Have you ever wondered how nature got along without people? I know some people regard our existence as nature’s protector, but the truth is nature has been able to adapt and thrive long before we ever showed up and will continue to adapt and thrive well after we’re gone. I don’t believe that anything we create can attain perfection, but I also believe that if there is such a thing as perfection then only nature can give birth to it.
Sometimes we mistook the purpose for inventing technology as the means to conquer nature. We are led to believe that we have dominated nature because we can hold back the oceans, move mountains, or control the weather. Every time we push, nature pushes back to maintain the equilibrium that is life. In the midst of our foolish arrogance there is hope to those times when we can’t hold back the oceans or move the mountains. It turns out that our problems are sometimes nature’s problems as well. There are plants and animals that live in deserts where there are no supplies of water. Animals have lived through eras in Earth’s history where the toxicity of the air was as high as some of those in our urban environments. And some animals have learned to build light and structurally sound shelters that keep the elements out.
This talk by Janine Benyus is inspiring and thought provoking. For anything you might be contemplating, there’s a question you can ask yourself that may provide some helpful insight – how does nature solve this?
For more information check out The Biomimicry Institute and the Ask Nature websites.
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