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High on a throne of royal state, which far Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind , Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, Satan exalted sat, by merit raised To that bad eminence; and, from despair
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High on a throne of royal state, which far Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind, Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, Satan exalted sat, by merit raised To that bad eminence; and, from despair Thus high uplifted beyond hope, aspires Beyond thus high, insatiate to pursue Vain war with Heaven MORAL DISCONNEC TION
The disconnection between morality and eco-sustainable behaviour
An experiment to address the disconnect • a procedure where you measure or describe the state of something (a person, a group, an animal or plant, an eco-system) before and after a planned intervention • We’ve done the baseline measurement/description, we’ll do two simple exercises to see if we can reduce that perception of disconnection, and then discuss where we got to. • How could we improve our experiment? • First we need to do a bit of a lit review on morality to help us understand what might cause the disconnect
The drivers of moral behavior • Social pressure - we do things because everyone around us does it. Rules or conventions, like no running in the corridors, which we may ignore if we can get away with it. • Personal conviction - these are individual moral positions, such as the choice to not eat battery chickens on the basis of animal rights. • Religious beliefs - these are rules and prescriptions that part of a wider set of religious or spiritual practices. For example not eating meat on Fridays if you are a Catholic. • Habit - we do things like never buying goods on credit, because that's the way we've always done it • How can each of these processes contribute to eco-sustainability?
The evolutionary drivers of moral behavior • Morality is the motivational mechanism by which sociability is prioritised in human conduct. • Moral behaviours such as the universal desire to protect the very young or to collaborate with close kin which are seen as being key to human survival and development from an evolutionary point of view • Based on competition with Nature
The Five Foundations (principles) of Morality • Harm/Care - not harming others and caring for others; • Fairness/ Reciprocity - treating others as you yourself would expect to be treated; • In group/Loyalty - supporting your extended family, your community, your kin group, hapu, iwi, your country over and above other families, communities, etc; • Authority/Respect - being respectful to those in authority, positions of power and status, including divine powers; and • Purity/Sanctity - staying free from the contamination of unclean food , bodily and sexual habits. and impure thoughts.
The Five Foundations (principles) of Morality • Evolutionary principles – aiding the development of the human species with cooperative behaviour and specialisationof roles, thus and giving space for our enormous creativity and versatility. • Anthropocentric – all from our perspective for our good • No criteria for moral behaviour in relation to the rest of the biosphere - animals and plants and the environment they depend on. • No built in moral system that gives intrinsic value to the non - human biosphere
Deep Ecology • Deep ecology rejects the idea that each human being possesses a separate essence or soul/spirit separating the human self from the rest of the world. Separation leads to selfishness towards other people and nature. • Our identity is constituted by our relationship to other things in the world, especially living things. If we think of ourselves and the world in relational terms then we will take better care of ourselves, nature and the world in general. • By identifying with nature I enlarge the boundaries of the self beyond my skin. My larger - ecological - Self (capital "S" shows I am something larger than my body and consciousness - the universal aspect of Self) deserves respect as well. Ecocide 6:40 • Mental Health Foundation believes that our disconnection with our natural environment is a cause of mental illness, and that re-connection is a strategy for recovery.
Animism, Gaia, • Animism: the features of the non-human world have their own consciousness and sentience • The world is a "self- realising" system or a series of such systems • Gaia hypothesis: the living and nonliving components of earth function as a single system in such a way that the living component regulates and maintains conditions so as to be suitable for life.
Indigenous spirituality • Everything has wairua – a sacred and immortal element – spirit. Everything has mauri - life force • North American Indian spirituality is not separated from other realities. It is present in one’s total existence - body, mind and spirit, relationships with self, others and nature • Being forced from their traditional lands people struggle to hold onto their spiritual beliefs and practices because these are so intimately tied to their ecosystems. Whakamomori (suicide) was traditionally the despair felt from loss of tribal lands. • Land is the people's life and soul. A person without land or land connection is soulless. • Catarets islands 0 – 2:28, 4:42 to finish
Dealing with the disconnection • Lit review conclusion. There’ s never historically been a moral argument for looking after the environment – a non-anthropocentric view. However if we felt more connected to the non-human world we live in, our moral emotions (the motivational force) would match our moral intentions with regard to ecosustainability. • How? Maybe if we get out of our mental space and into our bio space and perhaps into that part of ourselves that is connected to everything. Our complexity is held in the DNA molecules that we share with every living thing. That potential is held within the quantum physics that describe the big-bang or the beginning of the universe
Become a Waitakere Eco rep see what you can do
Manage classroom rubbish better! • Get staff/students to use classroom rubbish bins for non- recyclable materials – not food, paper, plastics and metals. • How about: • taking a few minutes before class starts to talk about where recyclable things can be deposited? • providing progress reports to staff/students on the amount of recyclables going into to classroom rubbish bins?
Join the Twin Streams Project! The Twin Streams Community Project has have guardianship over the part of the streams closest to Unitec. How about: Engaging in clean-ups of the Unitec stream area, perhaps by having a canoe kayak fun event to support the cleanup?
Recycle plastic bags and batteries! Get a plastic bag and battery recycling station going at Waitakere. How about: Working with Facilities Management to create a space for plastic bag and battery recycling (publicise it, monitor its use, and provide progress reports for our Good News notice boards)?
No more Disposable cups and dishes! • How about: • Identifying when cups/plates/cutlery are being used at functions and just thrown away so we can educate on options for change? • Checking eco-friendly dishwashing products are used? we’ll be doing more washing up! Contains >30% Phosphates
Get Unitec on its bike! How about: Finding out what bike amenities we’ve got (racks, showers, storage, drying area, etc) and what we need?
Save power and water! How about: Developing and implementing a checklist to monitor power and water usage (e.g. lights, computers left on, wasteful automatic taps)? Encouraging refillable water bottles?
keep your coffee cup! How about: Always using reusable cups/bottles? Asking cafes to sell reusable cups? Suggesting cafes offer a discount or incentive for doing this? Getting our cafes to sign up at www.consciousconsumers.org.nz? Supporting cafes that give discounts?
Join a local community garden! Waitakere has 8 community gardens How about: Learning how to grow organic food? Connecting with your local community? Having cheap healthy food? Massey Community Garden
Car Pool or Catch a Bus! How about Setting up a car pooling Moodle page? Catching a bus or train? Save on transport costs
Do Ecosustainability Surveys! What do Unitec students think about & want from Ecosustainability? How about: Surveying students about their views? Running the results in a poster campaign?
Co-ordinate Eco-reps How about HoaniWaititiKapaHaka Group Organising meetings of eco-reps, sending out information, putting people in touch with each other
Exercises • Lie on you back and relax until you can hear or feel your heartbeat count up to 60 heartbeats and then sit up. “this exercise carries you into the wholeness of you own sensitivity.” • Be as a piece of seaweed, rooted to the ocean floor, (eyes closed) sensitively moving to the ocean currents, firstly on your own, and then directed by a partner. “the soft yielding qualities of seaweed are precisely those that awaken our capacities for relationship.”
Listen to the beat • Is lying on the floor is going to be a problem for anyone? Use a chair if you want to. • What happens if you fall asleep or into a dreamy state? That's OK. • What happens if want to laugh? That's OK, too. • If you get the giggles, you should leave the room so you don't, disturb the other people. Similarly if you are feeling quite uncomfortable please leave and, get some fresh air or what ever you need, but please come back into the discussion process or the next exercise if you can.
Listen to the beat • Remember this is an experiment. You don't have to take part in all or any of it. You can be involved in the parts you want to be involved in. It’s important to be serious about doing whatever you can and to respect the efforts of others • You are trying to hear or feel your heartbeat and to count 60 beats. It may take a while for you to relax and slow your breathing so that it's easier to hear or feel your heartbeat • When the first exercise is finished (this might take 15 minutes), talk in pairs about the experience. Could you hear your heart? Could you feel your heart? What else happened?
Wakame - Seaweed • Being the seaweed on your own – 5 mins • Being seaweed and being gently pushed by a partner and moving as if in response to a current – 5 mins • Pairs swap roles and repeat – 5 mins
Stand in a relaxed manner, imagining and feeling your body to be a seaweed plant: your reach down into the seabed and are rooted there; the rest of your body floats upwards towards the unseen surface buoyed by, the sea around you. Not only that, your body also reacts as a seaweed plant would, yielding to the merest current. Once that image is clearly felt within the body, imagine a current of water coming from behind you: Without resistance you bend forward and flow with it, and then gradually float back up, buoyed by the water. Then play in the same manner with currents from the front and either side. Pay attention to any tightness the movements reveal and see if you can release it to fluidity.
The next stage requires the help of a friend. As you float up like a seaweed, rooted in the ground with your eyes closed, your friend will gently push on some part of your body, as a current of water might. Like seaweed, you offer no anticipation and no resistance, but simply yield to it, then return to the upright floating position. Your friend can adjust the speed and weight of each push, and your response should be precisely commensurate with it.
Discussion In small groups of 3-4 discuss both exercises • Being able to relax into the exercises • Getting out of your head into your body • Being part of the natural environment (seaweed) • Connection with yourself, your partner, other people in the room ...... • What gets in the way of connection or relaxation? • Is our mental health dependent on connection to the biosphere? • Does this change the way we FEEL about ecosustainability?
