Dear friends and researchers of RG World (RGen Citizens),
The issue has infinite spatial scale and depth profile as well as multidimential perspectives about how Mother nature bonding with father time has optimized operations, processes, products, tools, techniques and technologies in creating lives, systems and ecosystems. Human being can take inspiration and emulation in optimizing his operations and activities on his planet Earth and shrink his ecological footprint that can offer promise of human sustainability along with other siblings of mother Earth.
I expect your broad scale, sustained free flow of imagination, knowledge and information about the grand issue on this RG canvas
I fully agree that population growth is the ultimate driver of change and that it is hard to conceive of "optimization" in the face of demographic explosion. One (relatively) simple example should suffice to illustrate the sheer complexity of the issue. In 1985, Gordon Conway—now Professor of International Development at Imperial College London—suggested that agricultural systems might be assessed on the basis of four properties: (i) productivity (measured in terms of yield or net income); (ii) stability of yield or net income; (iii) sustainability of yield or net income; and (iv) equitability in terms of income distribution. (See Gordon Conway. 1985. Agroecosystems Analysis. Agricultural Administration. Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 31-55.) To note, Conway did not indicate what types of trade-offs should be made between characteristics when a choice is available or who should make trade-off judgments.
PS: I reproduced a figure from Conway's article, which illustrates desirable and undesirable agricultural systems from the four perspectives mentioned, in Past Visions of Rural Asia's Future, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269097401_Past_Visions_of_Rural_Asia%27s_Future.
Article Past Visions of Rural Asia's Future
I want to humbly partially disagree with the above two scientists regarding negative effects population growth. In my country, when we became independent during 1971, we were only 75 million, with a deficit of food and other resources. Though there were effects of the war but still the situation was not better just before the war. Now we are 160 millions of human being with excess of food - we are food exporting country, 4th in fish production and per capita income exceeds $1000 (if my memory don't betray with me, it is around this figure), reserves is around $6b which was only few million. Population has become an wealth, they are helping in earning foreign currency, providing human resources in garments sector and many more. I think Mr. Olivier would have more exact figure as he is working in ADB!! So, despite having negative impacts of population growth, we have achieved huge development which is considered as a Mystery!!! So, actually we need to manage ourselves, not the nature as it goes very well of its own!! We need to optimize our worthless activities, our greediness, our unconsciousness, our brutality towards other country/people in the name of democracy, religion etc.
Dear Dr.Towe, Thank you Sir!!! Have have rightly pointed out a good issue regarding the sebsidence. But we have a very good option as the different rivers of our country carrying about 2b tons of sediments through the country ultimately towards the sea which could somehow minimize the subsidence of the coastal lands!! The sea is moving southwards rather predicted inland movement. Coastal islands and largest mangrove plantation is playing vital roles in stabilizing the coastal zones. Monsoon may cause very little displacement and it is very temporary also.
Dear respondents,
Sorry! We are diverting from the real issue of our discussion.Please focus. The issues are, optimization, optimization as centre of nature's working, process of her optimization in processes, structures, designs, tools, techniques, technologies, methods and means.......etc. How human can take lessons from nature to optimize resource use, how he can develop optimized technology, run optimized processes in industries, how optimization could be reflected in every sphere of human activities involving biophysical wealth of nature so that we won't face any resource crunch and pollution pathology on our planet Earth. Because i think one of the most important and overarching issue is lack of optimization that has caused the planetary double trouble of escalating pollution and resource draw down.
Regards
JKB
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Computer Science
- Research Topics