The theme for this edition is EVOLUTION. We talk about progress and where we’re headed in life. We can see evolution in regenerative cycles and imprinted in nature. We are ever changing and contributing to changes in our environment. Join us as we look at different perspectives on evolution, how industry has grown and adapted to change; how personal journeys evolved. We also take the opportunity to look at species outside of the human realm. How are they coping with change? Ultimately, evolution is just ways we adapt to survive, but what does that look like when survival is becoming more dynamic every day?
I am personally inspired by one of my mentors, Peter Schoonmaker, an evolutionary biologist who taught me how to push boundaries in policy to help out the little guy, aka endangered species. Evolutionary biology is a field that studies the evolution or changes in a species as it adapts to the changes in their ecosystem. I am very curious about the evolutionary relationships between technology as a species and its ecosystem; the server, the human or non-human user, the environment, and the expansive atmosphere of outer space that houses satellite communication.
I wonder about the human relationships with Earth, the soil, water, and natural abundance of flora and fauna. Our Earth home is resilient, and so are we. As we saw with global quarantine, the Earth cooled itself and the air quality improved after a handful of months of no air travel. I believe we can intentionally course correct our evolutionary dystopia and become more mindful of our relationship with ourselves without sacrificing modern conveniences through design. I am talking about listening with our whole bodies and realizing we have instincts and intuitions. We have to listen to our natural rhythm.
The last time the human brain evolved was when we were exposed to fire as a tool and could begin to cook food. This afforded early humans to be less nomadic, and conserve energy and resources. However, this was 2 million years ago, and we still have the same brain. We have evolved culturally as a species but have become more limited in our physical bodies and more expansive in our digital counterparts. There are some tech experts who would argue that we are already cyborgs because we are connected to our digital devices more often than not and have developed codependent relationships with our apps and social platforms. I would argue this is one avenue that has been designed from a small group of people’s perspectives and now we are in a hyper feedback loop of addiction and introspection because of it. Not saying this is bad or good, it may even be necessary to help push us to the next neurological evolution.
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