Garden or Jungle

Imagine this - a jungle, teaming with life. It is filled with all sorts of different plants and animals. Each creature struggling for its own existence; each doing its best to stay one step ahead. In such a jungle like this each organism is their because it successfully competed with its neighbors for scarce resources, just as its ancestors have for millions of years. In this jungle competition is not just an option it is the only option which allows survival.

Now, imagine this - a garden, a living breathing ecosystem. Each organism in the garden has a role and a purpose in keeping the ecosystem going. The flowers, birds and insects are all interrelated. The survival of every organism depends upon the other in the complex "web of life." The flowers feed the bees, but the bees also need the flowers and so on.


If you've watched as many public TV wildlife programs as I did as a child you will recognize that organisms in the natural world have can be both competitive and cooperative. So to it is with human beings.

Do you feel that your world is a jungle, a garden or some of both? Do the people you know look at the world the same way you do? I've been thinking a lot about the garden and the jungle recently and I think it speaks a lot to where the Internet is going. It also informs my perspective of politics and economics.

The Internet is increasingly the battle ground for the sharing of information (cooperation) and the restriction of information. You can see it in the legal battles of Google. You can see it in the deals between the Chinese Government and the major search engines and you can see it in the use of DRM. It is hard for me to see the denial of information in order to gain profit as anything but competitive.

In politics see how fear is used to separate people and make them see each other as enemies (competitors). Some leaders use powerful speeches to unite people together (cooperation). Lincoln and FDR were good at fostering the cooperative "were all in this together" notion.

Of cooperation, competition or a mix of both, which do you think is the foundation for the better world?

I've just finished ICEing myself

I read this blog entry the other day about how you can setup In Case of Emergency (ICE) numbers on your cell phone so that medical staff will have contact people they can reach if you are injured and can not answer questions for yourself. I think it is a great idea. I just hope that if I am suchly injured the medical staff will also know the system. For more details just follow the link.

Need something to read?

I haven't been posting due to the large volume of holiday and travel activities that I have been involved in. If you have enjoyed my previous posts I think you'll enjoy this other blog as well. Check out dirtsimple.org (click on the title of the post).

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-- Edit -- 1/15/2006

I just launched my new blog at:
http://bitofsense.blogspot.com/

This blog will be about computers, software and computer programming.