tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5117005533318160902.post6351765556041311229..comments2024-03-27T19:53:53.708-06:00Comments on growing changing learning creating: Asking for cheatingTom Haskinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12658791778134826289noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5117005533318160902.post-34104360133665369052008-12-16T02:26:00.000-07:002008-12-16T02:26:00.000-07:00Kia ora TomUnder the circumstances, I guess we all...Kia ora Tom<BR/><BR/>Under the circumstances, I guess we all should make a point of enjoying today.<BR/><BR/>Catchya<BR/>from Middle-earthBlogger In Middle-earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5117005533318160902.post-68594481623042433542008-12-15T09:24:00.000-07:002008-12-15T09:24:00.000-07:00Thanks for drawing some great connections to natur...Thanks for drawing some great connections to natural dynamics, Ken. In those situations you describe, there is only one way to win: surviving. Ecosystems are prone to collapse when one animal, plant or insect dominates the diversity. "Winner takes all" is lethal to the overall community. Nature often uses a cheater to disrupt the excessive winner and meet several other objectives in the process:<BR/>-- cultivating a more fertile, stable or enduring habitat by killing off one very successful life form for it's nutrients and reuse of it's sunlight, space and local resources.<BR/>-- restoring balance to the whole system after going to some unrestrained extreme or adopting a one-sided success<BR/>-- introducing diversity and scattered growth potential after an over concentration of one life form and closing of niches for others to exploit<BR/>advancing a local extinction to serve the emergence of a more robust and resilient community in its place<BR/><BR/>Thus there's always a question about any successful life form: is it serving the whole by the way it's cheating or is it asking to be cheated out of existence? Mere success is not defensible in a court of ecological balance that maintains standards of holistic inter-dependencies. <BR/><BR/>Enjoy today!Tom Haskinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12658791778134826289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5117005533318160902.post-71207285862131170142008-12-14T18:39:00.000-07:002008-12-14T18:39:00.000-07:00Tēnā koe!'Twas ever thus Tom.If one examines the a...Tēnā koe!<BR/><BR/>'Twas ever thus Tom.<BR/><BR/>If one examines the animal kingdom, it is rife with 'cheating'. And not just one species cheating against another. What's more, the higher the intelligence of the species, the more sophisticated the cheating. Birds and mammals seem to lift the accolades, but a few insects and parasitic nematodes might win a few there too.<BR/><BR/>But even plants 'cheat', and squeeze one another out of existence if they could.<BR/><BR/>Another take on cheating is an attempt at survival. For some it is a successful attempt. Certainly this seems to be the case with many animals and plants. It's ironic that cheating is seen as a 'bad' thing among humans. We treat pests like we do cheats.<BR/><BR/>Yet if we consider how the petroleum industry <I>per se</I> is ruling the world, it would not be a far cry to claim that it is cheating on the rest of society round the globe. It is very successful.<BR/><BR/>Many other lesser industries can be thought of in the same terms, including the illicit drug industry, the porn industry, the so-called adult-entertainment industry, etc. Not all of them are illegal, yet all can be considered 'cheating' by sectors of society.<BR/><BR/>Catchya<BR/>from Middle-earthBlogger In Middle-earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com