Blog #1: Campus Trail Walk

The experience walking through the nature trails was mostly what I expected with a few exceptions. First I didn't expect to be introduced to plants that are edible. I didn't think the campus had any plants like this so I was suprised to learn there are multiple plants that are edible and can literally be plucked and eaten. This made me happy as its as I think a part of sustainablity needs to include food for the beings living in the space. If the people in A Land Remembered were surrounded by plants similar to these they would have had a harder chance of almost starving and it would've made their experience much simpler and enjoyable. Something else that was unexpected was the design of the buildings being made to work well with the climate. The buildings windows having a tint to prevent the sun from heating it up too much was a great touch, especially since the building is kept cool with ice instead of an air conditioner which saves a lot of electricity. The architecture of the buildings also being made to allow better air circulation is a genius idea that I didn't expect to be taken into consideration when building the campus. Something I did expect and was glad to experience was the sense of calm being within the nature trails. The minutes of mindfulness where we just stopped and listened to our surroundings were great and I hope to do this during every trip.

Blog #2: Six Mile Cypress

Walking through the Six Mile Cypress was an extremely calming experience. I didn't expect there to be such a beautiful location with so many plants and animals that was shaped by people. I was surprised to hear the squarish shape of the lake was because it was man made since everything felt so natural. I loved seeing so many animals in nature from the birds and gators to the boar feeding its family. It felt so pure to see a family feeding from their mother surrounded by nature. In A Land Remembered the people had to live off the land and the animals but now we have grown to a place where we can separate the land from which we use for food and the land we keep protected for the animals and plants to live and grow without worry of being hunted or harmed. A Land Remembered also had people worrying about being attacked by animals why we just calmly walked through the passage people before us created and watched the alligators and wild boars from a safe barrier which allows us to go about our own business while they kept to theirs. I hope to go on more trips with animals that are not enclosed in a cage but are also close enough in a safe way where we can observe them. Here is a picture I took of one of my favorite quotes that were there.

Journal #1: Sustainability

Sustainability to me, means something that can happen continuously without getting worse. Some ways I could be more sustainable is to live on a sailboat powered by solar panels.It could be used as my home and my office to work on open source software and art similar to the Hundred Rabbits studio on a sailboat [1] . It would allow me to lower my carbon foot print while also being able to explore and appreciate the earth. Having islands dedicated to farming food using only renewable energy systems like wind turbines, wave power, and solar panels to power hydroponic farms would be very convenient for a society that lives in the sea. The people living in the sea could even get paid for delivering produce to other Islands allowing them to travel and work on art and software as they make deliveries that are in their path. Using a distributed ledger like Ethereum[2] people would be able to transparently keep track of where and who delivers the produce. With a digital currency like Nano[3] which requires very little electricity to maintain and allows people to send fractions of a dollar, people could pay each other for helping each other out on the sea or send each other a couple cents to show appreciation for the name and design on the side of each others sailboats. While out on the sea people could use water desalination tools like solar stills or the Aquahex[4] which could help decentralize the production and distribution of clean water. The process of retrieving and placing the water desalination systems could also be automated by having them equipped with wings like quad-copters so they can deliver the clean water to the nearest sailboat or island and then go back to the sea to collect more. If the arms that hold the quad-copter’s wings can move they could make the wings be vertical so while they are collecting water the wind could push the wings to generate electricity like wind turbines. The arms could also move two of the wings to be on the bottom of the solar still or Aquahex to work as turbines to move it. A society that has an economy based on clean water, food, and energy would be a lot more sustainable than how we live now and if the production and distribution of the clean water, food, and energy is automated with self driving vehicles and through the work of same sailors, humans could focus on creating art and innovation and the products and services we exchange our currency for would be for the things we want as the things we need be sustainable to the point of post-scarcity[5].

[1] R., & D. (2017, June 07). We are Hundred Rabbits. Retrieved January 31, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIJodhT0Bow

[2] Buterin, V. (n.d.). Ethereum Project. Retrieved January 31, 2018, from https://www.ethereum.org/

[3] Nano – an instant, zero-fee, scalable currency. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2018, from https://nano.org/en

[4] Aquahex: Floating water desalination system runs on solar energy. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2018, from http://www.ecochunk.com/6435/2013/02/23/aquahex-floating-water-desalination-system-runs-on-solar-energy/

[5] Sadler, Philip (2010), Sustainable Growth in a Post-Scarcity World: Consumption, Demand, and the Poverty Penalty, Surrey, England: Gower Applied Business Research, p. 7, ISBN 978-0-566-09158-2

Journal #2: Nature Deficit Disorder

Nature Deficit Disorder in my opinion is a perfect term for the issue at hand. It seems as if every issue we face is trying to be fixed with a pill or with a concoction of pills and medication instead of figuring out what the root cause of the issue is. One of the biggest buzzwords during my years in high-school was ADD or ADHD which was assigned to every student who didn’t seem to march at the same pace of the beat as was expected. I always realized the kids who were said to have ADD or ADHD were ussually extremely intelligent and well read in the subjects or hobbies they were interested in but the subjects that they weren’t interested in that were forced on to them by the school system didn’t interest them enough to pay attention in class. The issue in my opinion is more about trying to make every student fit in the same exact curriculum and using the same exact process of teaching everyone these same subjects. There are plenty of people that aren’t very good visual learners so sitting in a classroom and watching your professor write down every bone of the body on the board isn’t going to help them learn. If schools took a more hands on approach to complex topics I think students, especially the ADD\ADHD students, would have a much better experience learning the subject. The idea of spending more time in nature[1] to allow students to absorb the world around them and spend some of their pent up energy outside and then start learning seems like a much better approach than giving kids drugs that mess with their brain. The problem is that a solution like spending time in nature or not being taught the exact same way as everyone else doesn’t make companies billions of dollars like giving kids drugs for ADHD [2]. It seems like in every aspect of our society in the United States of America the problems can be found by “following the money” and seeing what brings people more money. If solving an issue is more profitable than allowing the issue to continue than it is a lot more likely the issue will continue. The same issue has struck our political system and got even worse once Citizens United allowed companies to used an unlimited amount of money on campaign ads and other forms of influencing elections [3]. Drug companies are spending are spending more money on advertising to get kids and adults taking more and more drugs than on researching solutions to actual problems [4].

Briggs, H. (2016, November 26). All you need to know about nature deficit disorder. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38094186

How ADHD Became a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry. (2015, December 09). Retrieved February 14, 2018, from https://www.cchrint.org/2015/12/09/how-adhd-became-a-multi-billion-dollar-industry/

(2018, February 01). Retrieved February 14, 2018, from https://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Citizens-United-v.-Federal-Election-Commission

Swanson, A. (2015, February 11). Big pharmaceutical companies are spending far more on marketing than research. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/02/11/big-pharmaceutical-companies-are-spending-far-more-on-marketing-than-research/

Journal #3 Relationship with Nature
My experience with nature has always been pretty good. One of the first memories I can remember was when I lived in New York and I would go to my front yard with my brother and cousins to climb a tree together. We climbed that tree and would talk for a long time, it was one of our favorite places to be until my brother started saying snakes lived there and we were scared to go near it. Snakes have always been the animal I’m most wary about and I think it’s because they can be so small and hard to notice but still be very deadly. As a child it was always so much fun to be in nature and be with friends or meet new people to make friends with. Growing up though I spent less and less time with nature as I would spend most of my free time online browsing the seemingly endless amount of art and places that I wouldn’t be able to experience outside. My value of nature has changed throughout the course because although I’ve always understood how important nature, plants, and animals or bugs are for our planet and species but I realized I hadn’t been appreciating nature around me or taking time out of my day to go out and explore new places. The field trips really allowed me to realize there are amazing places so close to me that I never knew existed. Now wherever I am living I will make sure to explore and experience nature instead of taking it for granted. Learning the term Nature Deficit Disorder [1] it also helped me realize the times I can’t focus on a project or I can’t decide on something I can go for a walk and it will help my mind sort things out. I also learned that being in nature can help depression [2] so it also helped me realize humans have a connection with the earth that is important for them mentally. Before we had a serious physical connection to the earth since we were exercising for our food and water by being in nature which also helped our mental well being [3] but now we get it all delivered to us or we step in a car and a grocery store and don’t spend time with the nature that creates us our food.

Briggs, H. (2016, November 26). All you need to know about nature deficit disorder. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38094186

The science behind why nature makes you happier and healthier. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.nbcnews.com/better/pop-culture/how-nature-can-solve-life-s-most-challenging-problems-ncna749361

Publishing, H. H. (n.d.). Exercise is an all-natural treatment to fight depression. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/exercise-is-an-all-natural-treatment-to-fight-depression

Pine Manor Blog
Pine Manor was a great experience. I didn’t know so much food was given out for free and I didn’t know that so much food was provided for hurricane relief by them. The fact that they teach people in their community useful skills like cooking and sewing was amazing. I think if more places would be as proactive in their community we would have a much better world. The garden section was also really great, I’ve never seen broccoli being grown and the speaker seemed extremely invested in the project and was quite inspiring. The fact that he appreciated Monsanto for the scientific work they do was very surprising, although it made sense he didn’t appreciate the business practices they commit making it extremely difficult for farmers. Going to Pine Manor inspired me to want to have my old garden once I move somewhere that has the space for it. I would like to have a permaculture garden or farm and be able to have a lot of vegetables. I have recently learned about growing tomatoes upside down so you can grow them in a location without a lot of space. Pine Manor is a place Florida Gulf Coast University students should all be visiting at least once.

Down Town Fort Myers Blog

Going to Down Town Ft. Myers was a great experience. Learning about the first bricks still being in use, the building that was used for parties, and the statues were really interesting. Another aspect that was great was seeing all the different kinds of trees from around the world in the one area. I feel like this gives a great cultural context and it shows how much variety there is in the plant life. I think it’s very important for resident of south west Florida to understand the past and down town fort Myers is a good place to understand it and see how far we have come. The sculptures that were supposed to have been removed already were also great to see even though they aren’t supposed to be there anymore. I learning so much about a place I have been to so many times but have never really researched into the history of.