem to be directly and immediately relating his words to permaculture concepts. I'm not necessarily taking that approach at the moment. For now, I just want to do my best at interpreting his work, and finding a way to explain it to an average, curious person. If anyone wants to correct me or ask for clarification, please do so. It's been a minute since I've worked on describing philosophy to someone else.

Part 1 of my Notes is in this post.

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Chapter 1: Critical Realism - How Do We Understand the World?

To sum it up:
Referent -> Sense -> Judge -> Interpret
Reality is made up of Referents, and relying mainly on your personal interpretation does not necessarily lead to accurately understanding reality.

I'll note "Referent" after the other three items.
Sense: The methods by which you can perceive something in the world around you. Sight, hearing, touch, etc.
Judge: How we comprehend, understand, and apply meaning to what's been sensed. Using your mind to piece together an accurate picture of what you've picked-up with your senses.
Interpret: The order and predictability and reasoning that results from the judgment we've applied to/on what we have perceived/sensed. Now that we've thought about what we've sensed, we can understand a bit more of how it fits into the world, helping form our world view.

Referent: The target of our sensory perception. The object idea, the experience, etc. to which we will apply judgment. When we talk about something, we are referring to what we've perceived about the referent we are discussing. The referent is the originator of our sensing and perception of it.

Referents are not dependent upon our senses, judgment, or interpretation in order to exist. It's the other way around. Referents - the "whole story" - are there, whether or not we know of them.

Other useful terms... (personally, I have to frequently remind myself of these definitions, and Bhaskar uses these terms quite a bit)
Epistemology: the study of what is known.
Empiricism/Empirical Knowledge: deriving information from our senses.
Ontology: the philosophical study of being/existence.

Stephen's editorial: Bhaskar directly criticizes post-modernism early in the book, stating that it's based on Interpretations. This obscures understanding of the world, since individual Interpretations can be inaccurate (at least in terms of how the world really works), or just flat-out wrong. Denying the validity of someone's interpretation isn't the goal here. Rather, acknowledging that someone's interpretation can be flawed/inaccurate is something we encounter while we begin to understand reality. It's this statement that attracted me to keep reading and to work hard at understanding Bhaskar's work.

Chapter 2: Basic Critical Realism (or "BCR")

Six components of BCR:
1. Philosophical Under-Laboring: BCR is a philosophical approach, and its purpose is to increase understanding of the world. Bhaskar uses the phrase, "to clear out the rubbish" that prevents understanding of the world.
2. Seriousness: BCR strives to never settle on absurd conclusions. Bhaskar criticizes David Hume and his conclusions based on Interpretation instead of Referents. For example, "It makes no difference whether we leave a building from the door on the ground floor, or from the second story window." It's a conclusion that's ignorant of Physical Laws (in this case, Gravity).
3. Immanent Critique: Considering an idea or concept "from the inside," and working within its boundaries to determine whether or not it remains consistent when tested.
4. Philosophy as a Pre-Supposition: Challenging what we "take for granted" and also testing that for consistency.
5. Enhanced Reflexivity or Transformative Practice: Putting one's thoughts and beliefs to the test through intellectual exercise and/or debate and discussion, and when necessary you update and refine them to be more consistent with the way the world works.
6. Principle of Hermeticism: "Do not believe something just because I have said it." Make one's own observations, considerations, and conclusions. Put the declarations of others to the test instead of believing them at face value. Do not fall victim to the Credibility Fallacy (to put it in terms of our kitchen's "logical fallacy" poster).

...To be continued...

Madeleine Innocent wrote:Please appreciate that cats are NOT omnivores. They are obligate carnivores.

Now that I think of it, it seems I've only witnessed cats eat plants (usually grass) to deliberately give themselves an upset stomach and vomit-up something. Apparently they can sense nausea or some other feeling that clues them in on their internal distress.