Stephen Boyden

Introduction to biounderstanding
A biosensitive worldview and general outlook
The practical application of biounderstanding
The scope of biounderstanding (an addendum)

Introduction to biounderstanding - In all human communities some knowledge, whether true of false, is shared by all adult members – or at least by the great majority of them. This shared knowledge is distinct from the specialised knowledge that is shared only by the members of sub-groups in the population. Specialised knowledge represents a much greater proportion of the total knowledge in our society today than was the case in earlier societies.

The shared knowledge of human societies always includes knowledge of the local language and, for instance, what is good to eat and what is not, and knowledge of the nature of social hierarchies in the society. In most urban societies over the past few thousand years it has included knowledge of the local exchange system, and of the symbolic meaning of money. In many societies it has also included basic knowledge of religious doctrines of one sort or another.

Obviously, it is not possible to define precisely the parameters of the shared knowledge of any particular community. Nevertheless, the notion of shared knowledge is important, because the shared knowledge of a community has enormous influence on what goes on in that community and, for example, in its potential to adapt to new or threatening circumstances.

My reason for introducing the concept of shared knowledge is simply that I am personally convinced that basic understanding, right across the community, of the story of life on Earth, of the fundamental principles of life, and of the human place in nature is a precondition for the achievement of an ecologically sustainable, healthy, equitable and peaceful future for humankind.

In my view, if biounderstanding were part of the shared knowledge of all human societies, in much the same way that religious dogmas are part of the shared knowledge of many communities, the world would be a much better place today.

I call this kind of understanding biounderstanding (what I mean by this is described in more detail in the Addendum to this paper). I use the word bioperspective for the kind of outlook that biounderstanding generates.

Biounderstanding is of immense relevance to every one of us, and to society as a whole. After all, the processes of life underpin everything that goes on in our society and everything that goes on in our own individual lives.

Broadly speaking universal biounderstanding has the potential to make a very positive contribution to society in two ways. First, it would affect people’s worldview and general outlook on life – and their priorities, values and motivations. Second, it has practical meaning – in terms, for example, of seeking a healthy lifestyle or in achieving ecological sustainability.

Worldview and general outlook

I suggest that biounderstanding (and a bioperspective) would lead naturally to:

• A realistic sense of perspective, reflecting the reality that humans are part of the living world and entirely dependent on the processes of life in and around them for their very existence

• Appreciation that humanity, and each and every one of us, is a product and part of the processes of life
• A deep sense of respect, or reverence, for life, for nature and for the creative processes that brought us into being, and a greater respect for other humans as products and part of nature
• Appreciation of the need for a lifestyle that is sensitive and attuned to the processes of life – both within us and around us
• Appreciation that the economic system, and all other aspects of our social system, must be sensitive to the needs of the natural environment, as well as to the needs of all sections of the human community
• Appreciation that the health of living systems must be given top priority in the decision-making process.
• Awareness of human culture’s tendency to embrace assumptions that are nonsensical, and sometimes unnecessarily cruel and destructive
• Awareness of culture’s potential to brainwash us, from early childhood onwards, and of the need to be constantly on guard against nonsensical and destructive cultural assumptions.
• Increased ability to recognise nonsensical and destructive assumption in one’s ambient culture.
• Appreciation of the need to control culture in the interests of humankind and of the natural environment.
• Appreciation of the role of culture in setting groups of people against each other, in creating artificial divisions among people that give rise to hatred and violence, and appreciation of the gross absurdity and futility of these culturally-determined divisions and their destructive consequences
• Appreciation of the absurdity of religious intolerance and conflict
• Rejection of ever-increasing material standard of living in the developed countries as a social objective
• Rejection of gross social inequities – in health and well-being and in material wealth
• Appreciation of the ecological unsustainability of present patterns of human activity
• Appreciation of the urgent need for major social change to achieve ecological sustainability.
• Appreciation that the biosensitive way involves:

Thus biounderstanding across the community would lead to a general appreciation of the urgent need for major social change in keeping with biorealities, in tune with the processes of life and sensitive to the health needs of living systems.

Practical meaning

With regard to personal behaviour, biounderstanding will have a positive influence on:

• Lifestyle choices for personal health (based on understanding of the physical and psychosocial health needs of humankind) – leading to healthier and more enjoyable life experience (e.g. diet, noise levels, air quality, exercise, sense of personal involvement, purpose, belonging etc.
• Lessons for parenting (biosensitive rearing of children)
• Lifestyle choices contributing to society’s ecological sustainability, such as reducing use of fossil fuels, reducing purchases of manufactured goods, and selecting ‘environmentally friendly’ products (environmental purchasing).

Biounderstanding across the community would lead to public pressure on governments and businesses to take effective steps to drastically reduce levels of use of fossil fuels, to restructure the work force in ways consistent with the need to reduce resource and energy use, to increase recycling of material resources, to restore natural nutrient cycles, to actively improve soil quality and to reduce social disparities in health and well-being.

Conclusion

Biounderstanding, through its influence on the world view and priorities of the dominant culture, and through the knowledge it provides about the nature of specific ecological and health issues, will make an indispensable contribution to the eventual attainment of a truly biosensitive society.

Addendum Biounderstanding

I use the word biounderstanding for the kind of understanding that comes from a basic grasp of the story of life on Earth – and of the fundamental principles of life, the biology and evolutionary background of the human species, and the interactions between humankind and the processes of life – past and present

In slightly more detail – biounderstanding requires basic knowledge of the following::

• The coming into being of the first living organisms, some 4 billion years ago
• The eventual appearance of multicellular organisms like seaweeds, sponges, jellyfish, worms and starfish some 500 million years ago
• The crucial importance of photosynthesis - the process by which green plants capture energy from the sun, making it available to support life on Earth as we know it
• The appearance in evolution of early crustaceans and insects, and then of animals with backbones and the first fishes
• The movement of some plants and animals from water onto land around 400 million years ago
• The early forests, amphibians and the coming into being of reptiles
• The age of the dinosaurs, and the first birds and mammals
• The end of the dinosaurs and the diversification of mammals, and flowering plants
• The evolutionary history of humankind and early human species from about 2 million years ago
• The emergence of Homo sapiens about 180 000 years ago
• Humankind’s unique biological attribute - the capacity for culture (inventing and communicating with an invented and learned symbolic language)
• Human culture as a new kind of force in the biosphere
• Humans in their natural habitat (hunter-gatherers)
• The introduction of farming around 10 000 years ago
• Life in the early cites
• The industrial revolution, beginning around 200 years ago, involving the introduction of machines and other devices using extrasomatic energy (especially fossil fuels).
• The massive expansion of the human population – now 1000 times as many people as when farming began
• The even more massive increase in use of natural resources and energy and production of technological waste products by humankind. Human society now uses about 12 000 times as much energy, and emits about 12 000 times as much carbon dioxide as was the case when farming began
• A progressive increase in the scale of homicide in warfare and terrorism, and a gargantuan increase in the killing power of weaponry
• The origins and elaboration of the various religions of humankind, and their role in global and local conflict and warfare
• The changing scale and intensity of human activities causing disturbances in the natural environment
• Cultural maladaptations in the past and at present
• Cultural reform: patterns of cultural/ social response when human activities are perceived to be having undesirable effects on living systems (cultural reform).

Biounderstanding also requires appreciation of the following biological and biohistorical principles and perspectives:

• The improbability of it all
• Fundamental principles of ecology (food chains, nutrient cycles, soil fertility and degradation)
• The principles of evolution and inheritance
• Diversity and uniformity in nature
• The principles of health – and the evolutionary health principle
• The health needs of humans, including the less tangible psychosocial needs
• The sensitivities and health needs of biological organisms (including humans) and of ecosystems, and factors tending to promote, or to interfere with, the satisfaction of these needs (including, in the case of humans, of intangible factors)
• The biological implications of the fact that humans are now living in an environment very different from that in which the human species evolved
• The concept of ecological sustainability (and unsustainability)
• The power of human culture as a new force in the living world.
• The role of culture in promoting inter-group hatred and violence
• Principles of cultural maladaptation and cultural reform