Comments on: Following up with Allan Savory on using cattle to reverse desertification and global warming http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/2010/02/25/following-up-with-allan-savory-on-using-cattle-to-revsere-desertification-and-global-warming/ Various whatnot brain doodles, frequently dwelling on issues of ecological sustainability and economic justice. As with the rest of the universe, my perception of reality is currently under construction. Thu, 23 May 2013 14:48:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: BorderJumpers http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/2010/02/25/following-up-with-allan-savory-on-using-cattle-to-revsere-desertification-and-global-warming/#comment-1963 BorderJumpers Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:47:08 +0000 http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/?p=74#comment-1963 Just an FYI, wanted to share a blog we did today (please feel free to cross-post) about our travels in Gaborne, Botswana. We blog everyday from all over Africa at a website call Border Jumpers (http://www.borderjumpers.org) and for the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet (http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingtheplanet/). Here is the link: "1,000 Words About Botswana" http://borderjumpers1.blogspot.com/2010/03/1000-words-about-botswana.html Bernard Pollack and Danielle Nierenberg (aka borderjumpers) Just an FYI, wanted to share a blog we did today (please feel free to cross-post) about our travels in Gaborne, Botswana. We blog everyday from all over Africa at a website call Border Jumpers (http://www.borderjumpers.org) and for the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet (http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingtheplanet/).

Here is the link: "1,000 Words About Botswana"
http://borderjumpers1.blogspot.com/2010/03/1000-words-about-botswana.html

Bernard Pollack and Danielle Nierenberg (aka borderjumpers)

]]> By: Gerald M. Levitis http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/2010/02/25/following-up-with-allan-savory-on-using-cattle-to-revsere-desertification-and-global-warming/#comment-1944 Gerald M. Levitis Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:50:24 +0000 http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/?p=74#comment-1944 About reductionist and holistic thinking: pure science tends to succeed by isolating one or a few variables in an experiment and not having to deal with everything at once; this tends to work nicely by reducing the otherwise overwhelming number of factors to be considered and making the results/models mathematically describable. Holistic descriptions and plans are more like engineering in the real world, where all factors can interfere with results. Einstein once pointed out that the more mathematical a description of a relationship in the world, the less closely it matches the world, Or as someone else said, "All models are wrong; some models are useful." Physics is most amenable to isolating a few variables/factors without losing a fairly good match with reality: A spaceship traveling in a vacuum really does follow a curve predicted by Newtonian physics to a close approximation, unless it goes fast enough to requite relativistic computation. Biology matches less well, and real-world ecosystems/societies/psychologies are just to complex to model very well. GML About reductionist and holistic thinking: pure science tends to succeed by isolating one or a few variables in an experiment and not having to deal with everything at once; this tends to work nicely by reducing the otherwise overwhelming number of factors to be considered and making the results/models mathematically describable. Holistic descriptions and plans are more like engineering in the real world, where all factors can interfere with results. Einstein once pointed out that the more mathematical a description of a relationship in the world, the less closely it matches the world, Or as someone else said, "All models are wrong; some models are useful." Physics is most amenable to isolating a few variables/factors without losing a fairly good match with reality: A spaceship traveling in a vacuum really does follow a curve predicted by Newtonian physics to a close approximation, unless it goes fast enough to requite relativistic computation. Biology matches less well, and real-world ecosystems/societies/psychologies are just to complex to model very well. GML

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