The Place of Humans in the Ecological Hierarchy

Nested Ecology .................................................................................................................................... This page intentionally left blank Nested Ecology The Place of Humans in the Ecological Hierarchy .................................................................................................................................... EDWARD T. WIMBERLEY Foreword by John F. Haught The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore ∫ 2009 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2009 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 987654321 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wimberley, Edward T. Nested ecology : the place of humans in the ecological hierarchy / by Edward T. Wimberley ; foreword by John F. Haught. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978-0-8018-9156-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) isbn-10: 0-8018-9156-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) isbn-13: 978-0-8018-9289-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) isbn-10: 0-8018-9289-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Human ecology. 2. Conservation of natural resources. I. Title. gf41.w54 2009 304.2—dc22 2008034008 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information, please contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936 or [email protected]. The Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent post-consumer waste, whenever possible. All of our book papers are acid-free, and our jackets and covers are printed on paper with recycled content. Contents .................................................................................................................................... Foreword, by John F. Haught vii Preface ix 1 Developing a Practical and Sustainable Ecology 1 2 Personal Ecology 14 3 Social Ecology 32 4 Environmental Ecology 50 5 Cosmic Ecology and the Ecology of the Unknown 67 6 Essential Characteristics of Nested Ecology 119 7 The Fundamentals of Nested Ecological Householding 146 Epilogue 196 References 207 Index 241 This page intentionally left blank Foreword .................................................................................................................................... cientists in all fields are now relying increasingly on images of the Sworld as a complex emergent system ‘‘nesting’’ multiple subsys- tems. Nature consists of communities within communities. It is hard for any finite mind to hold all the levels together simultaneously, but in the intellectual world, and in culture at large, holistic pictures of a dynamic, evolutionary, and richly layered universe are slowly and irreversibly re- placing the more mechanistic, static, vertical, and linear models that have been foundational to modern thought. One might assume, therefore, that environmental studies would, of all fields, be the most enthusiastic about new depictions of nature in terms of the nesting model. In a sense this assumption is well founded, but rarely is an environmental thinker or ecologist sufficiently sensitive to all the di- mensions that a truly integral vision of nature requires. Most environmental writers defend one level at the expense of others, and of course one can always learn much from these biased perspectives. But after reading the works of even the most skilled ecological scientists, ethicists, and philosophers, the impression usually still remains that something important has been left out. No matter how broadminded an ecologist’s or environmen- talist’s intentions may be, readers will find that some level—whether physical, personal, social, biological, cosmic, or spiritual—has been slighted. Terry Wimberley, however, is exceptionally aware of this almost inev- itable shortcoming of ecological writing and rhetoric. His wise, readable, and convincing book awakens us to spheres of concern that even the most sensitive ecological treatises have often ignored or underemphasized. He has in mind a much more integral and nuanced ecological vision than is customary. Readers of many backgrounds and interests will find herein a vii carefully coordinated range of reflections on the multiple nesting and nested levels that make up the universe. Wimberley’s sophisticated study of the plurality of ecological strata challenges us to develop a wider ecological awareness than even some of the most celebrated ecological vision- aries have provided. This work demonstrates persuasively, though without having to re- sort to homiletics, that ecological thought and ethics can be considerably enriched by taking into account the insights of psychologists, economists, politicians, sociologists, cosmologists, philosophers, and even religious thinkers. Especially satisfying, at least to me, is the author’s realization that a deeply influential ecological ethic cannot take root apart from con- sidering the importance of a ‘‘personal’’ ecology at one pole of the environmental spectrum and an ‘‘ecology of the unknown’’ at the other. For many persons only the sense of an ultimate environment, a dimension of endless mystery, can truly enliven and sustain their personal hope that nature still has a future. It now seems most inappropriate, therefore, for environmental ethicists to ignore the intuition so many people have that the empirically available world is ‘‘nested’’ finally by an inexhaustible depth of being, value, futurity, truth, and beauty. Ethical incentive can flourish most natu- rally and spontaneously when persons understand that their actions and attitudes have a bearing not only on the physical, social, biological, and cosmic spheres of being but even on the ultimate environment in which they live and move and have their being. I am optimistic that readers of this fine book will find their own vision of the world and its promise expanding with each chapter. John F. Haught, Ph.D. Senior Fellow, Science & Religion Woodstock Theological Center Georgetown University viii FOREWORD Preface .................................................................................................................................... magine a set of Chinese boxes, beginning with one just large enough Ifor you to stand in and nested within a series of progressively larger boxes stretching out into infinity. If you suppose that if you are in the middle of this set of boxes the world revolves around you and your kind, then you miss the point of this analogy. Your position in that small, cen- tral, nested domain is not a statement of your centrality—or that of hu- mankind—to the rest of the world. It simply reflects the pragmatic reality that as a human being you can only perceive the world from your own subjective experiences, taking into account your biologically derived perceptual and cognitive capacities, and you can only interact with those progressively more expansive ecological domains through the use of your body and the tools that your body is capable of fashioning. Your position in this nested ecological matrix is no more than your biological and perceptual niche for viewing and interacting with the world. Every other creature occupies a box of their own in this nested hierarchy, and their position no more implies that they are the masters of the universe than yours does. In fact many, many of the planet’s living entities will occupy boxes much smaller than yours. However, every creature, as they perceptually and physically interact with the expansive ecological domains around them, will of necessity do so from the perspective of their own unique form of existence and place on the planet. In presenting this book for your consideration, I would like to thank six of my intellectual mentors who have taught me to think in terms of systems theory. The first is Herbert Simon, who was writing and lecturing at nearby Carnegie-Mellon University when I was a graduate student in public affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. My lifelong research interest ix has been systems theory as it is applied clinically, organizationally, so- cially, and ecologically. I am indebted to Simon for introducing me to hierarchy and systems theory from the outset as a set of nested Chinese boxes—an image that I develop in some length in this book. I am also indebted to Amitai Etzioni, whose work on decision making I studied during my graduate years. It was Etzioni who challenged me to think about the various ways in which decisions are made in social systems and who introduced me to his ‘‘mixed-scanning’’ approach. How- ever, I am most immediately indebted to Etzioni for reminding me anew of Simon’s analogy of hierarchy as a set of Chinese boxes. Without him, I might have overlooked this beautiful metaphor for living ecologically in the world. I would also like to thank three noted family clinicians—Salvador Minuchin, Murray Bowen, and Monica McGoldrick—whose approaches to family systems theory I not only studied assiduously but also practiced for many years as a psychiatric social worker in family therapy. Minuchin, Bowen, and McGoldrick taught me not only to perceive individuals as members of current and historical family systems and family system net- works, but also to conceive of family systems interacting with a complex array of social and organizational systems such that I was able to understand how behavior and values

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